Overview

Resilience in infertile couples acts as a protective factor against infertility-specific distress and impaired quality of life

“…The results support the view generally held in literature that infertility is a major psychological problem especially for women, whereas involuntarily childless men generally suffer less from psychological distress [3,[27][28][29][30]. The significant higher satisfaction with the "environment" can be explained by the above-average number of university graduates in the study sample, as this domain also includes questions about financial resources and use of information.…”

“…It is beyond dispute that both the diagnosis and therapy of infertility put a heavy psychological and physical burden on most patients [1][2][3][4]. Many authors believe infertility causes a life crisis for the couples concerned [1,5,6], others consider it the most stressful event in patients' lives, on a par only with divorce or the death of a loved one [7].…”

Cultural Considerations in Counseling Couples Who Experience Infertility

“…Understanding of each partner's historical and cultural messages about definitions of family and fertility helps counselors make a more accurate assessment of the problem. The following questions are suggestions for investigating cultural and family messages about fertility when creating a genogram with couples: Counselors must also be familiar with the different medical technologies, the varied demands treatment places on couples, as well as the ethical and legal issues involved with infertility (Burns & Covington, 1999). Understanding cultural norms and traditions regarding medical intervention, in conjunction with moral, legal, and ethical considerations, is also important for counseling professionals.…”

Psychogene Fertilit�tsst�rungen

“…Die psychosomatische Forschung zu ungewollter Kinderlosigkeit hatte anfäng-lich stärker die potenziellen psychischen Ursachen von Fruchtbarkeitsstörungen im Blick ("psychogenic infertility model", [22,65,122], oder "full psychogenic infertility model", [140]) als deren psychologische Folgen. In den 50er-Jahren widmeten sich einige -zumeist psychoanalytisch orientierte -Autoren der Frage nach denkbaren unbewussten konflikthaften Vorbedingungen, die insbesondere bei Frauen mit ungeklärter Fertilitätsstörung eine Schwangerschaft erschweren oder verhindern könnten.…”