Christmas is usually a time for hope for the future. But for many people who have been trying to conceive for a long time it can be challenging if they haven't managed to get pregnant yet. There are triggers everywhere around us and coping can be take too much energy from us.

We spoke with Dr Anna from Reproclinic, to learn about strategies patients can use when undergoing fertility treatment during this time of year. Dr Anna explained, “The first thing that I always like to explain is that one in every six couples will have a problem of infertility, so a lot of people will face that problem. The first thing that I want to share is that you are not alone.”

Why is Christmas a challenging time for patients who are trying to conceive?

This time of year is full of triggers, reminders of what we have achieved, things we’ve been successful at and things we have not. Dr Anna told us “I think it is a very difficult time because it's the end of the year, we see a lot of people that we have not seen for a long time as well - family that we have not seen, friends that we have not seen - you always start to talk about the year, what has happened, how did it went, and of course these questions appear.”

Another trigger is the constant messaging on TV and social media that there is an ideal family, with children. This makes it very hard for people that are trying to conceive because it's a reminder of what don’t have yet. Dr Anna explained, “it's not just you thinking about your year, but also the rest of the world thinking about their achievements, so it makes it a little bit hard.”

Strategies to help us manage Christmas time when trying to conceive

We have all been through it: the unwanted questions, the suggestions or opinions about what we should do or feel about our own journey of trying to conceive. We’ve learned the hard way, to avoid parties, to quickly change the conversation or just go out to take a deep breath.

Dr Anna explained, “you don’t have to go to a place if you don't want to… If you do decide to go, but unexpectedly feel bad, then just maybe take a like break. I think it's important to try to manage feelings and not try to silence them or avoid them because it's like a cooker pressure. If you keep your feelings inside, can ‘explode’.”