Disordered Eating & Reproductive Trauma

I frequently talk about how eating disorders can be activated during pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood. But what about disordered eating that is activated by infertility or pregnancy loss?

People who experience infertility or pregnancy loss (i.e., reproductive trauma) are often led to feel like something is wrong with them; that it is something they are doing - or not doing - that is causing their infertility or losses. 

This can lead to a perfectionist mentality, where people might feel they need to do the exact right thing in order to have a successful pregnancy, and this often shows up in people’s relationship with food.

Infertility and pregnancy loss can also lead to people feeling like they are “not enough”, and they search for this ‘enough-ness’ through food and exercise.

Disordered eating might also be a way of externalizing pain - for people to feel like their emotional pain is only valid if others can see the pain represented through extreme weight loss and looking unwell.

If you are experiencing infertility or pregnancy loss, you are not alone.

About 1 in 6 people experience infertility.

Up to 1 in 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage.

The grief from experiencing infertility and pregnancy loss is often not visible to others. 

You may feel you want more control in your life, and find that through controlling what you eat or how you move your body. 

Or you may feel that showing your grief through how your body looks can give more validity to how you feel. 

If you resonate with any of this information, please reach out to a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. You do not have to go through this alone.

You can also find helpful resources on the National Alliance for Eating Disorders website.

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