Reproductive Sexual Health | Infertility Counseling
Planning to have children can be one of the most exciting times for an individual or couple. Naturally, many people who are preparing to have a family already have expectations about what their family will be like. Individuals and couples often plan for the process of conceiving a child and raising a family.
In many cases, individuals and couples find that life presents itself in ways that do not meet their previous expectations. Psychotherapy in the specialty area of reproductive sexual health may include the following topics:
Feeling prepared to be a parent
Relationship changes
Difficulty conceiving
Infertility
Impact of infertility on sexual health
Postpartum depression
Breastfeeding
Sexual relationship concerns
Parenting conflicts
Body image
Emotional needs
Parenting as a single mother or father
Dealing with stress
Pregnancy loss
Symptom management
Attempts and failures
Premature ovarian failure
Decisions about donor eggs, sperm, and embryos
Coping with reproductive complications (PCOS, endometriosis, etc.)
Reaching Your Goals
Our clinic strives to provide clients with a uniquely sculpted therapeutic experience to fit their needs as they embark on their exciting and profound journey to parenthood. From starting a family to achieving relationship, parenting, and personal goals, our providers are here to guide your journey and help you reach your goals.
Relationships
Relationships evolve with the addition of new family members. Partner relationships, along with relationships with other children, friends, and extended family, can be impacted by the changing dynamics within the family unit. Learning how to manage these changes is essential to the health of your growing family.
Our trained mental health counselors specializing in reproductive sexual health offer educational and supportive services to help ensure clients have the tools they need to feel secure in their journey, as well as, therapeutic interventions to help couples revive desire, overcome conflict, and regain emotional and sexual intimacy.
Sexual and emotional intimacy and sexual health are important aspects of a romantic partnership. A couple’s sexual relationship can be affected greatly by infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy, and new roles as parents. Often, couples will seek therapy years after they have endured issues with infertility.
Seeking professional counseling services for infertility can provide a positive, healthy, communicative experience that can bring couples together during a trying period. Some couples experience a drastic shift in their sexual relationship after having children, which can be very normal.
Waiting to address such issues can add layers of conflict to the relationship, but it is never too late to seek professional help. If the route to a growing family includes alternative solutions such as infertility treatments, gamete donation, gestational carrying, or adoption, the trained clinicians at Kimberly Keiser & Associates are here to care for your personal and relationship needs throughout the process.
Parenting
After conception, you may realize that your path to parenthood has just begun. The focus on conceiving will shift to parenting and enjoying your family over the years. Offering trained experience in parenting approaches and solutions to fit your family’s unique style, Kimberly Keiser & Associates can help you gain confidence and security.
Our professional counseling services will help you match the vision you have for your family. Often, our own experiences growing up influence how we parent as adults. When conflict or unhealthy relationship dynamics go unresolved, they can have a great effect on the self-esteem, fulfillment, and overall health of the parent(s). Our infertility counseling provides a safe and open environment for clients to explore, heal, and take pleasure in their parental and family roles.
Infertility Counseling
At Kimberly Keiser & Associates, our specialized therapists offer hope in dealing with and conquering infertility, as well as understanding infertility and alternative options, and provide a safe and warm environment to help clients discover their own journey. The field of reproductive medicine presents exciting and innovative opportunities for individuals and couples seeking treatment for reproductive health issues and infertility. Though these treatments and processes offer hopeful solutions to a host of reproductive health issues, they also may introduce new emotional, psychological, and relationship challenges to an individual or couple’s life.
Grief
Grief can be a significant component of treatment as individuals and couples face infertility and reproductive challenges. Whether it is grieving the loss of a pregnancy, the anticipation of a family you always envisioned, or the unexpected complications of a natural reproductive process, grief will be an inevitable part of your infertility journey. Therapy can assist you in grieving in a healthy, intentional way and will help you make clear and confident decisions going forward. The five stages of grieving related to stages of infertility are as follows:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Our therapists will honor your personal grief and assist you in developing healthy coping strategies, mindful practices, and hopeful solutions that may bring you some comfort in your infertility journey.
Causes
Many factors may contribute to infertility. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, infertility affects men and women equally. The inability to have a child affects 6.7 million women in the United States. In approximately 40 percent of infertile couples, the male partner is either the sole cause or a contributing cause of infertility.
Other contributing factors may include physical/medical problems of both men and women. Psychological factors also may play a role in infertility. Whatever the cause(s), our team of counselors for infertility problems works directly with your medical provider to pinpoint and treat causes appropriately, manage symptoms and gain insight into your situation and how to proceed to help you reach your goals.
Personal Image
Experiencing infertility can be painful and life-altering. Sometimes infertility can have negative effects on one’s body image and self-concept. Many men and women report feeling as if their bodies are failing them or that they are incompetent. This can lead to feelings of low sexual desire or distorted body image.
Body image and self-love play an important role in many aspects of one’s life. For a mother who is going through infertility treatments, or a couple who has experienced loss through miscarriage, or a new mother who is experiencing a changing body, addressing low self-esteem related to personal image and body is extremely important. These issues play a significant role in one’s relationship with oneself and one’s partner, intimacy, and sexual relationships. Kimberly Keiser & Associates provides a safe, understanding, and encouraging environment for clients to explore their own issues with body image and self-esteem. Our clinicians strive to help you reach your goals and love yourself throughout the process.
Alternative Reproductive Solutions
There are many options for individuals and couples to explore when thinking about starting or growing a family. Whether you are actively seeking alternatives or simply exploring your options, our clinicians are dedicated to providing supportive services to assist you in making the best choice for your family.
Our infertility counselors follow the American Society for Reproductive Medicine standards of care to ensure ethical, supportive services for your reproductive sexual health needs. Our therapists work directly with your medical provider to assist in the process of alternative reproductive solutions. There are many alternative solutions to assist you in your reproductive journey, including the following:
Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
In-vitro fertilization (IVF)
Gestational carrier (surrogacy)
Gamete (egg, sperm) donation
Gay couples/parenting
Adoption
Single mother or father by choice
Assisted Reproductive Technologies Evaluations
Assisted Reproductive Technologies is used to describe all treatments that involve the handling of gametes (eggs or sperm) and/or embryos, including in-vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination.
The ethical guidelines of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommend that donor recipients, gestational carriers, intended parents, and gamete donors participate in a psychosocial evaluation, education, and when needed, psychological testing and counseling. Following is detailed information about the different types of assisted reproductive technology that many growing families consider when thinking about having a baby.
Gestational Carriers
Individuals and couples interested in becoming parents may work with a gestational carrier, or surrogate, as an option for their growing family. Kimberly Keiser & Associates provides consultation, counseling, education, and evaluations for both intended parents and gestational carriers. We are dedicated to making this process a comfortable and authentic part of your journey.
Our practitioners offer complete services to assess and support the roles of the potential gestational carrier and the intended parents. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends all parties involved in the gestational carrier process participate in a psychosocial evaluation prior to medical procedures. At our clinic, this process includes a clinical interview and, when appropriate, psychological testing in accordance with American Psychological Association and ethical standards. We work with your medical provider and strive to contribute to a healthy, positive, and timely process. The therapists at Kimberly Keiser & Associates provide a supportive and encouraging environment for families and all parties involved in the process of growing a family.
Gamete Donation and Donor Recipients
Families facing infertility may consider gamete (egg/sperm) donation as an option for their growing family. Individuals or couples may choose to use a biological egg or sperm with the corresponding donor gamete. Or some individuals or families may choose to use both an egg and sperm from two different donors. The intended parent(s) may want the biological mother to carry the baby through pregnancy, or both parents may choose to use a gestational carrier to have their baby.
Some individuals or couples choose to donate their eggs/sperm to other families to achieve fertility. This is an exciting time to explore the many options for conception, and it is also a very sensitive and important time to consider all available options. The reproductive health and infertility counselors at Kimberly Keiser & Associates offer trained therapeutic interventions to help clients problem solve, communicate, and ultimately decide what options work best for their own growing family.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends all parties involved in the gamete donation and/or reception process participate in a psychosocial evaluation prior to medical procedures. At our clinic, this process includes a clinical interview and, when appropriate, psychological testing in accordance with American Psychological Association and ethical standards.
Oncology
Fertility preservation is an option for individuals and couples who are interested in having a family or have thought about this option for their future but are planning to undergo cancer treatments.
Professional counseling for clients who will be enduring cancer treatments can offer a safe environment to explore meaningful and informed decisions about preserving fertility for their future families. Research has shown that up to 75 percent of young women desire to pursue motherhood after they receive a cancer diagnosis. Due to the possibility of losing reproductive potential after cancer treatments, women may want to gain knowledge in the area of alternative reproductive technologies, which can help them and their families feel confident about their future fertility options. Furthermore, our team can help support, educate, and encourage clients in the area of oncology and infertility throughout their journey.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
According to the principles of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, our clinic provides the most up-to-date information and ethical guidelines to help you along your reproductive journey and manage the emotional and mental challenges that may occur during this process. It is important for gestational carriers, intended parents, sperm donors/recipients, and adoptive parents to work with experienced attorneys at law to help draft the gestational carrier and/or egg donor contracts, review the gestational carrier’s insurance, and obtain and file the necessary documentation for all parties involved.
LGBTQ+
Our clinicians specializing in reproductive sexual health and infertility are specially trained in providing outstanding LGBTQ+ family-building services. Your situation may benefit from emotional and mental supportive services to help with any challenges that may arise throughout your journey.
For gay men and women seeking a path to parenthood, options include a gestational carrier (surrogate), gamete donation, and adoption. According to the principles of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, our clinic provides the most up-to-date information and ethical guidelines to help you along your reproductive journey and manage the emotional and mental challenges that may occur during this process.
In collaboration with medical providers in and around the United States, Kimberly Keiser & Associates works to help transgender men and women plan for and receive the fertility treatments needed to have a baby. We address the emotional and special medical issues that transgender patients can face during the process of building a family. For transgender individuals who are considering a transition, cryopreserving sperm and egg specimens prior to hormonal therapy or surgery is important. Our clinicians take time to develop a unique treatment plan that fits your family’s needs, giving you the best chance of having a baby.
2101 W 69th St, Suite 103
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
(605) 740-6557
(888) 201-2128