Termination of Pregnancy for Medical Reasons: A Unique Grief

Terminating a pregnancy due to fetal anomaly (TOPFA) during or after the second trimester of pregnancy may present as both an immediate and existential crisis for expectant parents. This presentation explores the unique bereavement of people who TOPFA as compared with other perinatal losses and provides an introduction to the population itself and the unique factors leading them to seek therapy. While TOPFA has been explored in qualitative research, there are few practice-based articles addressing both the nuts and bolts of therapeutic intervention as well as how to approach people’s attempts to grieve and mourn this loss. Successful, sensitive, and informed therapeutic interventions rooted in theoretical perspectives including continuing bonds and ambiguous loss may result in making meaning from their grief.

This presentation will apply theory to practice by introducing a model in which to conduct therapy entitled ACCEPT, and illustrate the intervention through the experience of a composite patient. In the future, a Part 2 webinar will be provided to explore the DOUBLE RAINBOW approach to clients who are subsequently pregnant after TOPFA.

This webinar does not have any offerings for this semester.