Living in an unresolved trauma system: Women’s experiences of infertility-related distress through an adaptive information processing lens
- 1Department of Psychology, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Abstract
Background: Infertility-related distress is associated with elevated rates of anxiety, depression, grief, and identity disruption. While existing frameworks often conceptualise infertility distress through stress and coping paradigms, these approaches may not fully explain the cumulative and reactivating experience of infertility distress. Trauma-informed perspectives, including the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, may offer an alternative framework for understanding infertility-related distress.
Objectives: To explore how women experiencing infertility describe and make meaning of their experiences, and whether their narratives reflect processes consistent with trauma-informed and AIP frameworks.
Design: Qualitative study embedded within a randomised controlled trial of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for infertility-related distress, using baseline pre-intervention session transcripts.
Methods: Eighteen women experiencing infertility-related distress participated in an initial EMDR assessment and case conceptualisation session. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis within an experiential and contextualist framework informed by trauma-informed perspectives and the AIP model.
Results: Five interconnected themes were identified: (1) The Burden of Responsibility, (2) Defectiveness and Diminished Worth, (3) Loss of Autonomy and Suspended Futures, (4) Threat, Vulnerability and Mistrust, and (5) Isolation and Disconnection. Participants described infertility as a cumulative, unresolved experience, often characterised by shame, self-blame, uncertainty, diminished agency, loss of trust, and relational disconnection. Infertility generated distress and reactivated broader beliefs about responsibility, worth, safety, control, and belonging. Interpreted through the AIP model, these findings suggest distress may be maintained by the repeated activation of inadequately processed experiences organised around of shame, helplessness, threat, and loss.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that infertility may be experienced as both a traumatising and a re-traumatising process that disrupts identity, agency, safety, and belonging. A trauma-informed framework informed by the AIP model may provide a useful lens for understanding the enduring psychological impact of infertility and informing interventions that address unresolved experiences underlying infertility-related distress.
Related
- Sexual function problems, sexual distress, and operationally defined female sexual dysfunction among women with infertility in southern Iran: a cross-sectional study
- Longitudinal patterns of sensory and paranoid psychotic-like experiences in adolescents: Associations with distress, psychopathology, and substance use
- A twin study of genetic and environmental aetiologies of associations between sensory processing sensitivity and psychotic-like experiences
- Experiences of maternal distress and early childhood development amid climate-related stress in Benue state, Nigeria: a qualitative study
- When creativity changes time experiences: Semantic exploration shapes speech production and temporal processing
BibTeX
@article{jackson2026living,
title = {{Living in an unresolved trauma system: Women’s experiences of infertility-related distress through an adaptive information processing lens}},
author = {Patricia L. Jackson and Peter Saunders and Simone Mizzi and Karen Tracey Hallam},
journal = {Women's Health},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1177/17455057261490949},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057261490949},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Living in an unresolved trauma system: Women’s experiences of infertility-related distress through an adaptive information processing lens
AU - Patricia L. Jackson
AU - Peter Saunders
AU - Simone Mizzi
AU - Karen Tracey Hallam
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
JO - Women's Health
DO - 10.1177/17455057261490949
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057261490949
AB - Background: Infertility-related distress is associated with elevated rates of anxiety, depression, grief, and identity disruption. While existing frameworks often conceptualise infertility distress through stress and coping paradigms, these approaches may not fully explain the cumulative and reactivating experience of infertility distress. Trauma-informed perspectives, including the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, may offer an alternative framework for understanding infertility-related distress. Objectives: To explore how women experiencing infertility describe and make meaning of their experiences, and whether their narratives reflect processes consistent with trauma-informed and AIP frameworks. Design: Qualitative study embedded within a randomised controlled trial of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for infertility-related distress, using baseline pre-intervention session transcripts. Methods: Eighteen women experiencing infertility-related distress participated in an initial EMDR assessment and case conceptualisation session. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis within an experiential and contextualist framework informed by trauma-informed perspectives and the AIP model. Results: Five interconnected themes were identified: (1) The Burden of Responsibility, (2) Defectiveness and Diminished Worth, (3) Loss of Autonomy and Suspended Futures, (4) Threat, Vulnerability and Mistrust, and (5) Isolation and Disconnection. Participants described infertility as a cumulative, unresolved experience, often characterised by shame, self-blame, uncertainty, diminished agency, loss of trust, and relational disconnection. Infertility generated distress and reactivated broader beliefs about responsibility, worth, safety, control, and belonging. Interpreted through the AIP model, these findings suggest distress may be maintained by the repeated activation of inadequately processed experiences organised around of shame, helplessness, threat, and loss. Conclusion: Findings suggest that infertility may be experienced as both a traumatising and a re-traumatising process that disrupts identity, agency, safety, and belonging. A trauma-informed framework informed by the AIP model may provide a useful lens for understanding the enduring psychological impact of infertility and informing interventions that address unresolved experiences underlying infertility-related distress.
SN - 1745-5057
SN - 1745-5065
ER -