The impact of perceived stigma and mediating social factors on infertility-related stress among women seeking infertility treatment in Southern Ghana

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the extent to which women in Southern Ghana seeking infertility treatment perceived themselves as stigmatised in order to investigate the relationship between perceived stigma and infertility-related stress. A survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews in three languages with 615 women receiving infertility treatment on three health sites in Southern Ghana. The majority (64%) of women in this sample felt stigmatised. Sequential multiple regression analyses indicated that higher levels of perceived stigma were associated with increased infertility-related stress. Also women with higher levels of education felt less infertility-related stress. The presence of an existing child/children, the number of years spent in infertility treatment and the type of marriage (monogamous/polygamous union) were less important in predicting stress. The findings suggest that the social status of infertile women derived from other factors can be of importance in minimising the impact of stigmatisation and stress related to infertility. These findings highlight the wider beneficial effects of improved educational opportunities for girls and women.