Antega South Africa · Learning Videos
Clinical psychologist Mandy Rodrigues and Saskia Williams, CEO of IFAASA, discuss stress and fertility — and the advice people are given about it.
"Just relax and you'll get pregnant" is one of the most common things people are told, and one of the most damaging. It puts the blame for a medical condition on the person living with it. The honest position is the other way round: infertility and fertility treatment are themselves a substantial source of stress — injections, scans, waiting, cost, and repeated disappointment — and studies of psychological support show it improves wellbeing and helps people stay in treatment, without evidence that relaxing on its own produces a pregnancy. This conversation, from a psychologist and from South Africa's main patient advocacy organisation, is about being supported rather than being blamed: what the pressure actually does to people and couples, where to find counselling, and how to answer the well-meaning advice.
Recorded in 2023. Antega's position: no one fails to conceive because they worried too much or were not positive enough. Support is offered because treatment is hard, not because your state of mind is the problem.
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 talks about the emotional weight of repeated unsuccessful IVF, and what helps people carry 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.
