This chapter explores the often-hidden distress of infertility and pregnancy loss. The focus is on the silenced experience of loss so many face in going through the process of fertility treatment. The work draws on systemic, attachment, and grief theories. It reflects on the complexity of disenfranchised grief and the isolation that often remains unacknowledged by medical and social systems. The narratives presented illustrate how fertility treatment, framed as a path of hope, can simultaneously diminish grief by emphasising medical solutions over emotional realities. The chapter highlights the impact of loss on identity, intimate relationships, and family scripts, considering how individuals and couples navigate the tension between medicalised interventions and their own grief. Therapy is presented as a space to acknowledge both partners’ experiences, validate disenfranchised loss, and create alternative narratives around parenthood and family. Reflections on practice emphasise the importance of containment, meaning-making, and recognising the therapist’s own responses to loss. The chapter seeks to provide greater recognition of pregnancy loss as a legitimate and multifaceted grief, advocating for spaces in which these silenced experiences can be shared, validated, and supported.

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Isolation in Becoming a Parent: The Silenced Distress of Infertility and Pregnancy Loss

  • Elaine Mayon-White

摘要

This chapter explores the often-hidden distress of infertility and pregnancy loss. The focus is on the silenced experience of loss so many face in going through the process of fertility treatment. The work draws on systemic, attachment, and grief theories. It reflects on the complexity of disenfranchised grief and the isolation that often remains unacknowledged by medical and social systems. The narratives presented illustrate how fertility treatment, framed as a path of hope, can simultaneously diminish grief by emphasising medical solutions over emotional realities. The chapter highlights the impact of loss on identity, intimate relationships, and family scripts, considering how individuals and couples navigate the tension between medicalised interventions and their own grief. Therapy is presented as a space to acknowledge both partners’ experiences, validate disenfranchised loss, and create alternative narratives around parenthood and family. Reflections on practice emphasise the importance of containment, meaning-making, and recognising the therapist’s own responses to loss. The chapter seeks to provide greater recognition of pregnancy loss as a legitimate and multifaceted grief, advocating for spaces in which these silenced experiences can be shared, validated, and supported.