Couples' Reaction to Failed Assisted Reproductive Technology

Abstract

This is a descriptive study aimed to assessing the couples' reaction to failed Assisted Reproductive Technology .It was conducted at IVF center of Ain Shams Maternity University Hospital. It started in April 2010 and was completed in September 2010 after obtaining faculty ethical committee approval. The sample was consisted of (59 couples) undergoing failed ART trial. Tools used for data collection consisted of couples' structured interviewing questionnaire sheet regard infertility& ART trials and couples' reactions to failed assisted reproductive technology sheet. Results revealed that couples included in the study ranged between 20-45 years, with a mean age of 30.36± 3.112 years for wives and 35.64±3.852 years for husbands. 67.3% of female were the cause of infertility, and 94.5% of couples had a previous trials of ART. Analysis of wives stressor revealed that high stressor aroused from social distress 41.5 % mean while husbands stressor revealed that high stressor aroused from personal distress 54.1 %. As regard wives reactions regard failed ART trials , it was observed that powerlessness, frustration and sense of failure are major negative reactions which represented 83.2%, 88.1% and 66.2 % respectively mean while husbands reactions were frustration ,sense of failure and anxiety & depression are major negative reactions which represented 74.2%, 51.7 % and 49.7 % respectively. Strong positive correlation was proved between wives & husbands reactions and stressor regard failed ART trials that proved more stressor increase negative reactions especially for wives than their husbands. The study concluded that wives demonstrated more emotional reactions & stressful disturbance than husbands after failed ART trials. The study recommended eestablish of educational programs to enlighten infertile couples about treatment options and answer their questions and different coping strategies with failed assisted reproductive technology trials after investigating factors influencing the gender differences in reactions to infertility with other stressful health situations. [