INFERTILITY COUNSELING FOR COUPLES
You wanted this to be simple. It isn't.
You pictured it differently.
You would decide you were ready, and then it would happen. That's how it works — that's how it always seemed to work for everyone else.
But months have passed. Maybe years. You've been poked, prodded, and tested. You've sat in waiting rooms surrounded by pregnant bellies. You've received a diagnosis — or maybe a frustrating non-diagnosis — and now you are facing a list of treatment options that feel overwhelming, expensive, and emotionally exhausting.
And you're doing all of this while trying to hold your relationship together.
The toll infertility takes on a couple is real (and rarely talked about).
You may be finding that infertility has crept into every corner of your life together.
Sex has become a medical act, scheduled around ovulation charts and treatment protocols. One of you wants to push forward with more aggressive treatment; the other isn't so sure. You're spending money you hadn't planned to spend, making decisions you never imagined having to make, and grieving something that hasn't happened yet.
Well-meaning friends and family say things that sting. "Just relax." "Have you tried IVF?" "Maybe it's not meant to be." You smile and nod . . . and feel utterly alone.
Meanwhile, inside your relationship, something is shifting. You may be arguing more. Or you've gone quiet with each other. One partner copes by researching every option obsessively; the other needs to step back from it all just to breathe. You love each other, and yet infertility has put you in different emotional places at the same time.
This is one of the hardest things a couple can go through. And most couples try to get through it without any support at all.
COUPLES THERAPY CAN HELP.
What if you didn't have to navigate this alone?
Imagine having a space that belongs entirely to the two of you — not to the fertility clinic, not to your family's expectations, not to the relentless cycle of hope and disappointment.
A space where you can be honest about what you're feeling, even when what you're feeling is complicated. Where you can grieve together. Fight fairly.
Make hard decisions as a team — not as two individuals pulling in different directions.
A space where your relationship becomes a source of strength again, not another source of stress.
That is what infertility counseling can give you.
Infertility counseling for couples can help you:
Stay connected as a couple when the process is pulling you apart
Communicate honestly about fears, limits, and what you each truly want
Make difficult decisions together — about treatments, finances, donor options, adoption, or when enough is enough
Process the grief of failed cycles, miscarriage, or a diagnosis that changes your picture of the future
Protect your intimacy when sex has become clinical and connection feels lost
Navigate the pressure from family, friends, and the medical system on your terms
Find your footing as a couple no matter what the outcome of treatment
Why work with me?
I'm Susan Saint-Rossy, LCSW, LICSW, a couples therapist based in Leesburg, Virginia, serving clients in-person and virtually throughout Virginia and the Washington, DC area.
I have worked as an infertility counselor at a major fertility clinic, sitting with couples in exactly the kind of pain you may be in right now.
I know this world: the clinical language, the treatment decisions, the emotional weight of each cycle, the way hope and grief can coexist in the same moment.
I also know it from the inside. I have three children who came into my life through infertility treatments. I understand the longing, the uncertainty, and what it takes to keep a relationship intact through the process.
I bring both of those perspectives — professional and personal — to this work with you. You will not have to explain what IVF feels like, or why a failed cycle is its own kind of loss, or how hard it is to watch everyone around you get pregnant effortlessly. I already know.
My work with couples draws on the Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and the Gottman Method — all of which help couples understand not just what they're saying to each other, but what's happening beneath the surface: in the body, the nervous system, and the attachment bond.
My goal is to help you remain a strong, connected couple — whatever path your family-building journey takes.
Common questions about infertility counseling
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No. Couples come to me at every stage — newly diagnosed, mid-treatment, after failed cycles, or at a decision point about whether to continue. Wherever you are, there is support available.
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Absolutely. You don't have to be in crisis to benefit from counseling. Many couples come to me not because their relationship is broken, but because they want to protect it — and navigate infertility as a team rather than two individuals just trying to survive.
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This is one of the most common (and most painful) aspects of infertility. One partner is ready to try everything; the other has reached a limit. Counseling gives you a structured, safe space to understand each other's perspective and make decisions you can both live with. This is not about one person winning. It's about finding a path you can walk together.
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These decisions carry enormous emotional and ethical weight — and every couple navigates them differently. I have specific experience supporting couples through third-party reproduction decisions and the complicated feelings those options can bring up. You deserve real guidance, not a Google search.
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There is no single answer. Some couples come for a focused period to work through a specific decision or a particularly difficult phase of treatment. Others find ongoing support valuable throughout their entire journey. We will figure out together what makes sense for you.
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Yes. I offer HIPAA-compliant video sessions throughout Virginia and Washington, DC, as well as in-person sessions at my Leesburg office. If you're in the thick of treatment and your schedule is unpredictable, online sessions offer the flexibility you need.
