Comparing the Childbearing Motivations of Fertile and Infertile Women in Mashhad, Iran

Despite the importance of motivation for having a child in the process of infertility treatment, there are few studies in this field. This study aimed to investigate the childbearingmotivations of infertile women and comparing the results with those of fertile women.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 308 women, including 96 infertile women referring to Milad Infertility Center of Mashhad, Iran, in 2015 selected by convenient sampling technique and 212 fertile women of reproductive ages selected from different healthcare settings. The childbearing motivations of participants was gathered through the Childbearing Motivation Questionnaire in two groups and compared using Mann-Whitney U test, and independent t-test. Data analysis was performed applying SPSS (version 16).

The mean scores of positive childbearingmotivations (PCM) in infertile and fertile women were 99.5±9.7 and 93.61±14.05 out of 112, respectively. The mean of all subscales of PCM, with the exception of “instrumental values of children,” of infertile women were significantly higher than fertile women (p=0.000). Also, The mean scores of negative childbearingmotivations (NCM) in infertile and fertile women were 44.7±10.1 and 52.80±9.26 out of 84, respectively. The mean of all subscales of NCM scores of infertile women were significantly lower than fertile women (p=0.000).

The findings showed that infertile women had high PCM and low NCM and the experience of parenthood was very important for the infertile couples. It is suggested to offer the appropriate duration and type of treatment based on clients’ needs and their childbearing motivation in the counselling and treatment of infertile couples.