Partnered Decisions: Seeking Help in the Case of Infertility

Katherine M Johnson, Pennsylvania State University
David Johnson, Pennsylvania State University

The following paper uses data on couples from the National Study of Fertility Barriers to examine how fertility preferences and intentions and the value of parenthood relate to infertility help-seeking behavior. Because the experience of infertility is referred to as a “dyadic process,” help-seeking cannot be understood solely by one partner’s characteristics. Focusing on couples who have met certain prerequisites of help-seeking (e.g. couples who are married and have health insurance) and framing infertility help-seeking as a fertility decision made within couples is one avenue suggested to focus more closely on the couple dynamics that may be important to the dyadic process of the experience of infertility and subsequent help-seeking behavior.