Finding Parenthood- Parental Identity through Assisted Reproductive Methods and the Implications for Efficacy Based and Worth Based Self-Esteem

This research examined the implications for efficacy based and worth based self-esteem among 266 infertile women who had utilized reproductive technologies within heterosexual partnerships in order to have genetic children and become parents. Drawing on a theory of self-esteem, within an identity theory framework, this research compared self-esteem between women who were currently utilizing assisted reproductive technologies to have children and women who had successfully used assisted reproductive technologies to have children and become parents. Self-esteem was measured by utilizing Cast and Burke’s (2002) Worth-Based and Efficacy-Based Self-esteem Scale in order to test the following three hypotheses: 1) self-verification (successfully producing a genetic child) will be positively associated with efficacy based and worth based self-esteem; 2) continued self-verification (the number of years spent as a parent) will be positively associated with efficacy based and worth based self-esteem; and 3) continued lack of self-verification (the number of years assisted reproductive technologies was used unsuccessfully), the lower the woman’s efficacy based and worth based self-esteem. Three cross tabulation analyses provided support for the first and third hypotheses, but did not show sufficient statistical significance to support the second hypothesis