81% feel that their fertility clinic does not give enough mental support

Infertility comes as a shock to many, as do the mental health implications of the struggle. But when you think about it, it makes sense that a majority of fertility patients experience anxiety and depression, when having children is a life goal they are struggling to reach.

What is heartbreaking is that only 19% of fertility patients feel that their fertility clinic provides enough support when it comes to emotional challenges*

It’s 2023 - we believe it’s time to change this!

Fertility care has traditionally not focused on the emotional and mental struggles that the patient faces. Fortunately, patients are increasingly looking to get comprehensive whole-patient care, and mental health support is an important part of that. There are clinics that are very attentive to the mental health struggles of fertility issues - but sadly they are still too few. It’s understandable that even when clinics have the patients' best interest at heart, they struggle to give both medical and mental health support. However, seeing that there are numerous studies that show that digital therapy is an effective way to treat symptoms of anxiety and depression, there are cost-efficient alternatives to help support patients. This is what Tilly is made for. For fertility patients, by fertility patients (and backed by science and a team of psychologists and therapists of course). Tilly has tools and exercises based on well-proven frameworks like CBT and ACT, which we have tailored to the specific struggles of infertility.

When we look at how few patients feel they get the support they need from clinics, we believe it’s time to change this number - and we plan to follow-up on this on a yearly basis. We see that change is coming and are determined to be part of making it easy for fertility providers to give their patients the best whole-person support.

For a future with better fertility support!

Sincerely,

Jenny Ann, founder of Tilly

*according to the Tilly community

Sources:

1 - NCBI

2 - NCBI

3 - PubMed

About the author

Jenny Ann Johnson is the founder of Tilly. She’s spent a decade working on digital educational products prior to founding Tilly. After struggling with infertility and miscarriages for many years she finally found her path forward and is today blessed with four children. She is now creating the supportive and educational tools she herself was missing while going through fertility treatments.