Psychogenic infertility: Some findings

Abstract

To explore the hypothesis that some cases of infertility are psychogenic, patients presenting with primary infertility were investigated psychologically at the time of their initial visit to an infertility clinic. Measures of personality and psychopathology were administered to the infertile group and to three comparison groups of proven fertility, two of which were preparing to undergo minor surgical procedures associated with sterilization. The infertile group was subsequently divided into five subgroups on the basis of investigations made over the ensuing year (female cause, male cause, female and male cause diagnosed, conceived, unexplained). The results give little indication of differences between any of the groups on the measures applied, nor do they suggest significant deviations from the normal range of scores on the various tests. The possible exception is an elevated state anxiety level in the case of the women presenting with primary infertility. The absence of any differences between the subgroups from the infertile sample on the measure suggests that anxiety is a consequence rather than a cause of infertility.