You are here

Navigating The Fertility Journey: The Grief and Loss of Assisted Reproductive Technology

Title of Event: Navigating The Fertility Journey: The Grief and Loss of Assisted Reproductive Technology
 
Description of Event:
The frequency of need for Assistive Reproductive Therapy (ART), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023), has and will continue to increase; between 2010 and 2019, the estimated total number of pregnancies in the US has decreased by 9%, and the unintended pregnancy rate has decreased by 15%. What may be contributing to these numbers, according to Postpartum Support International (2025) is the increased frequency of couples experiencing ‘infertility’ which was 1/8 couples in 2010, and is currently 1/7 couples. Common myths associated with ART include inflated success rates when success rates are actually variant upon many factors.
 
This presentation will provide evidence of a changing political attitude toward ART which preemptively catalyzes grief and loss before a patient even reaches intervention, how to access supportive resources for clients, and how data support the need for further legislation and protections for those requiring medical intervention. This presentation will also discuss cultural limitations to ART, as well as provide evidence to the conceptualization of how folx trying to conceive (TTC) experience a unique and perpetual grief and loss experience with an elongated period of bargaining.
 
Building on the newest information and insights on the various types of assisted reproductive technology, from ovulation regulation to IUI, IVF, Surrogacy, Adoption and more, this presentation provides information on the gap of care for those left trying to conceive (TTC), as the perinatal period–conception through one year of life–is excluded from previous samples; this presentation will also enhance the field’s understanding that untreated, concurrent and compound grief and loss cycles increase a patient’s risk of long term trauma where the field would like to promote post-traumatic growth.
 
Date of Event: June 13, 2025 (and recorded for homestudy)
 
Time of Event: 9am-12pm PT/ 11am-2pm CT/ 12pm-3pm ET
 
Location: Online through Zoom and Recorded for Homestudy
 
Presenter/Speaker: Gillian Taylor, LCPC, ATR, PMH-C, Clinical Therapist
 
Company/Organization Sponsor: The Chicago School - Office of Continuing Education 
 
Contact Name: Office of CE at The Chicago School
 
 
 
AASECT Approved CEs: 2.5

Event Knowledge Areas Covered: