How Does Stress Impact Fertility?

Are you planning a family? If yes, you must know how stress can affect your chances of conceiving. It is common among couples undergoing fertility treatments to experience stress and anxiety. But, how stress affects fertility is still being researched. Here is what we know so far.

Stress and infertility coexist

Studies involving couples trying for a child have revealed that they experience elevated stress levels. Especially couples seeking fertility treatments are at the receiving end, as they know their condition and treatment promises only a certain chance of success. The studies show that the longer they undergo treatment, the higher the stress levels.

Fertility medications and stress

Another deterrent in accurately determining if stress causes infertility or it is the other way around is the medications used for fertility treatments. Some medications, such as gonadotrophins, lead to symptoms of anxiety and depression. When assessing these patients for stress, it is impossible to find out whether fertility medicines are causing stress or stress is causing infertility.

However, stress can affect decision-making abilities and overall health, thus delaying pregnancy in the following ways:

• Stress can make it impossible to objectively think about pregnancy and take the right steps toward conception.
• It can affect your relationship with your partner and impact your sexual relations, lowering the chances of conception.
• Stress affects your overall health and, in this way, too, can impair your ability to conceive quickly.
• Stress and anxiety levels may upset the body’s hormonal balance2, thus affecting fertility.

Simply put, stress can affect our body and mind in several ways, thus, affecting fertility too. Therefore, relaxing and taking things as they come is essential when trying to get pregnant. This will also help you enjoy an anxiety-free pregnancy when you succeed.