Identity and the possible impact of the unprocessed traumatic event in the diagnosis of the unexplained or partially unexplained infertility

The experience acquired in the course of interviews with "infertile" couples has highlighted the dominant role played by the mind in the cases of unexplained or partially unexplained infertility. The clinical experience has suggested a strong connection between transgenerational conflicts and the impossibility to conceive. There are many reasons why the desire to conceive exists and amongst others, also the need to repair. Repair of the fracture engendered by the creation of ones own identity, but also repair towards relationships with the most relevant adults in ones lives. In the course of psychotherapeutic treatments with couples who were undergoing IVF treatments the recurrence of unprocessed traumatic and / or bereavement experiences have been observed. To verify the potential correlation between unprocessed trauma/ bereavement experiences and the unexplained infertility these aspects have been examined on a sample size of 89 infertile couples, at the beginning of MAP (medically assisted procreation) program. 71% of the sample had at least one bereavement or trauma that had not been processed. The unexplained infertility can be read as a symptom of requests of permissions to Be, to be able to define ones own identity. The trauma is seen as the impossibility to acquire the sense of self in relationship to the ones own context, an obstacle to the possibility of the search for our own identity and to the acquisition of a role.

Keywords: Unexplained infertility, IVF treatments, unprocessed traumatic and / or bereavement experiences, trauma, MAP

Rossella Torretta, Costituzione identitaria e possibile incidenza dell’evento traumatico non elaborato nella diagnosi di infertilità inspiegata o parzialmente inspiegata in "RICERCA PSICOANALITICA" 2/2011, pp 113-128, DOI: 10.3280/RPR2011-002009