Christmas - the worst time of year ?

Christmas can be the hardest time of the year when you're trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant. It's difficult not to imagine how it could be if you had a child, and to think about all the things you could do to make it fun for them. The family focus seems to get even sharper, and it can be lonely and isolating when you don't fit the pattern of what we're told makes for a happy Christmas.

Some couples find it helps to break the mould of what we think we're meant to do and to go on holiday instead, others may opt to spend Christmas alone together rather than with family members and young children. What I think is most important is to remember that you're not the only one feeling this way. One in six (or one in seven, depending on which source you use!) of the population experiences some kind of problems conceiving, and that means there are a lot of other people out there going through exactly the same feelings about it all. What's perhaps even more important is not to feel guilty about feeling that way - and to make sure your Christmas present to yourself is to spend Christmas in any way you think will make it easier for you - even if that does mean telling friends or family with young children that you're off in search of the sun for Christmas and won't be there to help with the washing up!