A special path to parenthood: parent-child relationships in families giving birth to singleton infants through IVF.

Infertility and its treatment are increasingly viewed as public issues as well as a private concern. Treatments such as IVF draw on public resources and pose psychological and ethical dilemmas for the community. The current paper integrates findings from a prospective longitudinal study that assessed the quality of parenting in families conceiving through IVF from an attachment theory perspective. Seventy families who conceived singleton infants through IVF and a naturally conceiving control group of 63 couples were seen during pregnancy and at 4 and 12 months postpartum. Two observational procedures were used to assess maternal sensitivity to the baby, infant responsiveness and security of attachment at 4 and 12 months respectively. There were no IVF control group differences in maternal sensitivity at 4 months or in security of attachment at 12 months. Implications of the findings for clinicians and contemporary controversies requiring further research are discussed.