The effect of face‑to‑face and telephone counseling on the desire for adoption in infertile couples

Fertility is always one of the most important functions of the family. Having a child equals growing up and entering the adult world. Adoption is one of the methods that can be considered to treat infertility. One of the duties of health professionals, especially midwives, is to advise and educate infertile people, which helps them in a way beyond medical treatment. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of face‑to‑face and telephone counseling on the desire for adoption in infertile couples.

The present study was a two‑group counseling intervention study that was performed on 34 infertile couples referred to Mashhad Infertility Center. Infertile couples were randomly assigned to face‑to‑face and telephone counseling groups. All participants completed the Adoption Adoption Questionnaire at the beginning and end of the study. Data were analyzed by spss16 software.

The mean score of propensity to adopt in the face‑to‑face counseling group 2 weeks after the intervention was significantly higher than before the intervention. Furthermore, the mean score of desire for adoption in the telephone counseling group increased significantly 2 weeks after the intervention compared to before (P < 0.001). Adoption scores varied in the face‑to‑face counseling group at 3.15 and in the telephone counseling group at 3.23. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.885). The most common reason for not wanting to adopt was hope for self‑treatment and having children (70.6% women and 67.6% men). The most common reason for accepting an adopted child was the strong need to have a child (23.5% in women and 23.5% in men).

According to the results of this study, counseling can increase people’s awareness of the conditions of adoption and thus increase the desire of people to accept the adopted child. For this reason, considering adoption counseling sessions for infertile couples who have been receiving infertility treatment for a long time but have not become pregnant can help the couple decide.