Experiences of Turkish women about infertility treatment: A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the experiences of infertile women regarding their treatment process and what their expectations were of nurses who cared for them.
Methodology: It is an exploratory qualitative study. The study was conducted in a private and public hospital. The sampling involved twenty-one women diagnosed with primary infertility. The data were collected through one in-depth interview and analysed by means of qualitative thematic analysis.
Results. Themes and sub-themes were identified regarding the experiences of infertile women who were in assisted reproductive care. The themes were physical and emotional difficulties, partner relationships, family and social environment relationships, bureaucratic procedures, financial/monetary difficulties, and what expectations women had of their nurses in this process.
Conclusion. It was determined that women experienced difficulties in all stages of the treatment process. It is suggested that women should be informed in every stage of their treatment and consultation should be performed by the nurses specialized in the field of infertility.