Infertility, IVF & Reproductive Loss
Infertility Therapy, IVF, and Pregnancy Loss
Specialized infertility therapy in Maryland for IVF, fertility treatment, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, grief, anxiety, and reproductive trauma. Telehealth across PSYPACT states.
- Care Modes
- In-person & Telehealth
- Licensed
- MD · PA · PSYPACT
- Certified
- IPPE-C
- Focus
- Infertility & Reproductive Grief
Infertility can be on of the most emotionally painful experiences a person or couples faces. Whether you are coping with infertility itself, undergoing IVF or fertility treatment, or grieving a pregnancy loss after treatment, you deserve specialized psychological care. Infertility involves multiple losses including loss of control, agency, self-esteem, innocence, time, and future hopes and dreams.
In addition, after months or years of infertility, medical appointments, procedures, uncertainty, and hope, the loss of a pregnancy may bring overwhelming grief, trauma, anger, numbness, or despair. Many people describe feeling as though they lost not only a pregnancy, but also a future they fought incredibly hard to reach. Pregnancy loss after IVF or fertility treatment often carries layers of emotional pain that others may not fully understand. You may feel isolated in your grief, exhausted by the emotional and physical demands of treatment, or terrified about what comes next. Some individuals struggle with intense anxiety, shame, self-blame, jealousy toward others, or fear that their body has failed them. Others feel disconnected from their partners, overwhelmed by medical trauma, or emotionally unable to continue treatment.
The experience of fertility treatment itself can already be emotionally taxing. Repeated cycles of hope and disappointment, invasive medical procedures, uncertainty, financial strain, and the loss of a sense of control can create chronic stress long before a pregnancy loss occurs. When a loss happens after IVF or fertility treatment, it can intensify feelings of grief and trauma in ways that are difficult to explain to others.
Therapy can provide a space to process these experiences with someone who understands the emotional complexity of infertility and reproductive loss. Many individuals also struggle with conflicting emotions — longing for hope while simultaneously fearing further heartbreak.
I provide infertility therapy for adults throughout Maryland, including Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, Columbia, Annapolis, Frederick, and Baltimore. I also provide telehealth to individuals in PSYPACT participating states.
Therapy is available for individuals and couples navigating infertility, IVF, and reproductive loss.
In therapy we may work with
Specialized therapy for IVF and fertility-related loss
- Therapy For Infertility
- Miscarriage during infertility treatment
- difficulty conceiving
- unexplained infertility
- secondary infertility
- Grief, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm related to infertility
- failed IVF cycles
- failed embryo transfers
- egg retreival grief
- donor egg grief
- infertility depression
- infertility anxiety
- relationship stress
- treatment burnout
- deciding whether to continue treatment
- IVF
- failed embryo transfer
- pregnancy loss after IVF or other fertility treatment
- reproductive trauma
- emotions associated with third party reproduction
My approach
A warm, evidence-based approach
My approach is warm, compassionate, and grounded in evidence-based psychotherapy. I strive to create a space where the full emotional reality of infertility and pregnancy loss can be acknowledged without minimizing the depth of your experience.
Area of focus
Specialized Infertility & Reproductive Mental Health Care
Unlike general psychotherapy, infertility and pregnancy loss often involve complex experiences of grief, trauma, identity, attachment, and relationship distress. Because my practice specializes in reproductive mental health, therapy is informed by the unique emotional challenges of infertility, IVF, fertility treatment, pregnancy loss, recurrent pregnancy loss, and pregnancy after loss.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with clients experiencing infertility or IVF-related loss?
Yes. I provide therapy for individuals coping with infertility-related grief, pregnancy loss after IVF or fertility treatment, recurrent pregnancy loss, and the emotional impact of infertility and reproductive trauma.
Can therapy help with infertility?
Yes. Infertility can bring profound grief, anxiety, uncertainty, and feelings of isolation. Therapy provides a supportive space to process these emotions, strengthen coping, improve communication with your partner, and navigate the many difficult decisions that often accompany fertility treatment. My approach integrates attachment-informed, emotion-focused, and trauma-informed psychotherapy to address both the emotional and relational impact of infertility.
Do you work with people going through IVF or fertility treatment?
Yes. I work with individuals and couples undergoing IVF, IUI, egg retrievals, embryo transfers, donor conception, and other fertility treatments. Therapy can help you manage the emotional ups and downs of treatment, cope with uncertainty, process unsuccessful cycles, and navigate the complex emotions that often accompany fertility care.
Can you help after pregnancy loss following IVF or fertility treatment?
Yes. Pregnancy loss following fertility treatment often involves multiple layers of grief, including the loss of a pregnancy, the emotional investment in treatment, and the hopes built over months or years of trying to conceive. Therapy provides a compassionate space to process grief, trauma, and the uncertainty of deciding what comes next.
Do you provide infertility therapy throughout Maryland and PSYPACT states?
Yes. I provide in-person psychotherapy in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and secure telehealth for clients throughout Maryland and other participating PSYPACT states. This allows individuals and couples to access specialized infertility and reproductive mental health care regardless of where they live within eligible states.
How is infertility therapy different from general counseling?
Infertility often involves a unique combination of grief, trauma, uncertainty, medical stress, relationship challenges, and changes in identity that may not be fully understood in general psychotherapy. My practice specializes exclusively in reproductive mental health, integrating attachment-informed, emotion-focused, psychodynamic, and trauma-informed psychotherapy to help individuals and couples process these experiences, strengthen relationships, restore self-esteem, and move toward healing.
Do you work with clients going through fertility struggles who have not experienced a pregnancy loss?
Yes. Infertility often involves multiple losses that need to be grieved including the loss of the dream one held of one's path to parenthood, loss of an imagined baby and future, loss of control, self-esteem, time, and even of relationships. Therapy can help process all these various forms of grief.
Written by
Rayna D. Markin, PhD
Licensed psychologist · IPPE-C credentialed · Associate Professor in Counseling · President-Elect, Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (Division 29, APA) · Associate editor, APA journal Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training · Author of Psychotherapy for Pregnancy Loss
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