Zum Zusammenhang zwischen der Lebenszufriedenheit ungewollt kinderloser Paare und dem Behandlungsausgang nach IVF

Abstract

Infertility can lead to a severe life crisis for couples, especially if this experience persists for a long time.As a consequence, several aspects of life may be affected, e.g., sexual problems, marital dissatisfaction, feelings of inferiority and guilt, or emotional disturbances.Many people turn to medical treatment with in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a last chance to get pregnant.It has been shown that couples experience not only their childlessness as a great burden, but also the medical treatment itself can be stressful.The outcome of the treatment therefore plays an important role.Unfortunately, there are few longitudinal studies focusing on the quality of life of infertile couples.Our study included 144 infertile couples assessed by a questionnaire before and 1 year after in vitro fertilization regarding quality of life.The effect of the treatment outcome (live birth of a child, no pregnancy, miscarriage) was examined for the couple in respect to their satisfaction with life. KeywordsInfertility · In vitro fertilization · Quality of life · Treatment outcome Erratum