An assessment of the counselling needs of gift recipients: A pilot study

Abstract

The Warnock Report on Human Fertilization (Warnock, 1985), recommends the provision of a counselling service as an integral part of infertility services. This recommendation is also supported by the Third Report (1988) of die licensing authority for human in vitro fertilization and embryology. In emphasizing die establishment of counselling services as an integral part of infertility services, die Warnock report explicitly acknowledges childlessness as a source of psychological distress. Aldiough diis view is shared by odier researchers, diere is no clear idea of what form counselling should take, who would best benefit from it, and when it should be offered (Edelman and Connolly, 1987).