Counselling in Reproductive Medicine

The apparent sensational successes of modern reproductive medicine (e.g. births after uterus transplant) seem to suggest that today the desire for a child can be made to come true almost at will. One of the detrimental aspects of this development is that the emotional impact both of involuntary childlessness and of medically assisted reproduction is often hugely underestimated, not only by those immediately affected and their relatives, but also by professionals (infertility counsellors, psychotherapists, fertility doctors, etc.). The chapter offers an initial approach to this topic. It deals first of all with the repercussions of the unfulfilled desire for a child, proceeding from there to assess the medical and paramedical help on offer and to provide hands-on advice for addressing the problem in the context of counselling for involuntarily childless people. The chapter closes with references to readily available and easily understandable sources of information on the subject.