Relationship between marital satisfaction and fertility quality of life among women undergoing in vitro fertilization

Abstract

Infertility is a serious public health concern since the desire for motherhood is high in every society. Infertile women are most concerned about losing their married life; nonetheless, marital contentment is a crucial component of a couple’s marriage existence. Hence, the present study aims to explore the relation of marital satisfaction with quality of life among women undergoing in vitro fertilization. A case control research design was conducted during 2022-24. A sample of 284 women (142 IVF and 142 natural pregnancy women) recruited through purposive sampling technique snowball sampling method from Telangana and Karnataka region. Self-structured questionnaire to elicit demographic information, Socio-Economic Status (SES) Scale assess socio economic status of participants, Couple satisfaction index to assess the satisfaction in marital relationship and Fertility quality of life (FertiQoL) questionnaire measures a person’s overall sense of wellbeing were the tools used in the study.The findings revealed that majority of women were fairly satisfied (54.92% Vs 9.85%) in IVF group compared to women with natural pregnancy. Women in IVF and natural pregnancy had moderate (68.30% Vs. 54.22%) and high (31.69% Vs. 45.77%) quality of life. A significant difference between women with IVF and natural pregnancy by marital satisfaction (M=116.45) and fertility quality of life (M=70.87). Furthermore, significant association was found between marital satisfaction and quality of life among women in IVF group. Therefore, the study advocates to educate the family members especially the spouse for providing emotional support and strength to the women undergoing IVF.