On Maternal Attitude toward Young Children Conceived through in Vitro Fertilization

Abstract

We present the results of a comparative study of maternal attitudes towards young children (11-37 months) in 135 dyads (cases of spontaneous conception) and 135 dyads (children conceived through in vitro fertilization - IVF). Data were collected in 2011-2012 in Center for Family Planning and Reproduction, Moscow, using the following techniques: questionnaire for mothers by M.E. Lantsburg, technique "Parental estimates of children" (M.E. Lantsburg modification of Dembo-Rubinstein techniques), medical history data. It has been shown that women who conceive through IVF, compared with those who conceived spontaneously, more often ignore the baby movements during pregnancy, and child birth often has a significant impact on the change in their lives. The mothers who conceived spontaneously have more realistic expectations about the actual possibilities and abilities of their children; mothers who conceived through IVF, often place inappropriate to their age requirements to the children and have higher expectations of their children.

Динамика Супружеских И Родительских Отношений В Семьях, Зачавших Ребенка Посредством Экстракорпорального Оплодотворения

“…In the child's infancy, the group-specific differences in perception of child's qualities as special, positively different from the qualities of other children, was significant only for fathers: fathers in IVF had significantly higher scores than NC fathers. This result may indicate the risk for having high expectations from the child, which was previously observed in mothers (Solovyova, 2014).…”

“…The parental attitudes towards the child conceived through IVF was shown to be characterized by: high maternal expectations from the child (Solovyova, 2014), from themselves and others (Mohammadi et al, 2015); mothers' tendency to express overprotection and permissive parenting style (Dueva, 2014;Mohammadi et al, 2015); excessive positive emotionality during the pregnancy and overestimation of own parental skills, with a tendency to have codependent relationships with the child (Malenova & Kytkova, 2015); unconditional acceptance of the child and the desire to establish the bodily contact with them, with lower support of child's initiative (Yakupova & Zakharova, 2016); and an overall warmer attitude towards the child compared to families who conceived naturally (Fata et al, 2021;Paterlini et al, 2021).…”