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The virtual infertility community: a qualitative analysis of patient experiences shared on Instagram

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To characterize the experiences of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) through a qualitative analysis of content shared on Instagram.

Methods

We analyzed Instagram posts from five randomly selected days in February 2020. The hashtag, #ivfcommunity, was selected to identify public posts authored by Instagram’s IVF community members from multiple treatment centers. Text, photos, hashtags, and emojis were collected from 452 included posts and entered into a study-specific database. Using thematic coding, a four-member team initially coded the first day in February. Common themes were agreed upon by all team members, and a preliminary codebook was created for further analysis. The remaining posts were coded by two-member teams who reached a consensus on the multiple themes assigned to each individual post.

Results

Analysis of posts led to the identification of five major themes: documentation of the medical and physical experience of IVF (76.1%), the emotional spectrum (43.1%), social support (49.2%), coping mechanisms (29.9%), and education (receipt, provision) (11.1%).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that women undergoing IVF often utilize social media to document daily experiences, offer and recognize sources of community support, and provide and receive education regarding their treatments. Given the increased prevalence of mental health conditions, medical providers should explore challenges discussed on online platforms and consider harnessing the supportive nature of online communities to supplement care for IVF patients.

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Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available publicly on the Instagram platform. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author (A.J.W.).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Ave #1140, Miami, FL, USA

    Hanna R. Perone & Alexandra M. Herweck

  2. Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy, Dayton, OH, USA

    Hannah M. Stump & Hannah M. Levine

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Davis Health System, 4860 Y Street, Suite 2500, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Adriana J. Wong

  4. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Ave #1140, Miami, FL, USA

    Jose Carugno

Authors
  1. Hanna R. Perone
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  2. Alexandra M. Herweck
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  3. Hannah M. Stump
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  4. Hannah M. Levine
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  5. Adriana J. Wong
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  6. Jose Carugno
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by H.R.P., A.M.H., H.M.S., and H.M.L. The manuscript was drafted, revised critically for important intellectual content, and approved by all authors for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adriana J. Wong.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Consent was not required as this study involved publicly available posts.

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Perone, H.R., Herweck, A.M., Stump, H.M. et al. The virtual infertility community: a qualitative analysis of patient experiences shared on Instagram. J Assist Reprod Genet 38, 613–620 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-020-02028-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-020-02028-6

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