Take this test to determine how well you are coping with infertility distress and the level of care you need. Put a checkmark next to each symptom you are experiencing. Then calculate your score by adding all the checkmarks to determine your level of Infertility Distress.

1. The preoccupation with infertility is a fulltime, all-consuming priority that negatively impacts normal life activities:

   Interferes with all areas of life (eg., work, finances, relationships)
   Forces the postponement of important life goals (eg., home buying)
   Denial of the need for relaxation and pleasure (eg., holidays & vacations)
   
   

This preoccupation is characterized by:
2. Behavioral Symptoms:

   Repetitive, compulsive behaviors, in the form of monthly treatment cycles, daily basal body temperature tests, etc.
   Chronic sense of urgency and overdrive.
   Avoidance of family activities, baby showers, or places where children are present.
   Hypervigilance to changes in the female body, especially breast tenderness and abdominal cramps.
   "Checking" behaviors (eg., for signs of menstrual period or pregnancy)
   
   

3. Emotional and Affective Symptoms:

   Depression
   Tearfulness, even in public places or at the sight of babies and children
   Grief over multiple losses
   Hopelessness
   Fear of "toxic emotions," especially anger.
   Guilt for "having waited too long" or for any imagined cause of your problem.
   Shame and Secrecy
   Displacement of anger onto pregnant women, families with children, and care providers.
   "Mind/Body" split, due to internalized anger, resulting in somatic symptoms
   Monthly mood swings on the "emotional roller coaster," coinciding with the treatment cycle, often exacerbated by ovarian stimulants and elevated levels of female hormones.
   Delayed or repressed happiness at "good" news (eg., apparent ambivalence over the achievement of a positive HCG test)
   
   

4. Cognitive Symptoms:

   Obsessive search for the latest research, experts, and answers.
   Predominance of irrational negative thoughts.
   Difficulty making decisions.
   
   

5. Physical Symptoms:

   Altered body image or sense of alienation from one's body.
   Decreased sex drive or sexual performance (eg., erectile dysfunction and anorgasmia).
   Physical aches and pains, especially at sites of injections.
   Weight gain over several months of ovarian hyperstimulants and hormones.
   
   

6. Prolonged identity crisis in a struggle to achieve the developmental stage of parenthood.

   Increased marital tension or conflict.
   Social isolation: only childfree or menopausal women are 'safe' friends.
   Serious doubts regarding one's self-image as adult, male or female, or marriage partner.
   Existential questions or soul-searching regarding the meaning of one's life, the viability of one's marriage, the existence of God, etc.