When IVF treatment fails

Abstract

Little is known about how patients cope when treatment fails and they are faced with the prospect of life without their ‘own’ child. Initial observations suggest that, for some, the effects can be traumatic and long lasting. Thirty-five ‘narrative’ interviews were carried out with patients and partners for whom treatment had failed five years previously. Transcripts were subject to formal thematic analysis. A significant factor, which emerged from a formal analysis of transcripts, was the role of ‘hope’. Treatment offers the hope that they may have a child, and this provides the motivation for treatment; alongside the urgent need to pre-empt future regrets. Once the support provided by hope is removed, patients can struggle to make sense of their lives. It would appear that some form of closure regarding the ending of treatment is required. Research found some couples are able to reinvest in life goals and re-establish their relationships; however, there were a significant proportion of couples who were still struggling five years after their last attempt to adapt to life without the child they had anticipated. Many couples move onto alternative options, i.e. adoption; however, not all couples recover from the trauma of the inability to parent at will, and some relationships break down. There is an irrefutable lack of psychological support offered to couples going through assisted conception, and findings suggest indisputably that more support should be offered on a regular basis to couples going through this process and beyond.

Keywords:

• Assisted reproductive technology (ART)
• infertility
• treatment failure
• hope
• psychological support
• counselling
• adoption

Notes

1 Where codes are used, the rubric is as follows: M = male; F = female; R = researcher.

2 These codes have no specific meaning for the reader, but allow the exact spot in the original data (Boden, unpublished) to be located.