Psychosocial response of Chinese infertile husbands and wives

Abstract

Some 15% or 1 in 6 American couples in the childbearing years have infertility problems. Numerous studies have demonstrated that both infertile men and women have negative emotional responses, such as stress, anxiety and depression. In Europe, Canada, and the United States the response of infertile husbands was different from that of their wives in self-image, marital adjustment, and sexual relations. The differences in psychological distress, marital satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction between Chinese infertile husbands and wives were evaluated. Fifty-nine infertile couples participated in this study. The subjects completed an Infertility Questionnaire, Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire, and Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire as measures of gender differences in facing infertility problems. Paired t tests revealed that husbands expressed significantly less distress than that of the wives. The husbands' self-esteem was higher than that of the wives. The husbands' marital and sexual satisfaction was also higher than that of the wives. These results propose that although differences exist in cultural, ethnic, and religious norms between Chinese society and Western society, the Chinese couples' response to infertility is similar to that of Western couples. The major difference is that the in-laws play an important role in Chinese society, especially in marital satisfaction.