The missing piece: an interpretative phenomenological study of the experience of unresolved infertility for women

This article is based on a larger interpretative phenomenological study exploring the lived experience of women who have faced unresolved infertility, and which aimed to understand and interpret the meaning of infertility, its emotional implications, and the coping mechanisms of sufferers. The five participants were women who faced primary infertility, whilst being with a partner, having undergone treatment, and who had not encountered (at least initially) other handicaps critical to their infertility. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and the narratives were analysed using Smith’s Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA). The four superordinate themes identified were: (1) meaning of motherhood; (2) being in treatment; (3) consciously facing infertility; and (4) moving on. Due to word count limitations, this article only focuses on: “meaning of motherhood” and “consciously facing infertility”, with the intention to publish a different article to address the remaining two themes. The combination of themes was determined by considering how to wholesomely present the most essential aspects of the narrative as related to us by the participants. The themes included in this article explore how archetypical beliefs about motherhood and fertility help define cultural, societal, and personal expectations, and in turn affect the magnitude and intensity of infertility’s psychological impact. The findings emphasise the complexity of the phenomenon and how it can impinge on all aspects of life. Sufferers were found to experience complex loss, relating to their identity and self-esteem, life purpose, but also relationships and social integration. These profound psychological effects can be particularly long lasting due to the lifelong nature of the phenomenon but also the shame and secrecy surrounding it.