The psychological issues associated with human reproduction, successful or not, are numerous and diverse. Not all pregnancies result in a baby (Rowlands & Lee, Citation2009). Many pregnancies are unplanned, babies are born sooner than young parents would wish, some with parents who were not planning to stay together in the long term and some to older parents unexpectedly. Even those that are planned may take some time in the making. In a study of 230 women's experience of infertility treatment and care who eventually became pregnant, the median time trying to become pregnant was 3 years, with some taking as long as 17 years (Redshaw Hockley & Davidson, Citation2007).
The demands of work and the uncertain economic situation may for some women and their partners make delaying childbirth a preferred option, and yet doing so is not without consequences, some of which may include reduced fertility, a need for antenatal screening in the early months of pregnancy, more interventions in labour and higher rates of caesarean section, and more commonly for older women, poorer physical health after the birth (Bewley, Davies & Braude, Citation2005; Montan, Citation2007). Putting off childbirth until much later than has been the convention in many parts of the world is an option which seemed appropriate to take up at the time, although in the face of subsequent fertility or sub‐fertility problems seems less attractive and may be regretted.
Many women and their partners assume they will be able to have children when they choose, but as the data from a wide range of studies show, that expectation is sometimes followed by a range of difficulties which may or may not lead to pregnancy and the birth of a baby (Cassidy & Sintrovani, Citation2008). This may entail investigations of one or both partners (Malik & Coulson, Citation2008) and a range of treatments, often progressively more complex and invasive.
Some studies on the long‐term effects of infertility treatment on child development, physical health and well‐being, cognitive and social developmental outcomes show positive effects for the infertility groups and others have reported more negative findings (Hansen et al., Citation2008; Hvidtjorn et al., Citation2009). Many studies in this area, however, have not had an adequate methodology by which to judge the effects, with relatively small sample sizes, difficulties in having an appropriate control group and the confounding issues of parental age, experience and education, not always being taken into account.
This journal has a history of publishing in this area, and this issue has a number of papers from different parts of the world on the topic, covering aspects that include the impact of infertility diagnosis by Katerina Lykiderou and colleagues in Greece, predicting distress associated with infertility treatment by Laura Miles and colleagues in New York, and Aygul Akyuz and Nese Sever in Turkey investigating men and women's reasons behind discontinuation of IVF treatment.
Other papers reflect on issues associated with the transition to parenthood and the psychological adjustments that are required by women as they become mothers. The differences between the experience of first‐time parents and those who have already given birth are described by Sofia Gameiro and colleagues, suggesting different pathways and adjustment for the two groups. An intervention study with mothers who were showing signs of depression by Kari Vik and Marit Hafting focuses on the interaction with their baby and providing feedback on this as a way of supporting increased sensitivity and more effective adjustment. Both papers provide evidence of the ways in which early parenting is not always how parents had anticipated prior to birth and at the same time show that adjustment, learning and personal growth occur for mothers and their infants in the months that follow this major life event.
An even wider range of topics are covered in the September 2009 conference abstracts published in this issue, reflecting the broad range of interests of authors and journal readers and promises a lively international meeting.
References
- Bewley , S. , Davies , M. and Braude , P. 2005 . Which career first? . British Medical Journal , 331 (7517) : 588 – 589 .
- Cassidy , T. and Sintrovani , P. 2008 . Motives for parenthood, psychosocial factors and health in women undergoing IVF. . Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology , 26 : 4 – 17 .
- Hanson , M. , Colvin , L. , Petterson , B. , Kurinczuk , J. , de Clerk , N. and Bower , C. 2008 . Admission to hospital of singleton children born following assisted reproductive technology (ART). . Human Reproduction , 23 : 1297 – 1305 .
- Hvidtjorn , D. , Schieve , L. , Schendel , D. , Jaccobsson , B. , Svaerke , C. and Thorson , P. 2009 . Cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorders and developmental delay in children born after assisted conception: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. . Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine , 163 : 72 – 83 .
- Malik , S. and Coulson , N. 2008 . The male experience of infertility: A thematic analysis of an on‐line infertility support group bulletin board. . Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology , 26 : 31 – 43 .
- Montan , S. 2007 . Increased risk in the elderly parturient. . Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynaecology , 19 : 110 – 112 .
- Rowlands , I. and Lee , C. 2009 . Correlates of miscarriage among young women in the Australian longitudinal study on women's health. . Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology , 27 : 40 – 53 .
- Redshaw , M. , Hockley , C. and Davidson , L. 2007 . A qualitative study of the experience of treatment for infertility among women who successfully became pregnant. . Human Reproduction , 22 : 295 – 304 .