RESOLVE Infertility Support Groups: What to Expect
RESOLVE infertility support groups are volunteer-facilitated, meeting-based peer support groups organized by the National Infertility Association. They typically meet once a month, in person or virtually, and some are geographically organized. Every group is different, depending on that geography (or day of week, time of day), on who's facilitating, who shows up, and whether the group feels like the right fit - and groups are not currently active in all states. For people navigating IVF, IUI, unexplained infertility, DOR, POI, PCOS, endometriosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, donor conception, surrogacy, LGBTQIA+ family building, or independent parenthood (single parenting) who want support for infertility on their own schedule, Cove Collective is an online infertility support group — private, app-based, and here 24/7.
What RESOLVE support groups actually are
RESOLVE's peer support network is one of the longest-standing infertility support structures in the country. The groups are volunteer-facilitated by real people with infertility experience and are meeting-based, either in a physical location or on Zoom or otherwise virtual. They also have an online community where members can post and respond to one another. For a broader look at RESOLVE as an organization, see: What Is RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association?
RESOLVE provides a group finder on their website. In-person group availability varies significantly by state and city — some areas have active, well-established groups. Others have groups that meet infrequently, have limited membership, or aren't currently available at all.
The format: what a meeting looks like
Many RESOLVE support groups are structured around a shared meeting time. You show up — in person or online — at a scheduled hour, with other people who have also shown up.
The conversation unfolds.
The meeting ends. You go home. The next one is days or weeks away.
For some people, that structure is exactly what they need. A contained hour. A beginning and an end. A place to say the thing out loud.
For others — and in half a decade of supporting people through infertility, we've heard this consistently — the format creates its own friction. The scheduled meeting falls on the wrong day or week. Talking about this live feels impossible when you’ve gotten an unexpectedly bad result. The Zoom call after work requires more than you have. You white-knuckle your way through the first session, and then never go back.
That format has worked for decades. But the way people seek connection has changed — and the tools available to support them have too.
Who RESOLVE support groups tend to work best for
Some people genuinely prefer live connection and do well in structured settings. They find comfort in a clear beginning and end. They have a high threshold for the unpredictability of a live room — the announcement you didn't see coming, the update that hits different when you're sitting directly across from someone (in person or on camera) who can see your face. They have the bandwidth to show up consistently, at a scheduled time, to a group that may look somewhat different each month.
If that's you, a RESOLVE group might be worth trying — group availability permitting.
What RESOLVE offers online — and what it isn't
RESOLVE does have an online option for people who can't make a meeting — a partnership with Inspire, a public forum platform. It's not entirely dissimilar to Reddit. That's just what Inspire is — a platform where your post about a failed cycle lives next to a feature about a clinical trial.
Cove was built to feel like somewhere. A space that's warm without being relentlessly positive, honest without being chaotic, and carefully tended by people who have actually been through it — and who genuinely want to be there with you. The kind of place where you might post something dark at 11pm and wake up to responses that make you feel less alone. Maybe even make you laugh.
What these formats can’t catch
The things that make RESOLVE support groups consistent are also the things that limit them.
When they're geographically organized. The group is made up of whoever signed up in your area. That's a shared zip code, not a shared experience. Shared emotional reality — geography doesn't reliably produce that.
When they're meeting-based. Infertility doesn't exactly happen on schedule. A negative result doesn't wait for the second Tuesday. The 2am spiral, the call with your RE, the moment after retrieval when you're waiting for the fertilization report — none of that is calendared the way a support group session is. A once-a-month meeting catches some of it. You’re on your own with the rest.
Continuity varies. In a geographically-organized group, membership fluctuates. Real emotional connection builds when you have access to ongoing conversation. That kind of continuity isn't guaranteed with these formats.
The format asks something of you. Showing up — even to a Zoom — requires a certain emotional readiness. On the days when you have exactly zero bandwidth, that ask can be the thing that keeps you from going at all. And live rooms are unpredictable in ways that an online chat-based group like Cove Collective isn’t. Someone's good news lands differently when you're sitting across from them and have to figure out what to do with your face.
RESOLVE vs online infertility support
The most useful way to think about RESOLVE support groups and online infertility support group like Cove Collective isn't as competitors — it's as different tools built for different needs. Understanding what each is actually designed to do makes the comparison clearer.
RESOLVE support groups are meeting-based and offer structured facilitation. For people who want a contained, scheduled space to process infertility with others in their area, the format has served people well for decades. Cove Collective is designed for the in-between — the 2am spiral, the call from your RE, the moment something hits and there's no meeting for three weeks.
Online infertility support communities like Reddit do also fill that gap. But the best support group is not only available whenever you need it but also moderated for vibe, not just behavior.
The search query "RESOLVE vs. online infertility support" usually comes from someone who has already heard of RESOLVE and is hesitant to jump into live support with both feet. The honest answer is: that’s not for everyone.
If you want a structured time-boxed check in — RESOLVE is worth trying, group availability permitting.
If you want peer support that's there when infertility is actually on your mind, which we know is always, Cove Collective is an online infertility support group built for exactly that. Private, app-based, and here 24/7.
What to look for in an infertility support group
Here's the thing nobody says out loud about infertility support groups: vibe matters.
We spent years in and out of the various infertility support spaces, and we know what makes them truly possible (even pleasant!) to use. For many people, the difference between a space that feels right and one that doesn't is the difference between actually getting emotional support for infertility, and closing the door and going it alone. Cove was built because we struggled to find the right fit too.
In our experience — and the research is striking on this — psychological burden is the leading reason people stop pursuing IVF, even when treatment is fully covered. The right support at the right time isn't a nice-to-have. It changes outcomes.
And with that experience, our goal was to create a space that feels good to be in. Someplace warm - almost easy, or as easy as this can be. A space that didn't require a live emotional performance on a hard day. Where you can show up as you actually are — half-hopeful, half-dreading, maybe a little dark about it — and not feel like it’s too much.
That's harder to find than it should be. Most infertility support spaces are either too clinical, too chaotic, or too relentlessly positive to hold what this experience actually feels like.
The founders — both of us, hi — have spent years inside infertility communities. We know what it feels like when the energy in a space is wrong. When the moderation is either absent or heavy-handed. When the vibe is grief-forward in a way that makes it hard to breathe, or toxic-positive in a way that makes you want to scream.
We also know what it feels like when it's right. When you check in and someone is being genuinely funny about something terrible. When someone asks a question you've been afraid to ask, or voices a feeling you’d been holding back. When you read something and think oh, they actually get it. When the people running it bring enough warmth to make you feel welcome and enough emotional intelligence to know when to dial it back.
That's what we built.
For people navigating TTC, infertility diagnosis, IVF, IUI, unexplained infertility and autoimmune disorders associated with infertility, DOR, POI, PCOS/PMOS, endometriosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, donor egg, donor sperm, donor embryo, surrogacy, LGBTQIA+ family building, or independent parenthood — Cove Collective is an online infertility support group built for exactly that.
Using RESOLVE and Cove Collective for infertility support
RESOLVE and Cove Collective aren't competing for the same role. RESOLVE is an advocacy organization with a support group network. Cove is an online infertility support group built for ongoing, daily, peer-based connection.
We’re here to encourage exploring both. RESOLVE for the advocacy community and the occasional meeting. Cove for the in-between, the 2am, the people who already know your story and make this all a little more bearable.
There's no rule that says you have to pick one.
→ Try Cove Collective free
Thinking about Reddit and other online options? See our post on the subject: r/infertility and Other Ways to Find Infertility Support Online
Cove Family Co. was founded by two women who spent years navigating infertility. Cove Collective is an online infertility support group — private, app-based, and here 24/7 — built from lived experience and actively maintained by its founders.