Sociocultural determinants of infertility stress in patients undergoing fertility treatments

INTRODUCTION: Involuntary childlessness is a distressing condition that has considerable social implications in developing nations. AIM: The present study aims to investigate the less known sociocultural determinants of infertility stress in patients undergoing assisted conception and reproductive treatments. METHODS: This cross-sectional research was conducted on 300 men and women with primary infertility. The profile of sociodemographic variables, clinical variables, and sociocultural variables was collected using a locally devised questionnaire. Infertility stress was assessed using the psychological evaluation test. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Research data were analyzed using SPSS 15. Chi-square test is used for univariate analysis. Multiple logistic regression with enter method is used to examine the association between infertility stress and sociocultural variables. RESULTS: The findings suggest that in both men and women, low spousal support, financial constraints, and social coercion in early years of marriage predicts infertility distress. Peer-support neither predicts nor protects against distress. DISCUSSION: Family acceptance and social security for infertility is low. Stigma, concealment, and discrimination among men are reported to be high. Distress is three times greater in women with overinvolved family members who had unrealistic expectations from treatments. Taking continuous cycles of fertility treatments seems unaffordable for most patients. Subfertile individuals were socially perceived to be deprived, blemished, incomplete, and sexually incompetent. CONCLUSION: Data from this investigation, provides a glimpse into sociocultural aspects of infertility. The findings may be useful for identifying targets for individual and family-focused psychological interventions for distress reduction in infertility.