Infertility treatment and marital relationships: a 1-year prospective study among successfully treated ART couples and their controls
Open Access
- 16 February 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Human Reproduction
- Vol. 22 (5), 1481-1491
- https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dem013
Abstract
BACKGROUNDEvidence about the effects of infertility and assisted reproduction technique (ART) on marital relationships is discrepant. Here, we examined the impact of ART on marital relationships. The roles of life stressors, infertility and treatment characteristics in predicting marital relations were also evaluated.METHODSSubjects: 367 couples with singleton IVF/ICSI pregnancies. Controls: 379 couples with spontaneous singleton pregnancies. Women and men were assessed when the child was 2 months (T2) and 12 months old (T3). They further reported stressful life events at T2 and depression in pregnancy.RESULTSNo between-group differences were found in marital satisfaction and dyadic cohesion. Dyadic consensus deteriorated from T2 to T3 only among control women. Sexual affection was low among control men at T2 and stressful life events decreased it further. Depression during pregnancy predicted deteriorated marital relations only in control couples. Several unsuccessful treatment attempts were associated with good dyadic consensus and cohesion among ART women. Spontaneous abortions and multiple parity predicted poor marital satisfaction in ART women, whereas long duration of infertility and multiple parity predicted poor marital relations in ART men.CONCLUSIONSSuccessful ART does not constitute a risk for marital adjustment. The shared stress of infertility may even stabilize marital relationships.Keywords
This publication has 55 references indexed in Scilit:
- Variability in the difficulties experienced by women undergoing infertility treatmentsFertility and Sterility, 2005
- Public perception on infertility and its treatment: an international surveyHuman Reproduction, 2000
- Design and subjects of a Finnish epidemiological study on psychiatric disorders in childhood.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1999
- Child‐Rearing Following In Vitro FertilizationJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1996
- Similarities and differences in couples' grief reactions following a miscarriage: Results from a longitudinal studyJournal of Psychosomatic Research, 1996
- Infertility and parenthood: Does becoming a parent increase well-being?Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1994
- Stress, Sexual Satisfaction, and Marital Adjustment in Infertile CouplesJournal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 1992
- Is fertility-problem stress different? The dynamics of stress in fertile and infertile couplesFertility and Sterility, 1992
- Psychosocial, treatment, and demographic predictors of the stress associated with infertilityFertility and Sterility, 1992
- Psychological functioning across stages of treatment for infertilityJournal of Behavioral Medicine, 1991