Written by Maria Zaro, Clinical Psychologist and Hypnotherapist at My International Therapy.
I’ve been meeting more and more clients facing fertility challenges, most often in cases of unexplained infertility. This term is used when medical evaluations show no clear reason why conception isn’t happening, even though everything appears normal.
From my experience, fertility is rarely just a medical matter. It is deeply connected to how a woman feels, her sense of safety, and often unconscious inner beliefs. I often tell my clients:
“When everything looks fine medically but pregnancy doesn’t happen, there is usually a part within the woman that, on some level, is resisting or sabotaging it. My role is to help that part be seen, understood, and often negotiate with it.”
In this article, I’d like to share insights from my work with women on this journey and the potential benefits of hypnotherapy.
Working with fertility clients, I see that their path is often lonely and emotionally challenging. Typically, women are the first in the couple to undergo medical assessments. These appointments can feel formal and procedural, with interactions that may seem authoritative, leaving little space for emotional support or reassurance.
When I ask my clients how these visits make them feel, they often say they leave worried that there is something wrong with their body and feel “too much” when asking questions.
And then there is the loneliness aspect of it. Women want to talk about their struggles, but often feel self-conscious because it dominates their conversations. Friends who become pregnant can feel triggering, and there’s a constant tension between wanting to share and not wanting to feel vulnerable or needy.
I find it surprising how rarely the emotional and mental wellbeing aspects are integrated into medical fertility care, even though they are so closely connected.
Research suggests that psychosocial support during assisted reproductive technology procedures may improve pregnancy outcomes. For example:
A meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials found that psychological interventions were associated with a 31% higher pregnancy rate (risk ratio = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.22–1.40). (PubMed link)
Another systematic review of 15 RCTs reported a positive association between psychosocial interventions and pregnancy rates (RR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.01–1.24), with stronger effects for mind-body and long-duration interventions. (PubMed link)
These findings highlight that emotional wellbeing isn’t just a “nice-to-have” component of fertility care, it can directly influence physiological outcomes.
These studies confirm what we see in practice: when women feel calmer, safer, and more connected to their bodies, conception can happen more easily.
And this is where working with the subconscious can be a real game changer.
The subconscious mind influences our physiology through stress hormones, tension patterns, and even subtle shifts in immune or reproductive function. When fear or self-doubt dominate, the body can remain in a protective state rather than a receptive one.
Studies suggest that hypnosis during fertility treatments, especially at critical moments like embryo transfer, can support higher implantation and pregnancy rates, with some controlled trials showing notable benefits in outcomes. (Levitas et al., 2006; Levitas & Parmet, 2006)
But hypnotherapy has the potential to go far beyond the mind-body connection: it can help us work with deep inner beliefs.
So how does this relate to fertility?
To understand that, we need to look at how our belief systems operate:
Our minds cannot hold two conflicting beliefs at once. If we desperately want to conceive but a part of us is still concerned:
“I am not ready”
“How will I cope without sleep”
“I am scared of birth”
our mind tends to follow the belief that shows up most and often it’s the limiting one.
Some of the typical blocks that came up when working with unexplained infertility are:
Memories of a mother being unhappy, creating an unconscious fear that motherhood equals unhappiness or feeling trapped.
Experiences of hurt from a mother (neglect, abuse, controlling behavior, trust violations), forming a deep inner conflict: “I don’t want to become like her or hurt anyone.”
Fear of being unable to handle motherhood’s challenges.
Fear of losing connection with one’s womanhood, partner, or sense of self.
Fear of loss, often tied to childhood trauma like a sick sibling, creates an unconscious worry: “Babies are fragile, and I couldn’t cope with loss.”
These examples are only a small part of what can lie underneath unexplained infertility. Many of these fears are actually quite rational and relatable. But sometimes the root cause isn’t rational at all – it can be something completely unexpected, something you would never logically connect to fertility. A single moment, an early imprint, or a childhood experience can create a subconscious belief that quietly works against conception without a woman ever realizing it.
In her work, my teacher and creator of Rapid Transformational Therapy, Marisa Peer, shares a case where a woman struggled to conceive because of a very early imprint from her own birth.
During her delivery, she became physically stuck, and doctors had to use forceps to help her out. Even as a newborn, she absorbed the feeling that the situation was dangerous because she was “too big.”
Decades later, this early imprint was still alive in her subconscious. And since pregnancy also means the body becoming “bigger,” a deep, instinctive fear formed: being big is unsafe. Isn’t it fascinating?
Here is another example, a recent case from my own practice:
One of my dear clients, S, came to me after a second unsuccessful IVF cycle. Medically speaking, she and her partner didn’t have any problems that would explain the difficulty conceiving. During our session, S accessed memories of feeling deeply emotionally hurt by her mother, moments she hadn’t been fully aware of before.
As a little girl she felt abandoned and emotionally neglected. She carried this hurt without knowing where it came from, and these unprocessed emotions had turned into an inner block, an unconscious belief that “being a mother means causing pain.”
Deep inside, a part of her felt that since she had suffered because of her own mother, she must not repeat that pattern. This unseen part of her was unconsciously blocking conception until it was acknowledged, released, and healed. S became pregnant.
Here is another example: My client L., during hypnosis, accessed memories from when her baby sister was hospitalized. She remembered the panic of her parents, the hospital smells, and the overwhelming sense of danger. Her childhood mind had encoded the belief that loss of a baby was unbearable and must be avoided at all costs – a fear that later took root in her subconscious, blocking her fertility. Once this early fear was acknowledged and released, she became pregnant soon afterward.
These cases beautifully illustrate how early emotional experiences can shape unconscious beliefs that later influence the body.
So how exactly can hypnotherapy uncover these beliefs?
Using a hypnotherapy technique called regression, I guide my clients to access deeper memories and impressions stored in the subconscious. Memories often come up that the client had forgotten, or remembered without realizing how they were affecting them.
When these beliefs are brought to awareness, my job is then to reframe them layer by layer and often negotiate with the inner parts that are causing resistance.
The methodology I use is called Rapid Transformational Therapy and is based on hypnotherapy, CBT, and NLP. After every session, I record for my client a personalized hypnotic audio similar to a guided meditation. Listening daily engages neuroplasticity and allows the brain to form new pathways that support the changes created in session.
Another superpower of hypnosis is its ability to reprogram the body on a physical level. This is done through an approach called Command Cell Therapy – a hypnotic technique that uses precise, positive suggestions to encourage the body’s optimal functioning.
During our first conversation, I often ask clients:
“If your doctor were here with us, what would they say needs to happen physically for conception to occur?”
Their answers guide the therapeutic suggestions I include in the session and in the recording.
For example, depending on what they share, the hypnotic commands might include:
Your ovaries are healthy, active, and functioning beautifully.
Your eggs are vibrant, strong, and perfectly fertile.
Your ovaries are producing exactly the right levels of estrogen and progesterone.
Your hormonal system is naturally returning to perfect balance.
Each month, your body releases a mature, healthy, receptive egg.
These powerful suggestions, received in a deeply relaxed state, help reinforce the body’s natural intelligence.
While every journey is unique, many clients notice shifts in their mindset and emotional state after the first sessions.
So how does a hypnotherapy session actually look in practice?
A typical hypnotherapy session lasts about 2.5 hours and can be done in person or online. Clients usually sit or lie comfortably on a sofa and remain in full control throughout. The session is a dialogue: we talk, laugh, cry, and pause as needed, while the client stays in a deeply relaxed state similar to yoga’s shavasana.
A few days later, I send a personalized hypnotic recording to be listened to daily for 21 days. The number of sessions depends on individual circumstances. For fertility support, I typically recommend planning at least three sessions, although some clients experience meaningful changes even after the first session.
Hypnotherapy has a remarkable potential in fertility care, offering a complementary path to support clients more holistically. Clinics and therapists curious to explore this approach are welcome to reach out for discussion or collaboration: hello@mariazaro.com
Important Note:
Hypnotherapy is a well-recognized complementary therapy — not a substitute for medical fertility treatment. It can support emotional and subconscious aspects of fertility, but it should always be used alongside advice and care from medical professionals. The success stories I share illustrate what is possible, but every journey is individual, and no approach can guarantee results. My intention is to help women feel more resourced on their path to conception. never to offer medical advice or replace the care of their doctors.
Suggested Reading
The Mind‑Body Fertility Connection by James Schwartz
Trying to Get Pregnant (And Succeeding) by Marisa Peer
Efficacy of psychosocial interventions for psychological and pregnancy outcomes in infertile women and men: a systematic review and meta‑analysis by Y. Frederiksen, et al. (2015)
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