If you are facing difficulty trying to conceive there is a good chance you have an obstetrician, fertility specialist, or both working to improve your pregnancy odds. You are not the first patient for these doctors, but this could be your first time struggling with infertility. There are times when doctors lose sight of the emotional and even intimate side of health care, making it difficult for patients to seek answers to intimate questions they may have over the course of treatment. Where does a woman turn when she’s too embarrassed or too scared to ask the most intimate questions of her health care providers?

QuestionStepping Back and Looking at the Big Picture
If you were to step back from the situation and look at the hundreds or thousands of patients your care providers have helped in the history of their practice, you may realize that the questions you think are extremely intimate are questions your doctors have heard before. Often, as humans, we have trouble considering the idea that other people suffer some of the same hiccups in life we suffer, especially when it comes to intimate issues, but with billions of people in the world there is bound to be at least a few other people with whom you share a common intimate issue. 

Tackling the Intimate Question Conversation
The best way to get answers to your most intimate questions regarding infertility is to take a deep breath and ask the question. That moment may feel like it takes a lifetime to pass, but most patients are instantly put at ease when the doctor doesn’t bat an eye. Obstetricians and fertility specialists deal in a very intimate line of work – sex and other intimacy issues are just part of the job description. 

Personal boundaries are often to blame for that wall we build between our questions and our doctors. Once we allow that wall to come down, if even for a moment, to ask an intimate question the resulting response often leads to a stream of questions and a stronger bond between doctor and patient.