Infertility Quotes: Inspiring Words To Help You Cope

Words can be powerful. Coming from a book publishing background, I truly believe in the power of words to heal and inspire. Whether you see yourself for the first time in a character in a book, or read someone else’s blog and finally feel a little bit less alone, words have the ability to get us through even the toughest of times.

When I was going through infertility, if I was having a particularly rough day I would look up quotes from my favorite authors for words to help remind me that I was strong enough to get to the other side — if I could just take it one day, and one step, at a time.

Below are 80+ infertility quotes that I found really resonated with my experience — from frustration to healing to hope — that may help you feel less alone on your journey.

Struggle and frustration infertility quotes

Infertility comes with a rollercoaster of emotions — and frustration often tops the list. These quotes put words to the struggle, reminding you that while the path may feel heavy, you’re not walking it alone.

1. “You don’t have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt with. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you’re holding.” — Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things

2. “Grief shatters. If you let yourself shatter and then you put yourself back together, piece by piece, you wake up one day and realize that you have been completely reassembled.” — Glennon Doyle, Untamed

3. “She is brave and strong and broken all at once.” — Anna Funder

4. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley

5. “I will not let the stress of infertility overtake my life.” — Anonymous

6. “It’s hard to wait around for something you know might never happen; It’s even harder to give up when you know it’s everything you want.” — Anonymous

7. “Whatever the struggle, continue the climb. It may be only one step to the summit.” — Diane Westlake

8. “The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” — Robert Tew

9. "Being human is not hard because you're doing it wrong, it's hard because you're doing it right. You will never change the fact that being human is hard, so you must change your idea that it was ever supposed to be easy." — Glennon Doyle, Untamed

10. “Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need…” — Friedrich Nietzsche

11. “Don’t expect everyone to understand your journey, especially if they’ve never had to walk your path.” — Anonymous

12. “Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you'll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you'll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.” — Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things

13. “The world was selfish, unjust…” — Brittainy C. Cherry, Disgrace

14. “Even if it has not been your habit… think positively about your body.” — Ina May Gaskin

15. “Don’t compare your struggles to anyone else’s…” — MJ Korvan

16. “Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.” — Bernadette Devlin

17. “The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings…” — Helen Keller

18. “Is there any point in breathing if this is what the world is asking me to face?… You keep breathing…” — Jodi Sky Rogers

19. “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is the shame for being human.” — Brené Brown

20. “When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.” — Theodore Roosevelt

21. "Grief shatters. If you let yourself shatter and then you put yourself back together, piece by piece, you wake up one day and realize that you have been completely reassembled." — Glennon Doyle, Untamed

22. “The darkest hours are just before dawn.” — English Proverb

23. “The struggle is part of the story.” — Anonymous

24. “I’m thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.” — Alex Elle

25. “You were given this mountain to show others it can be moved.” — Anonymous

26. “What starts out as a dream becomes a project that’s all-consuming…” — Brooke Shields

27. “Anyone that’s been in the place of wanting another child… knows the disappointment, the pain and the loss… struggling with fertility.” — Nicole Kidman

28. “It’s frustrating to watch everyone else’s dreams come true…” — Anonymous

29. “There is nothing more disappointing than… a negative pregnancy test.” — Anonymous

30. "It’s okay to feel all of the stuff you’re feeling. You’re just becoming human again. You’re not doing life wrong; you’re doing it right. If there’s any secret you’re missing, it’s that doing it right is just really hard. Feeling all your feelings is hard, but that’s what they’re for. Feelings are for feeling. All of them. Even the hard ones. The secret is that you’re doing it right and that doing it right hurts sometimes.” — Glennon Doyle, Untamed

31. “Shout out to all of us fighting a battle most people don’t understand.” — Anonymous

32. “It starts to hurt the most when you have to start pretending it doesn’t.” — Anonymous

33. “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey.” — Anonymous

34. “It’s not that motherhood is out of reach… it almost did and, in fact, still could.” — Alexandra Kimball, The Seed

Heartbreak infertility quotes

Infertility hurts — not just physically, but emotionally in ways that can be hard to put into words. These infertility quotes capture the heartbreak of loss and longing, validating the grief that deserves to be named and felt.

35. "I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me." — Cheryl Strayed, Wild

36. “Infertility is a loss. It’s the loss of a dream… it will be grieved.” — Anonymous

37. “There’s a unique pain that comes from preparing a place in your heart for a child that never comes.” — David Platt

38. “Sometimes it’s hard to see the rainbow when there’s been endless days of rain.” — Christina Greer, Two-Week Wait

39. “Throughout my life… Mother’s Day was one of those… it spoke of loss and failure.” — Brittainy C. Cherry, Disgrace

40. “For those who deeply want children and are denied them… Who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that is never held?” — Laura Bush, Spoken From The Heart

41. “It is one thing… to think, ‘Maybe I won’t have kids’ and quite another to be told, ‘Maybe you can’t.’” — Peggy Orenstein, Waiting for Daisy

42. “They don’t get the particular nature of this grief…” — Alexandra Kimball, The Seed

43. “Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.” — Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things

44. “Women often endure infertility, pregnancy, infant loss… in isolation…” — Soraya Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her

45. “Is there anyone dearer than the children of people you love, especially when you don’t have your own?” — Lisa Unger, Under My Skin

46. “We all slip somewhere near in space… These infertile women are among us. This woman is me.” — Karina Savaryna, Not Pregnant

47. “For everyone going through infertility and conception hell… it was not a straight line…” — Anne Hathaway

48. "When you recognize that you will thrive not in spite of your losses and sorrows, but because of them, that you would not have chosen the things that happened in your life, but you are grateful for them, that you will hold the empty bowls eternally in your hands, but you also have the capacity to fill them? THE WORD FOR THAT IS HEALING." — Cheryl Strayed, Brave Enough

49. “Getting pregnant wasn’t easy and I found that devastating.” — Emily Procter

50. “We tried to have another child… I went into a deep clinical depression.” — Emma Thompson

51. “Infertility often comes with grief and loss. You have to let go of the vision…” — Halle Tecco

Motivational and inspirational quotes about infertility

Even in the middle of uncertainty, hope has a way of shining through. These words offer perspective, encouragement, and a reminder that your story is still unfolding, with strength and possibility ahead.

52. “Learn to trust the journey even when you don’t understand it.” — Mila Bron

53. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher

54. “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” — Robert Ludlum

55. “Courage doesn’t always roar… ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’” — Mary Anne Radmacher

56. “Not everyone will understand your journey… It’s yours.” — Zero Dean

57. “A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles.” — Jane Fuller

58. “Just because your path is different doesn’t mean you’re lost.” — Gerard Abrams

59. “Strong women aren’t simply born. They are made by the storms they walk through.” — Anonymous

60. “When the world says, ‘give up,’ hope whispers, ‘try one more time.’” — Anonymous

61. “And sometimes against all odds, against all logic, we still hope.” — Dr. Meredith Grey

62. “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” — Anonymous

63. “There’s no telling how many miles you have to run while chasing a dream.” — Anonymous

64. “It’s going to be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” — Anonymous

65. “Even miracles take a little time.” — Fairy Godmother, Cinderella

66. “All it takes is faith and trust and a little bit of pixie dust.” — Peter Pan

67. “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing…” — Cinderella

68. “Most of the important things… kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” — Dale Carnegie

69. “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” — Robert H. Schuller

70. “What if infertility isn’t a war but an awakening… a renaissance?” — Rekha Ramcharan

71. “Life is tough, my darling, but so are you.” — Stephanie Bennett-Henry

72. “For everyone going through infertility… you’ll get there… it’s so worth it.” — Jimmy Fallon

73. “The greater the storm, the brighter the rainbow.” — Anonymous

74. “The strongest women become the strongest mothers before their children are even conceived.” — Anonymous

75. “Your worth is not determined by your fertility.” — Anonymous

76. “Listen to the mustn’ts… Anything can be.” — Shel Silverstein

77. “Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know…” — Anonymous

78. “The longer you wait for something, the more you’ll appreciate it…” — Anonymous

79. “Hope is that thing with feathers…” — Emily Dickinson

80. “There is purpose in your season of waiting.” — Megan Smalley

81. “As long as we are persistent… we will continue to grow.” — Denis Waitley

82. “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

83. “Creating a family in this turbulent world is an act of faith…” — Dean Koontz

84. "What I thought would kill me, didn’t. Every time I said to myself: I can’t take this anymore — I was wrong. The truth was that I could and did take it all — and I kept surviving. Surviving, again and again, made me less afraid of myself, of other people, of life." — Glennon Doyle, Untamed

Finding strength beyond quotes

Infertility is hard — it’s heavy with grief, what-ifs, and moments that test every ounce of you. For me, the words that helped most weren’t just quick quotes but entire books that held space for the messy middle. Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things reminded me that healing is possible, even when life looks nothing like what you imagined. Glennon Doyle’s Untamed gave me permission to feel it all — the rage, the heartbreak, the hope — and to know that none of it meant I was doing life wrong.

If infertility has taught me anything, it’s that strength doesn’t come from having an easy road — it comes from surviving the hard one. You’re allowed bad days. You’re allowed every feeling. And you’re also capable of moving forward, piece by piece. The only way out is through — and you’ve already survived 100% of your hardest days.

---

Kristyn Hodgdon is a passionate women's health advocate and the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Rescripted, where she helps break down complicated medical info into content that's easy to understand — and actually helpful. As an IVF mom who’s experienced pregnancy loss and lives with PCOS, Kristyn blends her professional know-how with real-life experience to support others navigating similar journeys. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, ScaryMommy, and more, and she’s the host of the podcast From First Period To Last Period. A Fordham University grad, Kristyn also volunteers with the Fly Again Foundation, which supports breast cancer patients. You can find her on Instagram or connect with her on Linkedin.