Decision for disclosure: The experiences of Iranian infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive donation procedures

Abstract

Controversy surrounding disclosure among the recipients of assisted reproductive donation procedures is escalating worldwide, but little research has been conducted in this topic. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive donation procedures. In this exploratory qualitative study, 32 patients (nine couples and 14 women) who were candidates to use donor eggs, donor embryos or surrogacy, and 5 members of infertility treatment team including gynaecologists, midwives and psychologist (total 37) were purposively selected from the Montaserieh Infertility Research Centre at Mashhad, Iran in 2012 and interviewed using a semi-structured in-depth method. Data were analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis with MAXqda software. One overarching theme, entitled ‘experiencing uncertainty surrounding the disclosure to others’ was identified from the data. This theme contained two subthemes including ‘Couples’ decisions to not disclose to others’ and ‘Couples’ decisions to disclose to others’. Five categories formed the first subtheme, and the second subtheme emerged from four categories which are discussed in this paper. The main reason for secrecy was concern over societal negative views about assisted reproductive donation procedures. This worry deprived the couples from support from family and friends and as a result requires them to tolerate psychological pressure when using such procedures.

Keywords::

• Decision making
• disclosure
• infertility
• oocyte donation
• embryo donation
• surrogacy

Acknowledgements

This article is part of a PhD thesis in Reproductive Health that has been approved by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (Grant number: 8717) and Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran (Grant number: 910111). The authors are grateful for financial support provided by both universities. We also express our gratitude to the patients, midwives and gynaecologists for their participation in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.