Fertility, IVF, & Surrogacy Support
With Dr. Marisa T. Cohen, PhD, LMFT, CST
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist | Relationship Scientist
as seen in:
As a relationship scientist and therapist, I understand that fertility challenges can affect far more than the path to parenthood. I help individuals and couples navigate these experiences while staying connected to themselves, each other, and the life they are building.
Are you finding that fertility challenges, treatment, IVF, or surrogacy has changed your relationship in ways you didn't expect?
Do you feel like you're handling the process differently than your partner?
Are decisions, appointments, finances, or family conversations creating tension between you?
Maybe one of you wants to keep moving forward while the other needs a break. Maybe intimacy has changed, communication has become harder, or the emotional weight of the process is leaving little room for your relationship. Maybe you're navigating donor conception, finding a surrogate, pregnancy after infertility, or the transition to parenthood and realizing you need support along the way.
Fertility and family building can be deeply meaningful, but they can also bring uncertainty, grief, stress, and difficult decisions.
You don't have to navigate the emotional side of the journey alone.
Clients Come To Me When They’re:
Feeling overwhelmed by the uncertainty, decisions, appointments, and emotional ups and downs of fertility treatment
Struggling with the stress of IVF or repeated treatment cycles
Experiencing grief after infertility, pregnancy loss, an unsuccessful cycle, or a difficult fertility experience
Feeling anxious, frustrated, isolated, or as though your body or future is outside of your control
Navigating the emotional complexities of donor conception or surrogacy
Having difficulty communicating about treatment, decisions, finances, or next steps
Feeling disconnected because fertility treatment has become the focus of your relationship
Trying to support one another while managing their own emotions
Wanting a place where they can talk openly about the parts of the experience that may be difficult to share with family or friends
“Fertility treatment can turn something deeply personal into a process filled with appointments, decisions, timelines, and uncertainty. Therapy can give you space to process what you’re experiencing while also protecting the relationship and sense of self that exist beyond the treatment.”
What Fertility Therapy With Me Is Like
My approach is warm, collaborative, and grounded in both relationship science and clinical experience. I create space for the emotional realities of fertility and family-building without assuming that there is one “right” way to feel.
If you're working with a partner, we'll focus not only on the fertility journey itself, but on how you can move through it together. That may mean learning how to communicate when you're overwhelmed, making decisions when you don't agree, protecting intimacy, or finding ways to feel like partners rather than patients navigating a medical process.
If you're navigating the process individually, therapy can provide a place to explore identity, grief, uncertainty, hope, boundaries, and the many complicated emotions that can accompany building a family.
Modalities I Use
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Identifies communication patterns, reduces conflict, and builds habits that strengthen long-term relationships.
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Helps you recognize the emotional needs beneath conflict so you can reconnect instead of continuing the same arguments.
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Explores how each partner's history shapes the way they seek closeness, handle conflict, and experience vulnerability.
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Provides a structured framework for understanding your strengths, areas for growth, and shared goals as a couple.
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Keeps our work moving toward practical changes that improve your relationship outside the therapeutic setting.
Make Meaningful Changes Along the Journey
When you have space to process the emotions, uncertainty, and decisions that come with fertility treatment and family building, it becomes easier to stay connected to yourself, your partner, and what matters most.
Fertility Therapy
With Results
After working with me clients report:
Feeling more connected and supported as a couple
Communicating more openly about difficult emotions and decisions
Navigating fertility treatment with less conflict and more understanding
Setting healthier boundaries with family, friends, and others involved in the process
Feeling more confident in their decisions and next steps
Reconnecting with hope, intimacy, and a sense of themselves beyond treatment
About Dr. Marisa T. Cohen, PhD, LMFT, CST
Relationships have been the focus of my entire career. Before becoming a therapist, I spent years researching love, attachment, and relationship development while teaching psychology at the college level. Today, I bring that background into therapy, relationship science research, and consulting with leading relationship platforms, including Bumble and Paired.
My work with fertility and family-building clients combines my clinical training, relationship expertise, and personal experience. I understand that the path to becoming a parent can affect much more than the logistics of family-building; it can shape how you see yourself, your relationship, your body, and your future.
I provide a compassionate, judgment-free space where you can talk honestly about what you're experiencing and get support for the emotional and relational parts of the journey.
Availability: I provide online therapy for clients throughout
New York and Vermont.
Education, Credentials, and Trainings
PhD in Educational Psychology
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Founder, Embracing Change Marriage & Family Therapy
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist
University of Michigan Sexual Health Certificate Program
Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 2
Emotionally Focused Therapy Training
Prepare Enrich Certified Facilitator
2021 & 2024 TEDx Speaker
Former In-House Relationship Scientist, Bumble
Former In-House Relationship Expert, Paired
Former Tenured Associate Professor of Psychology
3 Steps To Get Started
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01.
Contact Me
Reach out through the contact form and tell me a little about you and your journey. I'll respond personally and answer any initial questions.
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02.
Brief Consultation
We'll schedule a consultation to discuss your goals, answer your questions, and decide whether we're the right fit. -
03.
First Session
We'll start by understanding your unique journey and what this experience has been like. We’ll make space for the emotions and decisions of fertility treatment while helping you feel supported and connected, whether individually or as a couple.