For some couples, getting pregnant may seem so natural and easy. But there are those who struggle to conceive and have to deal with the pressures of waiting and wanting to have a baby.    

There are quite a number of factors which may affect conception such as infertility, hormonal imbalance, ovulation problems, health complications, age, lifestyle, stress, poor diet, and weight-gain or loss. Experiencing any of these will definitely add to that pressure.  However, coping with not being able to conceive go beyond just the physical aspects.    

There is nothing more frustrating than having to deal with the emotional and social pressures of waiting to have a baby, and often, these affect women more than men because while most women grow up thinking that they will become mothers someday, men don’t have the same pressure from society. 

Women go through a lot of emotional stress as they deal with their desire to have a baby, most especially if the waiting is taking longer than expected. Many women who struggle to get pregnant experience the following:

1. SELF-PITY – feeling sorry for yourself. Feeling guilty of not being able to conceive a child, and feeling that you are deprived of something you want so much, to the point that you begin to think that life is unfair. 

2. ENVY – This is when you find yourself comparing your situation with other women who have children. Feeling bitter whenever female friends or relatives get pregnant. Being stubborn and refusing to accept the reality of your situation. 

3. ISOLATION – Avoiding social functions or situations which will put you on the spot where you will have to respond to other people’s questions as to why you don’t have a baby yet, such as family reunions, or occasions such as baptisms and baby showers. 

4. INSECURITY – Feeling unfulfilled as a woman and as a wife. Thinking that not being able to bear a child will later on cause problems in your marriage. Convinced that there may be something wrong with you.  

5. ANXIETY – Always worrying about everything. Anticipating that things could end up bad. Giving in to the emotional stress and social pressures.  

Personally, I went through this kind of emotional roller-coaster during those moments my husband and I were struggling to conceive. In fact, I must have experienced all five kinds of emotional stress.

Sometimes, I still cannot believe how I survived 4 years of waiting, of dealing with pressures, of being asked, of the never-ending frustrations whenever I would get my period and of dreaming of becoming of mother… but I did, and holding on to hope never failed me up to that very moment I finally gave birth to our son.