The social stigma of infertile women in Zhejiang Province, China: a questionnaire-based study

Abstract

Background Infertile women often face stigmatization worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the stigma against infertile women in China and to analyze its influencing factors. Methods Of 270 women who were randomly selected from patients receiving adjuvant fertility treatment in Zhejiang Province, China, 254 successfully completed the general information questionnaire, disease information questionnaire, and Chinese version of the infertility stigma scale (ISS). The ISS contained 27 positively worded items, each of which was graded on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Results The total stigma score of female infertility patients was 66.39 ± 21.96. By dividing the number of items, the average score for each ISS item was 2.13 ± 0.81, indicating the presence of stigma. Among the four ISS factors, the social withdrawal score was the highest (2.64 ± 1.05), whereas the family stigma score was the lowest (1.88 ± 0.88). Multiple stepwise regression analysis further revealed that the duration of infertility and monthly income were important predictors of the stigma of infertile women. Conclusions Infertile women experience moderate to high levels of stigma in Zhejiang, China. Thus, supportive psychological interventions and public education are required to change patients’ cognition and assist patients in coping with negative experiences.

Psychological Resilience as the Mediating Factor Between Stigma and Social Avoidance and Distress of Infertility Patients in China: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

“…They might have more psychological adjustment skills and methods to help them alleviate negative emotions and maintain normal social activities. 19 , 48 Infertility patients with very low reproductive pressure scored the lowest in SAD, while infertility patients with very high reproductive pressure scored the highest in SAD. It might be explained by the reason that social attention from the outside world will make infertile women more sensitive, and they do not want to be asked about having children by relatives or friends.…”

“…The inclusion criteria of this study: (1) female patients diagnosed as infertility using WHO diagnostic criteria (Infertility is clinically described as a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse); 1 (2) patients voluntarily participate in this study and were able to understand the survey content; (3) married females (Unmarried females with infertility are prohibited from receiving assisted reproductive technology in China). The exclusion criteria of this study were set as described previously: 19 , 33 (1) patients with disturbance of consciousness and mental illness; (2) patients were unable to fill in the questionnaires; (3) patients with severe physical or chronic diseases, such as (1) Severe heart, brain or kidney diseases; (2) Severe mental disorders; (3) Severe organic diseases in the reproductive or endocrine system. A total of 278 infertile patients were enrolled in this research.…”

“…ISS has been widely used in the study of infertility. 15 , 17 , 19 The score-level range was listed as follows: 27–63 (Low level); 64–100 (Middle level); 101–135 (High level).…”

“… 18 Stigma is very common in infertile patients, and it is believed to be one of the most common features of the disease. 19 Individuals with high levels of stigma are more likely to lack positive coping measures and have higher levels of social anxiety. 17 , 20 Stigma can lead to inferiority, loneliness, self-blame and self-derogation in interpersonal communication.…”

Discrete choice experiment exploring women’s preferences in a novel device designed to monitor the womb environment and improve our understanding of reproductive disorders

“…This effect is more pronounced in the cohort of women who fall in a category where they are more likely to have higher education and more likely to qualify for NHS-funded IVF. Women who have reproductive disorders often feel isolated and stigmatised15 16 and thus the value they place on ‘not being visible’ in society is high. When women are affected by infertility, many choose not to share their problem with others including family members because of the stigmatising and repressive perspectives of society towards people who can not conceive naturally and towards IVF treatment 17.…”