Are you developing a practice niche in fertility and reproductive health issues? One out of six couples in the United States experiences infertility. As a result of advances in medical technology, infertile couples are having babies through in vitro fertilization, the use of donor gametes, and gestational surrogacy. This is a fascinating area of behavioral medicine, fraught with rapidly advancing sophisticated medical technologies that have both psychological and ethical ramifications. This is the focus of the Mental Health Professional Group (MHPG) of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

If this is an area that interests you, you could benefit from joining the MHPG, a multidisciplinary group of mental health professionals that formed in 1985 with the full support of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Its founding mission was to promote scientific understanding of the psychological, social, and emotional perspectives of infertility patients. MHPG goals are to:

• promote greater awareness of the psychological dimensions of reproductive health issues and treatment;
• educate ASRM members and the general public about emotional aspects of infertility and the need for support services in conjunction with medical care;
• encourage research into the psychosocial aspects of reproductive health;
• provide materials that enable practitioners to better meet their patients' needs for information and support.

The MHPG achieves these goals through support of scientific research studies, the development of treatment strategies, education of physicians and patients, and the delineation of guidelines for mental health professionals in reproductive medicine. Guidelines developed thus far include: Psychological Assessment of Gamete Donors and Recipients; Psychological Guidelines for Embryo Donation; and Qualification Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals in Reproductive Medicine.

Benefits of membership include:

• subscriptions to Fertility and Sterility (a premiere scientific journal in the field of reproductive medicine) , Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause (focusing on important topics often not covered by traditional scientific and medical journals), ASRM News and the MHPG Newsletter;
• listing in our "Find a Mental Health Professional in Your Area" online directory for patient and professional use;
• access to "members only" resources and sections of the ASRM Web Site;
• access to the MHPG listserv, which offers opportunities to ask, answer, or just read about some of the most fascinating questions concerning issues and dilemmas we face regularly in our work in this field;
• the opportunity to participate in MHPG committees and task force groups that have influenced the development of research and national ASRM policy, as well as developed psychological evaluation protocols, publications, and educational programs;
• the opportunity to contribute to the knowledge base in reproductive mental health issues.

The MHPG sponsors a Postgraduate Course each year at the annual ASRM Meeting, usually held in the fall of the year. Recent past courses have been entitled: Infertility Counseling: Survival Skills for the New Millennium; Innovations and Ethics in the ARTS: An Interactive Course for Mental Health and Medical Professionals; Male and Female Sexual Dysfunction – What Every Practitioner Needs to Know; Children of the ARTS (Assisted Reproductive Technologies): Psychosocial Challenges to Redefining Family; and Behavioral Medicine Interventions for Reproductive Endocrinology Patients. The 2005 MHPG Postgraduate Course will be held in Montreal on October 15 and October 16, 2005. The title is Counseling Couples about Collaborative Reproduction: Ethical, Cultural and Psychological Dimensions of Parenthood Following ART. Course chairs are Robert Nachtigall, MD and Jean Benward, LCSW, with a psychologist, anthropologist, and bioethicist participating, as well. The course will include new data from over 200 interviews with donor gamete parents about their beliefs and practices regarding disclosure and embryo disposition. The course will also provide interview data about how patients undertake disposition decisions for frozen embryos. Following the postgraduate course, from Monday, October 17 through Wednesday, October 19, 2005 MHPG will offer research abstracts, workshops, symposia and more informal luncheon roundtables covering many other issues of interest.

Check out the MHPG web page at www.asrm.org to find out more about the MHPG.

To Join: Send your name, address, phone, fax, e-mail and discipline, along with your request to join BOTH ASRM and the Mental Health Professional Group to:

Dottie Beatty
Membership Administrator ASRM
1209 Montgomery Highway
Birminghamn, AL
35216-2809

Or e-mail this information to Dottie Beatty at: dbeatty@asrm.org Join us, network with colleagues working within this practice niche, and keep current in your knowledge of this fascinating and quickly evolving field of behavioral medicine.

Joann Paley Galst, Ph.D.
Psychologist in Private Practice Member,
Division 42,
APA Past-chair,
Mental Health Professional Group
30 E. 60th Street, Suite 802
New York, NY 10022
212-759-2783
jgalst@aol.com

Penny Joss Fletcher, M.F.T., and Corinne Palatchi, Ph.D. Co-chairs of the MHPG Membership Committee

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