Antega South Africa · Learning Videos
Clinical psychologist Mandy Rodrigues talks about the emotional weight of repeated unsuccessful IVF, and what helps people carry it.
Repeated unsuccessful treatment is a form of loss, and it repeats. Grief, anger, envy of other people's pregnancies, exhaustion, and a sense that life is on hold are ordinary responses, not weakness. This talk covers what tends to help: naming the loss rather than moving straight to the next cycle, agreeing with a partner how and when to talk about it, protecting a few things in life that are not treatment, deciding in advance how many attempts feel bearable financially and emotionally, and involving a psychologist or fertility counsellor rather than waiting for a crisis. Nothing in this video suggests that emotional state caused a cycle to be unsuccessful — it did not. Watch it alongside the clinical review talk: one asks what the clinic can look at, the other asks what you need in order to keep going, pause, or stop.
Recorded in 2023. Distress after repeated unsuccessful IVF is a consequence of treatment, not a cause of it. If you are struggling to cope, or having thoughts of harming yourself, contact your clinic or the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) on 0800 567 567.
Use these guides for general background, and check the South Africa organisations named on this page for local detail.
Filmmaker Molatelo Mainetje-Bossman speaks about the social and cultural side of infertility in African communities, including silence, stigma and family expectations.
Clinical psychologist Mandy Rodrigues and Saskia Williams, CEO of IFAASA, discuss stress and fertility — and the advice people are given about it.
Clinical psychologist Mandy Rodrigues talks about the emotional side of donor conception, including how some people come to terms with not having a genetic link to their child.
This video was produced by Fertility Show Africa Expert Talks (programme curated with IFAASA and SASREG) and is shared for education only. It is not medical advice and does not replace guidance from your own doctor or fertility clinic. Naming an organisation does not imply a partnership with Antega.
