Emotional Infertility: Study Reveals Pain Of Single Women Not Having Children

Why Single Women Can Suffer 'Emotional Infertility'

According to a new report on modern motherhood, women who have difficulty conceiving a child are not the only ones to suffer the effects of infertility.

A report on modern motherhood suggests 'emotional infertility' can be just as damaging.

Over half of women polled agreed the pain of not having children due to not finding the right partner equalled that of dealing with medical infertility problems

The study conducted by Red magazine, which gathered data from over 3,000 British women aged 28-45, also revealed that nearly three quarters (71%) of women think those who have medical infertility get more sympathy than those with 'emotional infertility’.

Did you know these famous ladies used IVF?

IVF: Celebrities Who Struggled To Conceive
Celine Dion (01 of08)
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Singer Celine tried for six years before conceiving her eldest son, Rene-Charles in 2001. She then battled on to have twi sons Eddy and Nelson in 2010 after another six failed rounds of IVF. "These treatments were truly hard on my wife's body. It wasn't simple at all," Celine's husband Rene said at the time. (credit:MediaWiki: Svnnsmsn)
Brooke Shields (02 of08)
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Brooke Shields spoke out about her struggle to conceive when it took six rounds of fertility treatment until she fell pregnant with her eldest daughter, Rowan. "The difficulty of IVF or of any fertility issues is the hope and the shattered hope, the dream that it might happen this time and then it doesn't happen." (credit:MediaWiki: BetacommandBot)
Courteney Cox (03 of08)
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Actress Courteney and then husband David Arquette conceived their daughter Coco after IVF following several miscarriages. "In vitro is a wonderful thing that people can do in this day and age, and I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it." (credit:MediaWiki: Martin H.)
Emma Thompson(04 of08)
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Actress Emma Thompson gave birth to daughter Gaia in 1999, thanks to IVF. Emma and husband Greg Wise later adopted Rawndan refugee, Tindy. "There's been an awful a lot of grief to get through in not being able to get pregnant again, but there are thousands and thousands of women like me who can't have children." (credit:MediaWiki: JJ Georges)
Gabby Logan (05 of08)
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Penny Lancaster (06 of08)
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Rod Stewart's wife Penny tried for two years to conceive their second son Aiden. Penny fell pregnant after trying procedures in both the UK and the US. "IVF can be stressful, especially for the women with all the hormone injections and procedures." (credit:MediaWiki: Londonpixels)
Jane Seymour (07 of08)
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Actress Jane Seymour wrote a book about her fertility struggles, called, Two at a Time: The Journey Through Pregnancy and Birth. (credit:MediaWiki: Flickr upload bot)
Marcia Cross (08 of08)
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Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross started IVF soon after her marriage, and successfully conceived twins, Eden and Savannah. Marcia, as an actress on a high-rated show, acknowledged the high cost of IVF, telling USA Today, "it's very expensive and (requires) a lot of needles and shots." (credit:MediaWiki: CrazyLegsKC)

Brigid Moss, health director of Red said: "We have identified what we call “emotional infertility”, that is being childless not by choice, due to not having a partner or a partner not wanting to have children.

"It's interesting that most women think that medical infertility gets most sympathy, and that more than half of women think that emotional infertility is as painful as medical infertility’."

The same reported noted that just 17% of women worry about being too old to conceive, and one in five women would consider having a baby on their own.

Sam Baker, editor-in-chief, said: "It seems that women now feel more confident to make their own decisions to prioritise what they want in life, including how and when they want to start family."