ABSTRACT

Objectives: Previous studies investigated the physical, psychological and sociological effects of infertility; however, stigma and violence experiences of infertile women haven’t yet been studied in the US. The objective of the study is to examine the perceived stress, stigma, violence experiences, and social support of US infertile women and to compare with fertile women in order to understand the effects of infertility on stress levels, violence exposures, and support.

Methods: The descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with fertile and infertile women who use social media for an online support group. A convenience sample of 786 women completed an online survey.

Results: In the study, 41.6% of participants were fertile and 58.4% were infertile. We found infertile women experienced high levels of stigma and moderate stress. One in five infertile women has been exposed to emotional or physical violence. Compared to fertile women, infertile women had significantly higher perceived stress levels and were less likely to experience emotional or physical violence.

Conclusion: These findings highlight that infertile women have experienced stigma and high levels of stress in a developed country. They are also exposed to emotional or physical violence, but surprisingly infertile women are less likely to report violence than fertile women.

摘要

目标：以前的研究调查了不孕症对生理、心理和社会学的影响；然而，美国尚未对不孕妇女的耻辱和暴力经历进行研究。该研究的目的是检查美国不孕妇女的感知压力、耻辱感、暴力经历和社会支持，并与生育妇女进行比较，以了解不孕对压力水平、暴力暴露和支持的影响。

方法：描述性、横断面研究是对使用社交媒体的在线支持小组的生育和不孕妇女进行的。786 名女性的便利样本完成了一项在线调查。

结果：在研究中，41.6% 的参与者可以生育，58.4% 的参与者不育。我们发现不育女性经历了高度的耻辱和适度的压力。五分之一的不孕妇女曾遭受过情感或身体暴力。与有生育能力的女性相比，不育女性的感知压力水平明显更高，并且不太可能遭受情感或身体暴力。

结论：这些发现突出表明，在发达国家，不孕妇女遭受了耻辱和高度压力。他们也遭受情感或身体暴力，但令人惊讶的是，与生育妇女相比，不育妇女报告暴力的可能性更小。