The proposed five year study will explore the transition to parenthood of infertile and childless couples who have achieved pregnancy and parenthood spontaneously or through biotechnical means, or have achieved parenthood through adoption. This study will a) provide nurses with a theoretical basis for care to facilitate the transition to parenthood of infertile adoptive and childbearing couples; b) contribute to more informed decision- making, practice, and health policy formulation concerning the uses of technologies for infertile and childbearing couples; and c) lead to the development of an appropriate paradigm for the study of infertility. The grounded theory approach to research will guide sampling, data collection, and data analysis. The focal group of study will be 30 married infertile and childless couples who are currently expecting a child of their own or awaiting an adopted infant. These couples will be compared with three other groups of couples who are expecting a child of their own or awaiting an adopted infant: 30 married infertile parents, 20 married fertile and childless couples, and 20 married fertile parents. Subjects will be recruited from the infertility clinics, private physician practices, adoption agencies, adoption support groups, referrals from subjects already in the study, and personal contacts. Data collection techniques include the Demographic, Fertility, and Parenthood Inventory, minimally-structured taped conjoint interviews, optional diaries, the Symptomatology Inventory, Barnard's Sleep/Activity Record, and naturalistic observations using Thoman's Observational Schema. Couples will enter the study in the first trimester of pregnancy or within five months of having obtained approval to adopt an infant, and their last research contact will occur three months after the infant's arrival. Couples will be interviewed three times during the expectant period and twice after the arrival of the infant. Two observations of the family unit will be made the second and third week after the infant's arrival. The Symptomatology Inventory will be collected every month in the expectant period and at one week, four weeks, and three months after the infant's arrival. The Sleep/Activity Record will be completed for the week between the first and second observations. All research contacts will occur in a location convenient for the couple, most likely the home. A combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques will be used for data analysis and verification.
| Holditch-Davis, D; Roberts, D; Sandelowski, M (1999) Early parental interactions with and perceptions of multiple birth infants. J Adv Nurs 30:200-10 |
| Holditch-Davis, D; Sandelowski, M; Harris, B G (1998) Infertility and early parent-infant interactions. J Adv Nurs 27:992-1001 |
| Holditch-Davis, D; Black, B P; Sandelowski, M et al. (1995) Fertility status and symptoms in childbearing couples. Res Nurs Health 18:417-26 |
| Black, B P; Holditch-Davis, D; Sandelowski, M et al. (1995) Comparison of pregnancy symptoms of infertile and fertile couples. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs 9:1-9 |
| Sandelowski, M (1995) A theory of the transition to parenthood of infertile couples. Res Nurs Health 18:123-32 |
| Sandelowski, M; Black, B P (1994) The epistemology of expectant parenthood. West J Nurs Res 16:601-14;discussion 614-22 |
| Holditch-Davis, D; Black, B P; Harris, B G et al. (1994) Beyond couvade: pregnancy symptoms in couples with a history of infertility. Health Care Women Int 15:537-48 |
| Sandelowski, M; Harris, B G; Holditch-Davis, D (1991) Amniocentesis in the context of infertility. Health Care Women Int 12:167-78 |
| Sandelowski, M; Harris, B G; Holditch-Davis, D (1990) Pregnant moments: the process of conception in infertile couples. Res Nurs Health 13:273-82 |
| Sandelowski, M; Harris, B G; Holditch-Davis, D (1989) Mazing: infertile couples and the quest for a child. Image J Nurs Sch 21:220-6 |
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