Contact: Kerry Sherman PhD
Phone: (215) 214-1645
Email: ka_Sherman@fcc.edu
Embargoed until: March 16, 2002

BARCELONA, SPAIN-- The way men and women react to the experience of undergoing in-vitro fertilization treatment may affect their chances of a successful pregnancy, according to new Australian research presented at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

The study showed that women who used humor as a coping mechanism and men who had greater intrusive thoughts (that is, recurring and persistent thoughts about infertility and its treatment) had higher chances of achieving a successful IVF-pregnancy.

The study on psychosocial predictors of pregnancy outcome in infertile couples undergoing IVF-treatment was conducted by Kerry Sherman, PhD at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Sherman is currently an Assistant Member in the Fox Chase Cancer Centre, Philadelphia, Division of Population Science.

Her research also showed that consideration of the responses of men, as much as women, was necessary in investigating the ways infertile couples responded to IVF-treatment. The ways in which both partners manage their levels of distress affects the likelihood of achieving a pregnancy outcome.

"Little prior research had considered the role of the man's psychological response to infertility," Sherman said. "In this study, IVF-related pregnancy was linked with women who used humour as a means of coping, and men who showed higher levels of intrusive thoughts about infertility and the treatment they were undergoing."

The study involved 81 couples, all of whom were diagnosed as being infertile. Both partners in each couple completed standardised tests designed to determine the different ways in which they coped with infertility and infertility treatment and the levels of distress they experienced.

The results have implications for designing individual counselling programs for infertile couples.

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