Fertility therapy · Telehealth · California
Therapy for women navigating IUI, IVF, and loss, from a practice founded by a clinician who has been through it herself. Doctorate-led care, by secure video, anywhere in California.
Who this is for
The appointments, the injections, the supplements, the spreadsheet you would never admit to keeping. You show up composed, at the clinic and everywhere else.
And the mind that will not turn off inside it.
After a failed transfer, a miscarriage, or the scan where everything changed.
On your marriage, your work, and friendships that no longer know what to say.
Another round, donor options, surrogacy, or stopping. All of it belongs here.
Start where you are
Few women expect to hear it, and no two reactions look alike. If you have thought any of these, you are not alone in it.
“I can't believe this is happening.”
“I can't stop googling.”
“My body has failed me.”
“I'm doing most of this alone.”
“Everyone keeps saying the wrong thing.”
“We need a donor, and I did not plan for this.”
Many women feel shock, numbness, or disbelief in the days after a diagnosis, and some are certain it must be a mistake.
In therapySomeone to listen without hurrying you toward a plan. When you are ready, we work on accepting what you were told so you can make medical decisions you can stand behind.
You read forums, group chats, articles, and other women's stories at 2 a.m. Some of it helps. Some of it frightens you or points to a problem you do not have.
In therapyWe look at how much searching is useful and what to do when it turns into checking and worrying. I can point you to reliable sources, and a website cannot replace your physician or a therapist who knows your situation.
Guilt, anger, and envy are common, and many women keep infertility secret, which makes it heavier.
In therapyA place for the anger and the blame. Telling one trusted person often brings relief. If you are also feeling depressed or anxious, or leaning on alcohol or other substances to get through, that belongs in the work too.
Monitoring, blood draws, injections, and procedures mostly happen to the woman's body, whoever the diagnosis belongs to. Partner support helps, but many women find it is not enough, or does not come.
In therapyWe talk about carrying treatment mostly alone and what you need from the people around you.
Relatives and friends say the wrong thing or are upset themselves, and you may tire of giving updates and stop sharing altogether.
In therapyWe decide what you want people to know and what you would rather keep.
Single women and women with female partners often need donor sperm, donor eggs, or a surrogate, which adds decisions, cost, and sometimes unkind treatment from other people.
In therapyThese decisions belong in the work too.
If any of this sounds familiar, you can request an appointment. I offer infertility and IVF counseling by secure video to women across California.
If you are in your late 30s or 40s and in fertility treatment, you have probably heard that time matters, often at the moment you were least ready to hear it. You may be looking at a low AMH result, a recommendation to move quickly, a decision about donor eggs, or a choice about whether to freeze eggs or try another cycle. I work with women in this position.
Fertility does decline with age. For most women the decline is noticeable by the mid-30s and speeds up through the late 30s, and some women see changes earlier. There are fewer eggs as you get older, and the ones that remain are of lower quality than they were. Blood tests such as AMH can estimate your ovarian reserve, which is a measure of age-related fertility potential, and your physician can explain what your results mean for you.
Hearing this in a clinic is hard, especially if you have been careful about everything else. In therapy we work on how you are taking it in, whether as grief, anger, or fear, and on the decisions that follow.
Some women learn much earlier that their ovaries have stopped working normally. This is called premature ovarian insufficiency, or POI, when it happens before age 40, and it affects about 1% of women. The cause is often never found. For women who want to become pregnant, donor eggs are generally the most reliable route, which means a diagnosis like this can bring grief about your own eggs along with a major decision. A reproductive endocrinologist makes the diagnosis and discusses options with you. Therapy is where you can work through what the news means to you.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormone condition that affects about 5 to 10% of women. ASRM now calls it polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS, and many people still use the older name. It can make ovulation irregular, so getting pregnant may take medical help, and treatment options are available. It can also affect how you feel about your body, with changes such as acne, hair growth, or weight that many women find hard to talk about. If you are coping with that along with uncertainty about fertility, therapy can be a place to say it out loud. Your reproductive endocrinologist can guide the medical side.
Infertility is not only a female diagnosis. Male factor infertility is a common cause or contributing cause, and when it is the reason treatment is needed, the woman often carries a great deal of it anyway: the appointments, the injections, the procedures, and the emotional weight for two. You may also be managing a partner who is grieving, ashamed, or unwilling to talk about it, and decisions such as donor sperm that neither of you expected to face. My practice is individual therapy for women, so the work is about your experience of all of this, including how it affects your marriage or relationship.
A semen analysis is one of the first and simplest tests in a fertility evaluation, and many women have already had far more invasive testing by the time their partner agrees to one, or while he still has not. If your partner will not get tested, you may be left with anger, loneliness, and a stalled timeline, along with the fear of what he may be avoiding hearing. Reluctance often has more to do with shame, fear, or denial than with indifference, though that does not make it easier to live with. In therapy we work on what this is doing to you, how to raise it in a way that is more likely to be heard, and what you want to do if the answer does not change. I do not provide couples therapy, but I can help you prepare for those conversations.
Sources: American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Infertility: An Overview, What is Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (2021), and Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (2023). This page is general information and not medical advice.
Pregnancy loss & Infertility grief
The transfer that didn't take. The positive test that turned. The scan where the room went quiet. As many as one in four pregnancies ends in loss, yet it is grieved almost entirely in private, often before anyone else knew there was something to lose. The world offers no ritual for it. No service, no casseroles, no bereavement leave. Just "you can try again," as if that were comfort and not another weight.
We treat fertility loss as what it is: bereavement.
A note from Dr. Burnett
"I went through multiple rounds of IUI and IVF. I know the waiting, the grief, and the loneliness of executing everything perfectly while your body will not follow the plan. I also know what it is to sit across from a well-meaning therapist and spend half the session explaining what a beta is.
That is why fertility care at Burnett Clinical Group is different. You will never have to educate your therapist about the process. I built the standard from both sides of the room."
Fees
Fertility treatment is expensive. Therapy that supports you through it should not be out of reach, so the fee is stated plainly here.
$200 / 50-minute session
Doctorate-level care with Dr. Burnett, who has personal experience with IUI and IVF, and a deliberately small caseload so that every client has a consistent standing time.
Common questions
No. If fertility, in any form, is costing you sleep, peace, or yourself, that is reason enough. Many of our clients begin before treatment ever starts; others come mid-cycle or long after treatment has ended.
It is often the best time. Sessions are built to support the cycle you are in, and starting during treatment means you are not carrying the two-week wait alone.
Yes. We provide individual therapy, so the client is you, and your marriage and family load absolutely belong in the work.
We welcome referrals from reproductive endocrinologists, OB-GYNs, and fertility clinics across California, and we coordinate care with your medical team with your consent.
Then you deserve support for that, too. Grief work, identity work, and what-comes-next work are all part of what we do. Nothing about your worth is measured in outcomes.
A free guide
Practical ways to keep your mind from running the clock, written by Dr. Burnett, who has sat in this wait herself. Enter your email and the guide is yours, along with her monthly letter. Unsubscribe anytime.
Free. No spam. Never shared.
Where I work
Sessions are held by secure video, so you can meet from home or from a private space at work. I see women in Los Angeles, Culver City, and Inglewood, and in Northern California cities including San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento. If you live anywhere in California, you can begin with an appointment request.
When you are ready, request an appointment. Tell us in a few words what is bringing you in and which hours work for you, and save the longer story for your first session.
Request an Appointment
Professional membership
Member, American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)