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Emotional and Psychosocial Risk Associated with Fertility Treatment

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Reducing Risk in Fertility Treatment

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Abstract

Infertility is common and its treatment is increasingly more frequently sought. Treatment can closely mimic or deviate from natural conception. The more treatments deviate from natural conception, the more they will require life changes and cognitive adjustments which are usually not anticipated. Infertile, otherwise healthy individuals become patients, procreation moves from in vivo to in vitro. The psychosocial risks associated with infertility, with treatment for infertility, and with the consequences of successful or unsuccessful treatment can be substantial. The outcomes of such treatments are also unpredictable. Uncertainties as well as distances in familial and biological links associated with third-party reproduction bring with them additional psychological and social stressors, ethical dilemmas, and concerns. These stressors could have long-term consequences, posing further psychological risks to the mental health of those undergoing the treatments, the third parties, and—in the short and long term—on the resultant children. This chapter will outline some of these psychosocial considerations and the consequences of fertility treatment. Efforts to incorporate and monitor these considerations at research, clinical practice, and policy levels are essential.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, London, NW4 4BT, UK

    Olga van den Akker BSc, PhD

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  1. Olga van den Akker BSc, PhD
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Correspondence to Olga van den Akker BSc, PhD .

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  1. Old St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Raj Mathur

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van den Akker, O. (2015). Emotional and Psychosocial Risk Associated with Fertility Treatment. In: Mathur, R. (eds) Reducing Risk in Fertility Treatment. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5257-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5257-6_5

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