Although no precise ยฎgures exist, it has been estimated that between 8% and 15% of couples experience problems with infertility . Infertility is usually deยฎned as the failure to conceive after a year of regular sexual intercourse without the use of contraception ). Yet, in spite of its relative frequency within the general population, for most couples their ยฎrst encounter with a personal fertility problem is likely to come as a surprise . Indeed, most young adults assume that at some point in their lives they will have children and raise a family and have never considered the possibility that they might not be able to do so. Societal pressures to have children in order to conform to an assumed norm is a problem experienced by many couples. It has frequently been observed that infertile couples often feel isolated and that childlessness disqualiยฎes infertile women from being part of the `in-group of mother' and infertile couples from being part of the community of parents. In this context, infertility is a social issue with potential personal ramiยฎcations.
Once confronted with a fertility problem, couples may face several years of uncertainty as to whether or not they will ever be able to have their own child. A number of authors have drawn attention to the stressful nature of infertility. Indeed, some have conceptualized the experience of infertility as a life crisis , while others have likened infertility to chronic illness and disability . Infertile couples report feeling depressed, anxious and frustrated (Berg and Wilson, 1991) and, while there is little or no evidence of psychopathology in most couples seeking treatment for infertility , there is almost inevitably a subset who do react adversely to the experience. For example, Band et al. (in press) note that 14% of men in their infertile sample obtained scores suggestive of clinical depression.
In the last two decades medical advances have meant that many infertile couples embark upon prolonged investigation and treatment in the hope of satisfying their CCC 1052ยฑ9284/98/040245ยฑ04$17.50