‘Screw It’ Moments in Fertility: How Stress Quietly Shapes Your Family-Building Choices

When you’re going through fertility treatment, donor conception, or surrogacy, it’s completely normal to hit a point where you think, “Ugh… screw it.” In this solo episode, Lisa Schuman names and explains the “Screw It Principle”: the quiet ways stress, exhaustion, jealousy, and resentment slip into big decisions about clinics, donors, and agencies. She breaks down the two versions of “screw it” moments, why they feel so good in the moment, and how they can slowly pull you away from your deepest values for yourself and your future child. You’ll learn: The two types of “screw it” decisions and how they show up in fertility, donor conception, and surrogacy How decision fatigue, jealousy, and burnout push you toward what feels comforting instead of what matches your long-term values A simple two-question checkpoint to catch “screw it” moments in real time How to gently redirect that “I’m done” energy into safer places, without judging yourself Lisa also shares a free Stress Tools Guide to help you calm your nervous system when you feel burned out, angry, or jealous, so you can return to big choices with more clarity and self-compassion. She also points you to SART, a resource for looking up official U.S. IVF clinic data so you can better align clinic choices with your values, not just your stress level. You are not weak for having “screw it” moments. You’re human. This episode helps you notice them before they quietly steer the parts of your family-building journey that matter most. Episode resources Grab your free ebook here: https://familybuilding.net/free-downloads/ Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) - https://www.sart.org/  Fertility and Sterility: https://www.fertstert.org/