Infertility: Testing a helpseeking model

Explaining disparities in treatment seeking: the case of infertility

“…Conception failure might be attributed to stress, mistiming of intercourse, aging, or normal variation. Our pilot study confirms that recognizing that one has fertility problems is the single most important predictor of helpseeking (11).…”

“…Individuals who believe that biomedical solutions are effective are more likely to seek care than those who hold alternative views (29,31,32), whereas those who are fearful of medical treatment are less likely to seek care generally (18). Specifically in the case of infertility, medical anxiety (33), pessimism about the results of treatment (34,33) and high internal medical locus of control (11) have been found to deter treatment seeking.…”

Infertility and Life Satisfaction Among Women

“…This question is important because only about half of those who meet the medical criteria for infertility seek medical help (Chandra & Stephen, 1998). Not all women who meet the medical criteria for infertility perceive their situation as a problem, but those who do perceive it as a problem are most likely to seek medical help (L. White, McQuillan, Greil, & Johnson, 2006). It is therefore necessary to ascertain if infertility is associated with life satisfaction for both those who perceive it as a problem inferTiliTy and life saTisfacTion aMonG WoMen 957 and those who do not.…”

Infertility and fertility intentions, desires, and outcomes among US women

“…This finding has important implications as well; this may be one reason why fertility outcomes do not always match intentions. There are also important medical implications, as women who do not identify as having fertility problems may be less likely to seek treatment that could help them achieve a desired birth (White et al 2006).…”

“…Further, while we might expect a great deal of overlap between experiencing a period of infertility (e.g., not getting pregnant after at least a year of regular, unprotected heterosexual intercourse) and realizing that there might be a fertility problem, there are surprising discrepancies. A substantial proportion of women (35%) who meet the medical criteria do not view themselves as being infertile (White et al 2006). Surprisingly, there are also women who do not appear to meet the medical criteria for infertility but believe that they have a fertility problem or expect to have a problem when they start trying to conceive.…”