What Is RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association? (And What They Focus On)
If you've been diagnosed with infertility — or spent more than ten minutes googling it — you've probably come across RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.
Your clinic may have mentioned them. An awareness campaign may have pointed you there. They’ve been around since 1974 and they have a deep presence in this space. When people say "the infertility organization," they usually mean RESOLVE.
RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association is a nonprofit organization and is widely considered the leading infertility advocacy organization in the United States. They do important work on policy advocacy, insurance coverage legislation, and public education about infertility diagnoses. They also operate a support group network, though availability varies. For people seeking policy information and educational resources, RESOLVE is the most established organization in the space. For people seeking ongoing, 24/7 emotional support from others currently navigating infertility, Cove Collective — an online infertility support group that is private, app-based, and here 24/7 — could be a better fit.
If you're evaluating infertility support options more broadly, How to Find the Right Infertility Support Group is a good place to start.
What RESOLVE Does: Advocacy, Education, and Policy
RESOLVE's work is real and significant. They've spent decades bringing infertility conversation to the forefront and fighting for infertility insurance mandates. They lobby Congress. They run awareness campaigns. They've moved the needle on how infertility is classified, covered, and discussed at both policy and household levels in this country.
That work has materially changed lives — people who have insurance coverage for IVF, IUI, and other fertility treatments likely do so today because of major wins RESOLVE helped secure. That's not a small thing. It's worth ALL the applause.
They also provide educational resources — information about diagnoses including DOR, POI, PCOS/PMOS, unexplained infertility, endometriosis, and recurrent pregnancy loss, as well as treatment options and how to navigate the medical system. For someone newly diagnosed and trying to find their footing, their resources are a legitimate starting point.
And they operate a support group network. In some states, those groups are active and well-run. Many people do find real connection through them.
Infertility Support Groups: What the Research Actually Shows
RESOLVE's support group network is frequently the first — sometimes only — option that clinics mention. It's the name everyone knows.
Many of RESOLVE's groups are meeting-based: a scheduled date and time, a room or a Zoom, a beginning and an end. For many people, this is simply what comes up when they go looking, and they choose it because they don't know something else exists, or don’t know where or how to find it.
Research tells a different story about what people actually want. A peer-reviewed study of fertility patients found that more than four out of five expressed interest in online peer support — with mobile accessibility, anonymous communication, and active moderation as their top preferences. The same study found that the people who needed support most — those reporting the highest levels of stress — were also the most likely to seek it out. Formal mental health services weren't what they were looking for. Peers were.
The structural problem isn't just availability — though groups are not currently operating in all fifty states. But because many groups are organized by geography, not commonality, you get whoever signed up in your area, and they might not be people you actually want in the physical space with you at your most vulnerable. And when you're mid-cycle, post-retrieval, or sitting with a result you haven't told anyone yet, "might not be" is a real cost.
You might be willing to set aside personality mismatch to connect on what you do have in common, which is The Struggle. But the format introduces other considerations: meeting once a month, at a scheduled time. But infertility doesn't hold itself to a monthly cadence. A failed transfer doesn't wait for the second Wednesday. And the room, physical or virtual - if you've ever faced down the thought of “hopping on a Zoom call” after a hard day of work to perform your grief on cue, you know what we mean. It's not that the people aren't lovely and good and looking for the same connection you are. It's that the 2am spiral, the call with your RE, the moment an instagram announcement makes you cry in a parking lot — none of that is schedulable. And processing it live with people you just met — that's a lot to ask. One of our founders went looking for a local group in a major city. What she found wasn’t for her — not because the people weren't kind, but because they weren’t the right fit. With no better options, she ended up on Reddit - which tells you something about what Cove has set out to do and why. (For a fuller look at various support spaces, What Is the Best Infertility Support Community? is worth reading.)
What to Look for in an Infertility Support Group
If you're looking for genuine ongoing connection with people who understand what it is you’re experiencing in this process and are available for you right now, that’s a set of needs that Cove Collective was built for. RESOLVE can fill the bucket with information, advocacy, a monthly meeting if that’s your thing - but Cove Collective offers something different.
Availability. Is it there when you need it, not when it's scheduled? The 2am spiral doesn't care about your group's calendar.
Commonality, not proximity. Do the people you’re talking about this with share more than a doctor or a zip code? A shared diagnosis, a shared treatment path, a shared emotional reality — the way those conversations unfold will make a big difference in your support experience.
Cultural fit. This one's harder to name but you know it when you feel it. A space that's not for you is not for you. You shouldn't have to white-knuckle your way through a support group.
Continuity. Do people know you over time? Cove Collective is designed to grow with you on this journey, with gated and de-centered space for pregnancy and parenting after infertility. We know that what you’re going through doesn’t end with the positive test.
Moderation with warmth. Someone paying attention who’s there for the duration — not to enforce the rules, but to spark the conversations, grow organically with you, and tend the space. There's a difference and you can feel it.
RESOLVE built something important for the infertility community. What they built is an advocacy organization. We couldn’t be bigger fans of the work that they do.
But if what you need is somewhere to land at six am when the test is negative and you can't call anyone, that's a different thing entirely. And that’s why we’re here.
→ Explore Cove Collective
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 still actively maintained by its founders.