Experiences of women undergoing assisted reproductive technology in Ghana: A qualitative analysis of their experiences

Abstract

Objective The study aimed to explore the experiences of women undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technologies namely; Invitro Fertilization and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection at the Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre, New Bortianor, Ghana. Method A qualitative research design was employed to analyse and describe the experiences of the women seeking Assisted Reproductive Technologies. A total of 32 women were invited to take part in the interview, 15 of them accepted the invitation. However, saturation was reached before all interviews had been complete. Results Three themes emerged from the study: the women’s experiences, challenges and the roles and contributions of significant others. The women were anxious, stressed-up, exhausted and financially burdened. Spouses and health professionals played significant roles by providing social, emotional and financial support for these women. Significant others such as spouses and close relatives were supportive and provided encouragement to the women. Conclusion The experiences of women undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technologies are multi-dimensional. Thus, psychosocial interventions as part of ART services with health insurance cover may be client-centered and more appropriate for these group of women.

Experiences of infertile women pursuing treatment in Kenya: a qualitative study

“…However, some women reported that fertility treatment had positively contributed to their marital relationship and that fertility treatment has given them some hope and rejuvenated their marriage. This finding is similar to previous studies [ 23 , 24 ].…”

“…Moreover, women on hormonal therapy experienced undesirable side effects such as weight gain, breast tenderness, and headaches. This finding is consistent with previous studies, which reported that the ARTs process was torturous, stressful, exhausting, and time-consuming [ 23 , 24 ]. This insightful finding may help healthcare professionals to provide evidence-based care to women undergoing fertility treatment.…”

“…To access fertility treatment, women in this study took bank loans, borrowed from friends, and sold their properties, making them financially distressed. This finding is similar to other African and non-Africa countries, which describe fertility treatment, particularly ARTs, as expensive and reserved only for the rich [ 23 , 26 ]. Thus, providing NHIF cards for fertility treatment may ease the financial challenge.…”

“…The reported experiences of emotionally challenging infertility treatment are consistent with previous study findings [ 21 , 22 ]. A qualitative study conducted in Ghana to explore the experiences of women seeking ARTs found that women were anxious, stressed, and frustrated [ 23 ]. Another study conducted in China to examine Chinese couples’ experience of IVF treatment found that all women experienced emotional pain and suffered from anxiety, frustrations, disappointment, and sleep disturbances [ 24 ].…”

The Infertility-Related Stress Scale: Validation of a Brazilian–Portuguese Version and Measurement Invariance Across Brazil and Italy

“…ART treatments constitute an additional source of stress for infertile couples due to expensive, time-consuming, invasive, and physically demanding procedures, along with the uncertainty of the outcomes ( Öztürk et al, 2021b ). Indeed, infertile patients, and especially women, report that ART treatments are physically and emotionally exhausting ( Arya and Dibb, 2016 ; Anaman-Torgbor et al, 2021 ; Öztürk et al, 2021b ), which is a major cause of premature treatment discontinuation by 30% of couples ( Pedro et al, 2017 ; Domar et al, 2018 ). Altogether, the specific stress associated with infertility and its treatment can have long-lasting psychosocial consequences on infertile individuals and couples ( Schmidt, 2009 ).…”