Infertility is the disability of a couple to get pregnant after one year of having sexual relations without any kind of protection. For many years this question has been tried to answer. Are really psychological problems the infertility genesis?
Between the 50´and 60 ´s research articles were published that claimed that 40% of infertility problems with unknown causes were because of psychological factors. They mentioned that feminine infertility were caused by a early conflict between mother and daughter relationship. For example in a case control study carried out by Ramos Gutierrez, Monroy and Medina Sánchez (2008) analyzed 20 sociodemographic and clinical risk factors associated with female infertility, and found only six risk factors with statistical significance. One of them is STRESS.
According to the authors, stress in women can trigger anovulation, increase prolactine production and decrease the frequency o pulsatile GNRH secretion with suppression of gonadotropin secretion. This could be the cause of the decrease of fertility for women with long cycles. Although in this research they considered this as a consequence of infertility, also the emotional alter have been subject of research as another consequence of infertility.
Until now, the investigations are still continuing with their work this in order to generalize if the psychological problems such stress can cause changes in our reproductive function.
Thanks to advances in technology and assisted reproduction techniques, cases of unknown infertility were decreased, remember that when faced with these infertility problems, its considered that its genesis could be the psychological aspect.
Currently the psychology specialized on Human Reproduction focuses its attention on the consequences of experiencing an infertility diagnose has on couples. Once our reproductive function has been put to test, couples may find problems to achieve a pregnancy. And there is when infertility becomes a problem. We can call it as a vital crisis, since the project of life may be threatened by the impossibility of having children.
The fertility clinics added the specialized care work of the specialist on Reproduction Psychologist, with the aim of offering couples the support, tools and psychological skills to face in an adequately way the diagnosis.