Description

Infertility is not solely a medical experience.

For many patients, it is an ongoing emotional experience marked by grief, uncertainty, fear, hope, disappointment, trauma, identity disruption, and chronic emotional strain. Yet reproductive grief often goes unrecognized within healthcare systems because it rarely looks like traditional grief.

This clinician-focused Tikva Toolkit was created to help providers better understand, assess, and respond to the emotional landscape of infertility and reproductive loss with greater nuance, compassion, and clinical clarity.

Designed for:

• Therapists
• Psychiatrists
• REIs and fertility clinics
• OB/GYNs
• Nurses
• Social workers
• Medical students and trainees
• Clergy and helping professionals

This toolkit explores:

• Reproductive grief and disenfranchised grief
• The overlap between grief, anxiety, and depression
• Diagnostic considerations in infertility care
• Trauma and infertility
• Clinical assessment questions
• Hormonal treatment considerations
• Supportive clinical responses
• Compassionate, validating language for providers
• When to refer for additional mental health support

Inside you’ll find:
✔ Distinguishing grief from depressive and anxiety disorders
✔ Trauma-informed clinical frameworks
✔ Practical clinician “do this instead” guidance
✔ Assessment tools and reflection questions
✔ Visual charts and comparison pages
✔ Medication and fertility treatment considerations

Created by Yesh Tikva in collaboration with reproductive psychiatrist, Dr. Esther Rollhaus.