The experience of women in unsuccessful infertility treatment: what do patients need when medical intervention fails?

Approximately half of the women who seek medical treatment for infertility never give birth to a child. Extended infertility treatment extracts a particularly devastating toll on female patients. The inability to bear children creates a developmental crisis for a woman, disrupting her identity, her relationships, and her sense of meaning. Infertility treatment tends to be delivered in an impersonal way, with little attention to the psychosocial needs of patients. Social workers can play a key role in preventive and clinical intervention, and can educate medical professionals about the needs of their patients when treatment fails. The author presents interview data from a recent study in order to illustrate these needs, offering guidelines for social workers and medical professionals.