Fukuoka- Women seeking medical help for infertility struggle to access mental health support due to lack of such services in japanadding further distress to a process that may already be emotionally difficult.
While public insurance coverage for infertility treatment will be expanded in April to lessen the financial burden, experts say mental health support offered by trained professionals is what is urgently needed to help women cope with the stress they face, especially while working.
More counselors are being trained as few hospitals employ clinical psychologists to address women’s mental health issues or even medical workers who specialize in reproductive medicine.
Takako Horita, 57, a Fukuoka-based certified clinical psychologist who provides online counseling, says many of her patients undergoing infertility treatment resent hearing good news from friends who have been able to get pregnant or have given birth. light.
She says many find the experience downright “painful” or may feel “a deep sense of loss” every time they menstruate.
Horita is able to empathize due to her own anguish from unsuccessfully undergoing infertility treatments for about 10 years. She started artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures when she was 30 years old.
She was initially happy, as she also worked, but after suffering a miscarriage at age 35, she decided that her desire to be a mother was so strong that she quit her job to focus her energy on trying to have a child. But as her attempts to get pregnant continued in vain, Horita gradually became more and more distressed.
“The dismay and feeling of alienation from others made me feel completely miserable,” Horita recalled. She became frustrated with her husband, whose life she had gone on as usual, and she withdrew, depressed by thoughts that she was bearing the pain on her own.
Although Horita never managed to have a child, she decided in her “second stage” of life to become a counselor for women suffering from similar problems of infertility.
Despite the vast amount of information about medical treatments for infertility on the Internet, there are few places for women to have in-person consultations to discuss issues. Horita opened her office, called “Con,” in 2011 and started with counseling and workshops. She also does face-to-face individual and family counseling.
A survey of 47,000 national government employees in 2021 found that about 16% had undergone or considered infertility treatment. More than 70% said it was “extremely difficult” or “impossible” to manage the required work and hospital visits, among other reasons. More than 30% said they felt a “great mental burden” while undergoing treatments.
In April, the government will expand public insurance coverage for procedures such as IVF, with the patient covering 30% of their treatment costs.
Treatments such as artificial insemination, in which sperm is commonly injected into a woman’s uterus, and IVF will recently be covered by insurance with some conditions. For example, for IVF, there will be cases where only women under the age of 43 will be covered when they start treatment.
In addition to married couples, people in a de facto union will also be covered.
Currently, insurance covers tests to determine why a woman is having difficulty getting pregnant. Artificial insemination that is not covered by insurance costs about ¥30,000 (about $250) on average for a procedure, and IVF up to ¥500,000, in some cases.
The financial cost, however, pales in comparison to the stress and emotional strain that the process can bring.
“While it is true that many people are rewarded for their efforts, the difficulty with infertility treatment is that this is not necessarily the case,” said Kohei Sugimoto, 53, a doctor at Dokkyo Medical University Saitama Medical Center in Koshigaya, Saitama prefecture.
The center has been promoting mental health services for women undergoing treatment for infertility problems for several years. Some women are unable to get pregnant even after spending a lot of time and money, and many sacrifice their careers in the hope of having a child.
Sugimoto says he tells patients that their “efforts are pointless” and that “experiencing the treatment contributes to your growth as a person.”
The center has a resident clinical psychologist specializing in reproductive medicine. When necessary, information about patients is shared and counseling is provided at the patient’s expense.
Sugimoto said that the culture of seeking counseling for mental health problems is not widespread in Japan. “There are still few hospitals that have specialist psychologists. Ideally, each prefecture should have a hospital center (staffed with them),” he said.
With such calls for support from medical workers, counselors and other experts in reproductive medicine, the government last October launched programs to educate and train “peer helpers.”
“Patients are relieved if the people around them show that they understand or at least try to understand the treatments,” Horita said.
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