Infertility-Related Stress and Its Psychosomatic Impact on Women: A Literature Review

Abstract

Infertility—the inability to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse—affects a substantial share of women worldwide and is increasingly recognized as a condition with profound psychosocial and psychosomatic ramifications. Recent global estimates suggest that roughly one in six adults experience infertility during their lifetime, with comparable prevalence in high-income and low-/middle-income settings, underscoring a universal burden and an urgent need for integrated care. World Health Organization+2World Health Organization+2

This review synthesizes evidence on infertility-related stress among women and its links to anxiety, depression, marital strain, sexual dysfunction, sleep problems, and somatic symptoms (e.g., headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, dysmenorrhea exacerbation). Mechanistically, chronic stress in the context of infertility and treatment (e.g., assisted reproductive technology, ART) may dysregulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, alter gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulsatility, amplify inflammatory signaling, and worsen pain perception. Psychometric tools such as the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) reliably quantify condition-specific stress across social, sexual, and relationship domains, enabling more precise assessment in both clinical and research settings. ScienceDirect+2PubMed+2

Contemporary population and surveillance data (e.g., U.S. ART statistics) contextualize the scale of treatment exposure and outcomes, while randomized and quasi-experimental studies evaluate mind–body, cognitive-behavioral, and group-based interventions. The weight of evidence indicates that psychosocial interventions reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms in infertile women; however, effects on pregnancy rates are heterogeneous and appear secondary to mental-health benefits. CDC+1

We conclude that infertility-related stress is common, clinically significant, and biologically plausible as a contributor to psychosomatic morbidity. Effective care requires routine screening with validated instruments, stepped-care psychological support (including CBT and mind–body programs), attention to stigma and partner dynamics, and close collaboration between reproductive medicine and mental-health services. Future work should prioritize longitudinal designs that clarify bidirectional stress–fertility pathways and implementation studies that bring scalable psychosocial care into fertility clinics across resource settings.