Dreaming of motherhood: experiences of women who have undergone fertility treatment.
Sara Rujas Bracamonte, Pilar Serrano Gallardo, Mercedes Martínez Marcos
PMID 40382002WHAT IT FOUND
Women who became parents after assisted reproduction described an emotional rollercoaster.
They felt the burden fell on them, sought information online, and said partner support plus empathetic clinicians made the process easier.
Key findings
01Women described assisted reproduction as an emotional rollercoaster, with hope and disappointment often occurring within the same treatment cycle.
02They felt the physical and mental burden of treatment fell mainly on women, because they took medication, attended monitoring visits, and managed side effects.
03Partner support and empathetic healthcare professionals helped women cope, while short, cold, or woman-only care increased distress and distrust.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study interviewed only 20 women who had had a child in the last two years, so it does not represent women who did not conceive, are still trying, or stopped treatment. Twelve of the 20 interviews were done by video call during the pandemic, which may have changed how women shared experiences. One researcher conducted, transcribed, and coded the interviews, and no software was used, so the themes depend heavily on that person's interpretation. The women were from Spain, where social pressure and access to public or private fertility care may shape experiences differently from other countries. Partners, same-sex couples, women without partners, and women with secondary infertility were not studied.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that empathetic communication improves fertility outcomes. The study describes experiences of 20 women who had a child in the last two years, not a test of any treatment or care intervention.