Whilst I was in post at my last job (a fertility clinic), Dr Google really was one of our biggest contenders. I would often have calls from patients questioning their pathway due to things they had read online and although I am a massive advocate of doing your research and knowing what to expect, unfortunately there is also a lot of misinformation out there regarding fertility, so you have to be careful.
There are also now, a huge number of online forums for people to share their experiences and I do think it is completely person dependent as to whether you find this helpful or not. I was at a conference recently where a Psychologist reported some findings on a study they had undertaken into online support groups and what they found was that over half of women they had spoken to who utilise these sites, reported experiencing disadvantages. The study showed that some of these women had experienced problems with these forums such as reading about others negative experiences or on the flip side positive pregnancies, which can be equally as hard when undergoing treatment. They also found that there was a lot of inaccurate information on there and it could become quite addictive and distract them from focusing on their treatment so I definitely think that this is something to be aware of before joining up. On the flip side, it can also be a very good form of support from people that may be sharing similar experiences yourself and being able to talk about it to people outside of your immediate family and friends.
All in all, it really is just down to you as a person, but I would always recommend checking with your consultant before following any other advice as they at the end of the day are the experts.
Holly Scott, Patient and Clinic Liaison Manager
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