How to Find the Right Infertility Support Group
Most people navigating infertility don’t stop at one kind of support.
They search for an “infertility support group near me.” They try one. Then another. A scheduled meeting. A clinic resource. A group on social media. A late-night scroll that turns into a rabbit hole.
We’ve been there.
This page isn’t about declaring one kind of infertility support “good” and another “bad.” It’s about helping you recognize fit, especially if you’re looking for emotional support during infertility or IVF that you’ll actually want to return to over time.
What Actually Helps When You’re Choosing an Infertility Support Group
If you’re evaluating an infertility support group (online or in person) these are the things that tend to matter most over the long haul:
Availability when things actually happen
Support that only exists at a set time can miss the moment entirely. Getting bad news days ahead of a meeting can leave you hanging.
Not having to publicly perform your trauma
Some people can manage it. For others, a live meeting (after work! in real clothes! with strangers?!) can feel awkward at best and overwhelming at worst.
Peer understanding without long explanations
Being around people who already know the shorthand reduces emotional labor. You’ve got enough on your plate.
Continuity over time
Infertility is cumulative. Support works best when relationships are built to stick, not reset.
Boundaries that protect trust
Honesty matters. But so does knowing who you’re sharing with.
Permission to come and go
You shouldn’t have to explain yourself every time you step back or return.
These aren’t preferences. They’re pressure points people usually discover the hard way.
Support That Requires Scheduling
Local and legacy infertility support groups are built around meetings.
Fixed times. Fixed formats. You show up when the calendar says it’s time, and you’re expected to be emotionally ready on demand.
That can work in the beginning, when you’re still finding your footing. Structure can feel grounding when everything else feels uncertain. But on a long timeline, scheduled support can start to feel draining.
Bad news doesn’t arrive on schedule. A loss might sink in slowly over a week. By the time the next meeting rolls around, the moment has passed, and you’ve already spent energy you barely have carrying it alone.
Over time, showing up at the right hour, in the right headspace, days after something hard happens can start to feel like a chore.
Support shouldn’t require you to be emotionally available at a specific hour.
Support Built for Short Bursts, Not the Long Haul
Some infertility support is designed for acute moments, when things are at their worst. That kind of support can genuinely help on a worst-day kind of day.
In longer stretches, even good coping strategies can start to wear thin. Not because the coping skills aren’t helpful, but because the problem isn’t a single moment to get through. It’s months or years of carrying something unresolved.
Support Without Boundaries
People also turn to open, anonymous online spaces or social media because they offer things that are hard to find elsewhere: honesty, immediacy, and real experience.
You can show up when something happens. You can maybe say the thing you’re not supposed to say. You can read posts from people who actually get it.
That matters. A lot.
Over time, though, endless scrolling can increase infertility anxiety - especially when there’s little between you and what you’re taking away from the space.
Maybe you’d like some anonymity, to avoid friends or family members coming across a post that’s so deeply personal - we get it. But the lack of boundaries in these spaces can start to feel less like freedom and more like risk. You don’t always know who’s present, who’s reading, or how your words might land. For some people, it starts to feel like too much risk.
And trust comes from stewardship: knowing who the space is for, who’s in it, and that the community is being actively maintained over time. That’s why membership in Cove Collective is exclusive and our onboarding process is designed to protect community trust.
Why Infertility Support Needs Both Openness and Stewardship
The problem isn’t that any one model is wrong. It’s that most support spaces are too one or the other.
Different infertility support options are built for different needs. We break down how common models compare — from free resources and forums to ongoing emotional support — here.
Institutional spaces offer structure but little flexibility. Open forums and social media offer honesty but risk without containment.
We know from experience that what people need is somewhere in the middle.
Support that’s open enough for people to speak plainly, and moderated enough that it doesn’t become chaotic or unsafe over time. Support where trust comes not from authority or anonymity, but from presence. Familiarity. Knowing who you’re talking to, and knowing they’ll still be there next time.
Cove Collective is peer support at its best, in a space thoughtfully built.
Cove Collective: A New Kind of Online Infertility Support Group, Built for Real Life
Cove Collective is an always-on, text-based infertility support group for people navigating infertility and IVF—designed as a peer-led community rather than a scheduled program.
Support that fits real life is:
Available when things happen, not just when meetings are scheduled.
Participation is on your terms. You can chat, listen, step back, and come back without having to reintroduce yourself.
Peer-based, so understanding doesn’t require long explanations.
It’s steady over time, which means relationships can actually form instead of resetting every few weeks.
Outlined by clear norms.
Cove Collective is maintained and moderated by people who have been there, with clear community norms so people know what kind of space they’re in and how best to care for one another.
And at Cove Collective, not everything has to be heavy. There’s room to vent. Room to laugh. Room to just exist among people who already know the context.
A Different Kind of Support
Cove Collective exists because so many people fall between existing options.
We’ve built an ongoing, peer-led community for people navigating infertility over time.
It’s always on. Thoughtfully curated. Designed for continuity.
Cove Collective isn’t a replacement for clinics, therapy, or medical care. It’s the layer that’s missing, a place where you don’t have to explain the shorthand, where support keeps pace with real life, and where you can come back whether something big just happened or nothing has changed at all.
We’re here for you.
→ Explore Cove Collective
Author Note: Jenn Creacy is a founder of Cove Family Co. and a long-time leader in peer infertility support, with lived experience navigating infertility and third-party reproduction.
At Cove, she helps build steady, thoughtfully designed community spaces that offer ongoing emotional support throughout the family-building journey. Learn more about Cove Collective, our peer infertility support community.
