D.,  Leslie, Leve

Natsuaki, Misaki N.

Neiderhiser, Jeanae M.

Wang, Jing

English

ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

Infertility as a reason for adoption: A descriptive studyJing Wang1, Misaki N. Natsuaki1, Leslie D. Leve2, Jenae M. Neiderhiser3, Daniel S. Shaw4, Jody Ganiban5, and David Reiss61University of California-Riverside, 2University of Oregon, 3The Pennsylvania State University, 4University of Pittsburgh, 5George Washington University, 6Yale UniversityQUESTIONS WE ASKMETHODSCONCLUSIONSRESULTS 1Figure 4. Infertility Challenging for Relationships – Father ReportCONTACTMisaki N. NatsuakiUniversity of California, RiversideEmail: natsuaki@ucr.eduJing WangUniversity of California, RiversideEmail: jwang310@ucr.eduWebsite:http://dtl.ucr.edu/index.htmln The majority of adoptive parents (80.1% mothers and 75.5% fathers) reported that they had decided to adopt a child because they were not able to have a child biologically.lAmong various reasons of adoption, infertility is a primary aspect.lCouples find fertility challenges emotionally stressful. However, fertility challenges do not affect couples’ relationships as much. lBased on the importance of this issue, future adoption research should investigate how fertility challenges prior to adoption influence their attitudes and behaviors toward parenthood after the child joins the family. uParticipants• The EGDS is a prospective, longitudinal adoption study that follows families linked through nonrelative adoption • N=503 adoptive couples• Mean placement age = 6.19 days old (SD = 12.45)• Adoptive parents’ responses were collected when the adopted child was 9 months old uMeasures• Adoptive mothers and fathers independently responded to questions about the adoption process• Reasons for pursuing an adoption plan: Ø Each participant reported reasons for pursuing an adoption plan, including infertility (See Figure 1 & 2). Ø Scale: 1 = not at all; 4 = a lotØ Higher scores indicating a primary reason for adoption. • Impact of infertility: Ø Participants who reported fertility challenges rated how fertility issues affected their feelings and relationships. Ø Scale: 1= not at all challenging; 5 = very challengingnHow important is infertility in decision making topursue adoption?nHow emotionally challenging is it for couples to go through infertility challenges?nHow does infertility impact couples’ relationships?RESULTS 2n59.8% of mothers and 40.6% of fathers rated infertility issues to be pretty or very challenging” (see Figure 3 & 5).n21.0% of mothers and 26.3% of fathers rated infertility being pretty or very challenging to their relationships (see Figure 4 & 6). IntroductionPrior qualitative studies have identified infertility as a major reason couples decide to adopt a child (e.g., Goldberg et al., 2009; Thorn, 2010). However, knowledge about infertility and couple’s reasoning in deciding to adopt a child is limited with many studies relying on anecdotal accounts (Kupecky & Anderson, 1998).STUDY AIM: Using data from a large sample of adoptive parents in the US, this study aims to present a systematic description of the role of infertility in couples’ decision to pursue an infant domestic adoption.Early Growth and Development StudyFigure 1. Adoption Reasons – Father ReportFigure 2. Adoption Reasons – Mother ReportFigure 3. Infertility Emotionally Challenging – Father ReportFigure 5. Infertility Emotionally Challenging – Mother ReportFigure 6. Infertility Challenging for Relationships – Mother ReportTable 1. Adoptive Parents’ Demographic InformationThis project was supported by grant R01 HD042608 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. PHS (PI Years 1–5: David Reiss, MD; PI Years 6–10: Leslie Leve, PhD), and grant R01 DA020585 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health and OBSSR, NIH, U.S. PHS (PI: Jenae Neiderhiser, PhD). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development or the National Institutes of Health .

Infertility as a Reason for Adoption: A Descriptive Study

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Infertility as a Reason for Adoption: A Descriptive Study

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