Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in infertile women and men undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in infertile women and men undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. METHODS: Participants were 1090 consecutive women and men, 545 couples, attending a fertility clinic in Sweden during a two-year period. The Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD), based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn (DSM-IV), was used as the diagnostic tool for evaluating mood and anxiety disorders. RESULTS: Overall, 862 (79.1%) subjects filled in the PRIME-MD patient questionnaire. Any psychiatric diagnosis was present in 30.8 % of females and in 10.2 % of males in the study sample. Any mood disorder was present in 26.2 % of females and 9.2% of males. Major depression was the most common mood disorder, prevalent in 10.9 % of females and 5.1 % of males. Any anxiety disorder was encountered in 14.8 % of females and 4.9 % males. Only 21 % of the subjects with a psychiatric disorder according to DSM-IV received some form of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Mood disorders are common in both women and men undergoing IVF treatment. The majority of subjects with a psychiatric disorder were undiagnosed and untreated

Swedish high school students' knowledge and attitudes regarding fertility and family building

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infertility is a serious problem for those who suffer. Some of the risks for infertility are preventable and the individual should therefore have knowledge of them. The purposes of this study were to investigate high-school students' knowledge about fertility, plans for family building and to compare views and knowledge between female and male students.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A questionnaire containing 34 items was answered by 274 students. Answers from male and female students were compared using student's <it>t</it>-test for normally distributed variables and Mann-Whitney <it>U</it>-test for non-normal distributions. The chi-square test was used to compare proportions of male and female students who answered questions on nominal and ordinal scales. Differences were considered as statistically significant at a <it>p</it>-value of 0.05.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analyses showed that 234 (85%) intended to have children. Female students felt parenthood to be significantly more important than male students: <it>p </it>= <it><</it>0.01. The mean age at which the respondents thought they would like to start to build their family was 26 (± 2.9) years. Men believed that women's fertility declined significantly later than women did: <it>p </it>= <it><</it>0.01. Women answered that 30.7% couples were involuntarily infertile and men answered 22.5%: <it>p </it>= <it><</it>0.01. Females thought it significantly more likely that they would consider IVF or adoption than men, <it>p = </it>0.01. Men felt they were more likely to abstain from having children than women: <it>p = <</it>0.01. Women believed that body weight influenced fertility significantly more often than men: <it>p = <</it>0.01 and men believed significantly more often that smoking influenced fertility: <it>p </it>= 0.03. Both female and male students answered that they would like to have more knowledge about the area of fertility.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Young people plan to start their families when the woman's fertility is already in decline. Improving young people's knowledge about these issues would give them more opportunity to take responsibility for their sexual health and to take an active role in shaping political change to improve conditions for earlier parenthood.</p

Relationships in IVF couples 20 years after treatment

BACKGROUND: Involuntary childlessness is a psychological and social dilemma for at least one but usually both members of the childless couples and is thought to have a lifelong impact on many of these couples. Studies of the long-term effects are scarce and the participation rate in published studies is generally very low. We therefore intended to analyse relationships and family structure in couples 20-23 years after the women in these couples had received IVF treatment. METHODS: The data are drawn from answers from 788 individuals-81% of the individuals treated. ENRICH has been used to analyse the relationships in those couples who stated that they have remained a couple since their IVF treatment. In total, 412 men and women (206 couples) answered the ENRICH inventory. A total of 14 men and 137 women answered the ENRICH, without their spouse answering the inventory. RESULTS: We found that the majority of all couples show a stable relationship 20 years or more after the date of IVF treatment. However, the group of couples who remained childless (9.2% of the total study population) during the 20 years following the IVF treatment differ from the majority on the subscale Children and Parent measuring aspects on attitudes and feelings about having and raising children. Another difference seen in the couples that were childless was that men scored significantly higher on Conflict resolution and the couples had a higher average score on positive agreement on the issues on Communication indicating a skill in communication in the relationship and also an agreement that they are communicating well. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the majority of IVF couples (90.8%) who had been treated similar to 20 years prior to follow-up had added at least one biological or adopted child to the family during that time. The relationships in couples who had continued to stay together during that period were generally described as being good, whether the couples had become parents or not.This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Human Reproduction following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version: Gunilla Sydsjö, A. Skoog Svanberg, C. Lampic and Barbara Jablonowska, Relationships in IVF couples 20 years after treatment, 2011, Human Reproduction, (26), 7, 1836-1842. is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/humrep/der131 Copyright: Oxford University Press (OUP) http://www.oxfordjournals.org

The legal status, liability and problematic aspects of activity of a local government

Pašvaldības dome ir publisko tiesību juridiskās personas lēmējvara, kuras tiesiskais statuss līdz šim juridiskājā literatūrā un zinātnē ir pētīts maz. Pašvaldības dome ir vietējas pašvaldības vara, kuras pamata pienākums ir vietējās teritorijas teritorijas iedzīvotāju interešu nodrošināšana, tāpēc pamatoti ir pētīt domes tiesību aktos noteikto pilnvarojuma apjomu un darbības problemātiskos aspektus. Šā darba mērķis ir izpētīt pašvaldības domes statusu, pašvaldības komptetenču nošķiršanu, lēmējvaras un izpildvaras tiesisko regulējumu un identificēt problemātiskos aspektus domes darbībā, kā arī analizēt, kā spēkā esošie normatīvie akti regulē pašvaldības domes juridisko atbildību un politisko atbildību. Atslēgvārdi: pašvaldība, lēmējvara, dome, kompetences, juridiskā atbildība, domes statuss.The council og local government is a legal person governed by public law authority, whose legal status to this legal literature and science has been studied enough. The council of local government has the local municipality, the basis of which it is the duty of the interests, of the rezidents, of the territory, of the local area, to study the council is therefore rightly laid down by the law of the mandate and the problematic aspects. The goal of this work is to investigate the status of the local government council, local competence separating the decision-making and executive legal regulation and to identify problematic aspects of the City Council activities, as well as to analyse the existing regulatory enactments shall regulate the legal responsibility of the local government city council and political responsibility. Keywords: the local government authority, council, competence, legal liability, the council legal status

Disclosure behaviour and intentions among 111 couples following treatment with oocytes or sperm from identity-release donors: follow-up at offspring age 14 years

Do heterosexual parents of young children following oocyte donation (OD) and sperm donation (SD) tell or intend to tell their offspring about the way he/she was conceived? less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanFollowing successful treatment with oocytes or sperm from identity-release donors in Sweden, almost all heterosexual couples intend to tell their offspring about the way he/she was conceived and some start the information-sharing process very early. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanAlthough the Swedish legislation on identity-release gamete donors has been in effect since 1985, there is a discrepancy between the behaviour of donor-insemination parents and the legal intention that offspring be informed about their genetic origin. The present study contributes data on a relatively large sample of oocyte and sperm recipient couples intended compliance with the Swedish legislation. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThe present study constitutes a follow-up assessment of heterosexual couples who had given birth to a child following treatment with donated oocytes. Data collection was performed during 20072011; participants individually completed a questionnaire when the child was between 1 and 4 years of age. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThe present study is part of the Swedish Study on Gamete Donation, a prospective longitudinal cohort study including all fertility clinics performing gamete donation in Sweden. For children conceived via OD, 107 individuals (including 52 couples and 3 individuals) agreed to participate (73 response). For children conceived via SD, the response rate was 70 (n 122 individuals, including 59 couples and 4 individuals). Mean age of participants was 34 years (SD 4.4) and they reported a high level of education. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThe majority of participants (78) planned to tell the child about the donation, 16 had already started the information-sharing process and 6 planned not to tell their child about the donation or were undecided. Many were unsure about a suitable time to start the disclosure process and desired more information about strategies and tools for information sharing. Agreement on disclosure to offspring within the couple was related to the quality of the partner relationship. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThere is a risk of selection bias, with gamete recipients preferring secrecy and non-disclosure declining study participation. The results may be regarded as partly generalizable to heterosexual couples with young children following treatment with gametes from legislatively mandated identity-release donors in an established donor programme. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanStudy funding by Merck Serono, The Swedish Research Council and The Family Planning Fund in Uppsala. No conflicts of interest to declare.Funding Agencies|Merck Serono||Family Planning Fund in Uppsala||Swedish Research Council||</p

Relationships in IVF couples 20 years after treatment

BACKGROUND: Involuntary childlessness is a psychological and social dilemma for at least one but usually both members of the childless couples and is thought to have a lifelong impact on many of these couples. Studies of the long-term effects are scarce and the participation rate in published studies is generally very low. We therefore intended to analyse relationships and family structure in couples 20-23 years after the women in these couples had received IVF treatment. METHODS: The data are drawn from answers from 788 individuals-81% of the individuals treated. ENRICH has been used to analyse the relationships in those couples who stated that they have remained a couple since their IVF treatment. In total, 412 men and women (206 couples) answered the ENRICH inventory. A total of 14 men and 137 women answered the ENRICH, without their spouse answering the inventory. RESULTS: We found that the majority of all couples show a stable relationship 20 years or more after the date of IVF treatment. However, the group of couples who remained childless (9.2% of the total study population) during the 20 years following the IVF treatment differ from the majority on the subscale Children and Parent measuring aspects on attitudes and feelings about having and raising children. Another difference seen in the couples that were childless was that men scored significantly higher on Conflict resolution and the couples had a higher average score on positive agreement on the issues on Communication indicating a skill in communication in the relationship and also an agreement that they are communicating well. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the majority of IVF couples (90.8%) who had been treated similar to 20 years prior to follow-up had added at least one biological or adopted child to the family during that time. The relationships in couples who had continued to stay together during that period were generally described as being good, whether the couples had become parents or not.This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Human Reproduction following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version: Gunilla Sydsjö, A. Skoog Svanberg, C. Lampic and Barbara Jablonowska, Relationships in IVF couples 20 years after treatment, 2011, Human Reproduction, (26), 7, 1836-1842. is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/humrep/der131 Copyright: Oxford University Press (OUP) http://www.oxfordjournals.org

Sexual orientation of women does not affect outcome of fertility treatment with donated sperm Sexual orientation of women does not affect outcome of fertility treatment with donated sperm

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: All clinics in Sweden offering sperm donation recruited patients. Differences in patients&apos; medical history, treatment results and number of treatments to live birth were analyzed using independent-samples t-test, Nor was there a difference in live birth rate between the groups for either fresh or thawed embryo transfer. There was no difference between the proportions of women in either group or the number of treatments needed to achieve a live birth. Heterosexuals had a higher prevalence of smokers (9.2%), uterine polyps (7.2%) or previous children (11.3%) than lesbians (smokers 2.8%, p = 0.03; polyps 1.8%, p = 0.03; child 2.5%, p = 0.003). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: This study is limited to women living in stable relationships undergoing treatment with donated sperm in a clinical setting and may not apply to single women or those undergoing home inseminations. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: These results may influence healthcare policy decisions as well as increase the quality of clinical care and medical knowledge of healthcare professionals. The data also have important implications for individuals regarding screening, infertility diagnostic procedures and treatment types offered to heterosexuals and lesbians seeking pregnancy through sperm donation

Survey shows that Swedish healthcare professionals have a positive attitude towards surrogacy but the health of the child is a concern

AimIn February 2016, Sweden upheld its ban on surrogacy following a Government enquiry. This survey investigated attitudes towards surrogacy among primary health professionals working with children and their experiences of working with families following surrogacy abroad. MethodsFrom April to November 2016, nurses, physicians and psychologist working in primary child health care in four counties in Sweden were invited to participate in a cross-sectional online survey about surrogacy. ResultsThe mean age of the 208 participants was 49.2years (range 27-68) and nearly 91% were women. Approximately 60% supported legalised surrogacy. Wanting a conscience clause to be introduced in Sweden was associated with not supporting surrogacy for any groups, while personal experiences of infertility and clinical experiences with families following surrogacy were associated with positive attitudes towards surrogacy for heterosexual couples. The majority (64%) disagreed that surrogate children were as healthy as other children, and many believed that they risked worse mental health (21%) and social stigmatisation (21%). ConclusionWe found that 60% supported legalised surrogacy, but many expressed concerns about the childrens health and greater knowledge about the medical and psychosocial consequences of surrogacy is needed.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare</p