Cyclical grief in Israeli women after IVF and medical termination

The main goal of women who undergo fertility treatments after a long period of time in which they were unable to conceive naturally, is to fulfill their dream of pregnancy and motherhood. When a medical problem is discovered during pregnancy that can endanger the life of the woman and/or the life of the fetus, the women are faced with a paradoxical decision - whether to terminate the pregnancy proactively or to continue it, despite the risks. The purpose of the current study is to examine the emotional experience of women who have undergone both procedures - in vitro fertilization (IVF) and induced termination of pregnancy (TOP) due to a health problem, as this experience has not received sufficient expression in the literature in recent years. Twelve Israeli women who underwent IVF treatments, became pregnant, then underwent an induced TOP due to a health problem, were interviewed. The research data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed according to "grounded theory". Findings indicate that pregnancy loss in the context of IVF treatments is a cyclical, procedural, ongoing emotional and medical experience that involves dealing with loss and grief at each stage. These findings emphasize the need for in-depth consideration of this issue, in both the research and therapeutic fields, to create and establish professional knowledge, coping tools and a sufficient support network.