Hope and Hardships of Women Seeking Pregnancy through IVF: A Thematic Analysis

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19483959

Jyoti Shukla (Department of Psychology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)

Infertility is a serious medical issue that accompanies social and psychological challenges, particularly for women. In Indian culture, childbearing is not viewed as a personal choice but a measure of womanhood and failure to this desired social role, which might result in social neglect. Assisted Reproductive Technologies like In Vitro-Fertilization (IVF) provide hope to many couples struggling with Infertility but has significant stigma attached to it. Women undergoing IVF treatment has to face several unique emotional, psychological, social and financial challenges which needs to be addressed. This research paper is an attempt to explore lived experiences of women undergoing IVF treatment in India. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to probe emotional experiences, social stigma faced and coping strategies of 27 women (aged 32-45) seeking pregnancy through IVF in Lucknow, India. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019) was done to analyze data using mixed method deductive inductive coding approach. The analysis revealed two meta-themes: Hope and Hardships. The subthemes under Hope are ‘Perseverance’, which shows internal motivation, optimistic attitude participants hold despite treatment failures, and ‘Social Pillars’, which indicates participants’ perception about emotional and moral support from spouse, family and hospital staff. Sub-themes under Hardships include ‘Why Me’ showing psychological distress, Incomplete woman captures social stigma, Silent Struggle presents isolation and Juggling Roles indicates practical burdens related to infertility and IVF treatment. The results of this study highlight two extremes showing resilience and vulnerability in lived experiences of women seeking pregnancy through IVF treatment. The results also stress the need to integrate psychosocial support during fertility treatments.