Marital Relationship and Quality of Life Among Couples with Infertility

Abstract

The study was conducted due to the fact that there is not enough data on the topic in Turkey, where having a child brings status to women, and the related literature includes no qualitative studies about the effects of infertility on marital relationship (MR) and Quality of Life (QoL). Qualitative research in which 16 people who received successful infertility treatment received in-depth interviews, and data collected retrospectively. Infertility has negative effects on MR and QoL. In the marital relation category, four themes emerged from the answers given: (1) Separation-divorce; (2) Treatment phase and husband's reaction, support after unsuccessful treatment; (3) MR after the delivery; (4) significance of child in marriage. It was identified that infertility, regardless of which gender experiences it, brought along many problems such as unhappiness, stress, sorrow, insomnia, increase/decrease in appetite, increase in the smoking habit, social stigmatization, being exposed to curious questions about having a child, avoiding being in places with children, losing privacy of sexual life, having sexual intercourse in a planned way solely for the purpose of reproduction not of pleasure, deterioration in family relations, interruption in work life, and high cost of treatment expenses. Infertility and its treatment have effects on MR and QoL. These effects varied depending on the stage of infertility process, gender, and the quality of the relationship.