What if I told you that half the people who start IVF never complete their planned treatment cycles? Most would guess the main reasons are cost, medical complications, or side effects. The reality is far more surprising and entirely preventable.
Psychology has now overtaken financial barriers as the #1 reason people discontinue IVF. In Australia, where we have public funding support, the psychological burden is literally heavier than the financial load. 47.5% of patients report being “too stressed to continue,” while 76% of women experience clinical-level anxiety symptoms during treatment.
When Sarah walked into her first IVF consultation, she thought her biggest challenge would be the medical procedures. By her second cycle, she was having panic attacks in the car before appointments and dissociating during internal scans. By the time she was meant to start her third cycle, Sarah cancelled, telling me: “I can’t handle feeling this broken anymore.”
Sarah wasn’t weak. She was having a completely normal psychological response to abnormal levels of stress. More importantly, her distress was entirely treatable.
The Perfect Storm: Why IVF Overwhelms Even Strong Coping Skills
Our research reveals that 90% of patients show patterns of thinking, processing, and responding that they hadn’t recognised before – patterns that significantly impact how they experience fertility treatment. These aren’t people with diagnosed conditions – they’re individuals whose successful life strategies become insufficient when facing IVF’s extraordinary demands.
IVF creates a “perfect storm”: daily hormone injections requiring precise timing, frequent blood draws and ultrasounds in bright, noisy medical environments, complex medication protocols, and the emotional rollercoaster of hope and disappointment often repeated across multiple cycles.
For someone who has unknowingly developed workarounds for sensory sensitivities or information processing differences, IVF can feel completely overwhelming. What looks like “being difficult” may actually be sensory overwhelm. What seems like “non-compliance” may be executive functioning challenges with complex protocols.
The Trauma Connection
With approximately 70% of people having encountered trauma at some point in their lives, many entering fertility treatment carry pre-existing vulnerabilities that medical environments can trigger. Medical trauma can develop from invasive procedures, loss of control, feeling dismissed by healthcare providers, or experiencing your body as unreliable when treatments fail.
The intersection is significant: chronic stress affects hormone profiles and treatment response. Elevated cortisol levels can impact egg quality and implantation success. Recent research shows that women with lower stress levels before egg collection had significantly higher pregnancy rates – meaning emotional wellbeing directly affects treatment outcomes.
Prevention AND Intervention: A New Model of Care
Rather than waiting for crisis to develop, the Hope Affirm Thrive program provides both preventive support and targeted intervention. Every participant receives evidence-based accommodations as standard practice: visual medication schedules, written summaries of verbal instructions, sensory comfort strategies, and preparation scripts for medical procedures.
For those needing deeper intervention, we integrate trauma-informed approaches including EMDR protocols specifically adapted for fertility populations, combined with nervous system regulation techniques.
Practical Tools You Can Use Today
Whether you need prevention or intervention, there are specific techniques that can transform your fertility treatment experience:
The 4-4-8 Reset Breath for immediate nervous system calming – inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 8. Use this before appointments or anytime anxiety peaks.
5-4-3-2-1 grounding anchors you in the present moment when panic strikes: identify 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste (sour gummies make for the perfect nervous system disrupter!).
Know When You Need More Support
These tools work well for general fertility stress and mild-to-moderate anxiety. Seek professional support if you’re experiencing frequent panic attacks, avoiding necessary medical care, or if past trauma is being triggered by medical procedures. Needing additional support isn’t failure – it’s wisdom.
Sarah’s Different Ending
Sarah accessed trauma-informed support that identified her distress wasn’t just “IVF anxiety” – it was medical trauma from painful procedures and childhood experiences of feeling powerless in medical settings.
Sarah learned nervous system regulation techniques she could use before, during, and after procedures. We used EMDR to process specific trauma memories being triggered by fertility treatment. She developed self-advocacy skills and connected with others going through similar experiences.
Sarah completed her treatment feeling confident and calm. She said, “I finally felt like an active participant in my care instead of something being done to me.”
Looking Forward: Prevention as Essential Healthcare
At Melbourne Fertility Expo 2025, I’ll be sharing specific tools you can use immediately to manage fertility treatment stress, along with evidence about how early psychological support prevents treatment discontinuation and improves outcomes.
My main talk, “Why 50% of IVF Patients Stop Treatment – And How Emotional Readiness Can Change Everything,” reveals the research behind treatment discontinuation and provides a framework for assessing your psychological readiness. The hands-on workshop, “Your Emotional Toolkit,” teaches four practical nervous system regulation techniques you can use immediately.
That 50% discontinuation rate is largely preventable with the right support at the right time. Don’t let psychology be the reason you stop treatment. It doesn’t have to be.
Elizabeth Bancroft will be speaking at Melbourne Fertility Expo 2025, sharing insights from the Hope Affirm Thrive program and teaching practical techniques for managing fertility treatment stress. Her sessions provide evidence-based tools for both preventing psychological distress and addressing it when it occurs, helping patients complete their treatment with confidence.
About the Author:
Elizabeth (Liz) Bancroft is an AHPRA-registered Clinical and Counselling Psychologist with over 14 years of experience supporting individuals through complex trauma, infertility, and neurodiverse mental health needs. She is the founder of Hope Affirm Thrive, an evidence-based support program designed to help women navigate the emotional challenges of IVF.
Support Your IVF Journey:
If you’re navigating fertility treatment and need emotional support, visit www.hopeaffirmthrive.com.au to learn more about the Roadmap Through IVF program—a comprehensive online 8-week program offering trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming support for every stage of your fertility journey.
Free Resources – Start Here:
Contemplating Treatment?
- Ultimate IVF Pre-Preparation Guide – A step-by-step roadmap to prepare emotionally, practically, and medically before treatment begins. Download here https://hopeaffirmthrive.com.au/ultimate-guide
Starting Your Journey?
- Evidence-Based Strategies Webinar ($29) – A low-cost webinar covering stress management, emotion regulation, advocacy tips, and building resilience for your IVF journey. Access here –Â https://hopeaffirmthrive.com.au/webinar-evergreen
- IVF Mental Health Survival Kit – Evidence-based tools, advocacy scripts, and grounding techniques to help you stay steady through every stage of treatment. Download here https://hopeaffirmthrive.com.au/guide
