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Adolescents conceived through donor insemination: an in-depth qualitative study of the experiences of contacting and meeting donor offspring
analyses were used to identify factors independently associated with increased impact. RESULTS: A total of 809 women met the inclusion criteria, of which 396 (49%) completed the questionnaire. Most participants (75.5%) reported having no prior children. The majority (58.8%) attributed infertility to only female factors, 30.4% to a combination of male and female factors, 7.3% to only male factor, and 3.5% reported that the etiology had not been determined. The actual cause of infertility from the medical records was statistically different from the perceived cause of infertility, p<0.01. In the multivariate analysis, women with female factor only infertility reported the highest level of sexual dysfunction (p<0.01) and personal distress (p¼0.01). Women <40 years old were at higher risk for sexual dysfunction, personal distress and social distress when compared to those older than 40 (p<0.01 for all). Respondents with prior biological children reported lower levels of social and personal distress but higher levels of marital distress (p<0.05). Relative to those with <6 months of infertility, respondents with 6-48 months of infertility reported lower rates of sexual dysfunction (p¼0.05) but higher rates of marital distress (p¼0.04). These results are similar to those previously published for male respondents from the same cohort (1). CONCLUSIONS: Women seeking care for infertility are at high risk of sexual dysfunction, and social, marital, and personal distress. These data support the practice of screening female infertility patients for psychosocial distress and offering appropriate treatment or referrals to help address these concerns. Providers should consider the roles that younger age and perceived causes of infertility play in a women’s overall wellbeing. Reference: 1. Smith JF, Walsh TJ, Shindel AW, et al. Sexual, marital, and social impact of a man’s perceived infertility diagnosis. J Sex Med. 2009;6(9):2505-15.
P-736 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 A CRY FOR HELP: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN INFERTILITY PATIENTS. J. M. Wong,a A. Lawson,b M. Lanham,c S. Fisseha,c M. B. Moravek.a aObstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; bNorthwestern Medical Group, Chicago, IL; cUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale; PANAS-X) and fertility-related quality of life (Fertility Quality of Life Scale; FertiQoL), and to examine demographic and clinical predictors of psychological distress among women with infertility. DESIGN: Questionnaire administered at a tertiary outpatient fertility clinic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 266 women undergoing infertility assessment and treatment were given a survey including demographics, fertility history, experience of social support during fertility treatment, PANAS-X, and FertiQoL scales. RESULTS: The majority of patients were married (90%), white (69%) women with at least a college degree (81%) who earned >$75,000 (59%) per year. Negative Affect (PANAS-X NA) was significantly correlated with decreased FertiQoL Core and Treatment scale scores (r¼-0.68, p<0.001; r¼-0.42, p<0.001), while Positive Affect (PANAS-X PA) was significantly correlated with increased FertiQoL Core and Treatment scale scores (r¼0.51, p<0.001; r¼0.25, p<0.01). Although PANAS-X and FertiQoL scores both demonstrated significant correlations with mental health history and a reported need for more social support, a negative correlation was found between mental health history and need for more social support (r¼-0.134, p<0.05). Regression analyses predicting PANAS-X NA, PANAS-X PA, and FertiQoL Core and Treatment scale scores demonstrated that in 3 of the 4 models, poor quality of life and affect were largely driven by perceptions of inadequate social support (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Screening patients with the PANAS-X or FertiQoL scales can provide insight into patients’ emotional functioning; however, screening for perceived level of social support may allow for an earlier identification of patients at an increased risk of psychological distress. Further, the negative correlations between patient mental health history and a reported need for more social support demonstrate that simply screening patients for a history of anxiety or depression is insufficient to adequately recognize at-risk patients. Infertility and mental health providers therefore must work together
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ASRM Abstracts
to provide prompt and preventive support to infertility patients from the first patient encounter. P-737 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 ADOLESCENTS CONCEIVED THROUGH DONOR INSEMINATION: AN IN-DEPTH QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCES OF CONTACTING AND MEETING DONOR OFFSPRING. S. Persaud,a T. Freeman,b V. Jadva,b J. Slutsky,c W. Kramer,d M. Steele,c H. Steele,e S. Golombok.f aClinical Psychology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY; bUniversity of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; cThe New School for Social Research, New York, NY; dDonor Sibling Registry, Nederland, CO; ePsychology Dept, New School for Social Research, New York, NY; fCentre for Family Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the experiences of adolescents conceived through donor insemination contacting and meeting their donor relations and how they make meaning of these relationships. DESIGN: Adolescents were interviewed at their home using semi-structured interviews aimed at understanding the experiences of adolescents meeting other children conceived from the same donor’s sperm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three participants were recruited from the Donor Sibling Registry, a website that assists families in contacting their donor relations (both the donor and other families who share the same donor). Inclusion criteria included the following: participants must be 12-19 years old, reside in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, and have contacted or met at least one donor sibling. Thematic analysis was conducted on interview transcripts to identify central themes within and across interviews. RESULTS: Preliminary analysis has produced the following emergent themes: a) neutrality/normality in discussion of donor conception in which participants express a sense of normalcy about donor conception through an integration of their identity as a donor-conceived person, b) curiosity related to knowing about their donor relations and forming relationships with them, c) donor siblings in multiple relationship roles in which participants experience their donor siblings in a multi-faceted manner as both ‘‘friend’’ and ‘‘family,’’ and d) having a unique experience as part of identity where being donor conceived provides a sense of being different that is affected by the social context. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of an in-depth, qualitative inquiry into the experiences of donor-conceived persons meeting their donor relations, particularly in the adolescent age range, when identity formation is developing. As this is an area that has not previously been studied, it provides insight into these experiences in their complexity and challenges assumptions commonly held about this population. Supported by: This study was Supported by the Wellcome Trust [097857/ Z/11/Z].
P-738 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN WOMEN PRESENTING FOR FIRST-TIME IN VITRO FERTILIZATION: RELATIONSHIPS AMONG MATERNAL IDENTITY CENTRALITY, GRIEF, AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. K. Levin, L. Samstag, S. Haden, J. Duncan, N. Papouchis. Department of Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to answer the following two questions: (1) to what extent do women presenting for firsttime IVF differ from ‘non-infertile’ control samples on measures of anxiety, depression, and grief; and (2) does the interaction between maternal identity centrality – a developmental construct measuring self-reported identification with the social role of motherhood (Levin et al., 2014) – and infertility-specific grief increase the likelihood of developing anxiety and depression in women presenting for first-time IVF? DESIGN: A between-subjects design was used to compare women presenting for first-time IVF to control samples on measures of anxiety (N ¼ 152), depression (N ¼ 152), and grief (n ¼ 138). A within-group design was used to examine a possible interaction between maternal identity centrality and grief on the presence of anxiety and depression in a sample of women presenting for first-time IVF (n ¼ 112).
Vol. 104, No. 3, Supplement, September 2015
P-736 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 A CRY FOR HELP: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN INFERTILITY PATIENTS. J. M. Wong,a A. Lawson,b M. Lanham,c S. Fisseha,c M. B. Moravek.a aObstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; bNorthwestern Medical Group, Chicago, IL; cUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale; PANAS-X) and fertility-related quality of life (Fertility Quality of Life Scale; FertiQoL), and to examine demographic and clinical predictors of psychological distress among women with infertility. DESIGN: Questionnaire administered at a tertiary outpatient fertility clinic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 266 women undergoing infertility assessment and treatment were given a survey including demographics, fertility history, experience of social support during fertility treatment, PANAS-X, and FertiQoL scales. RESULTS: The majority of patients were married (90%), white (69%) women with at least a college degree (81%) who earned >$75,000 (59%) per year. Negative Affect (PANAS-X NA) was significantly correlated with decreased FertiQoL Core and Treatment scale scores (r¼-0.68, p<0.001; r¼-0.42, p<0.001), while Positive Affect (PANAS-X PA) was significantly correlated with increased FertiQoL Core and Treatment scale scores (r¼0.51, p<0.001; r¼0.25, p<0.01). Although PANAS-X and FertiQoL scores both demonstrated significant correlations with mental health history and a reported need for more social support, a negative correlation was found between mental health history and need for more social support (r¼-0.134, p<0.05). Regression analyses predicting PANAS-X NA, PANAS-X PA, and FertiQoL Core and Treatment scale scores demonstrated that in 3 of the 4 models, poor quality of life and affect were largely driven by perceptions of inadequate social support (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Screening patients with the PANAS-X or FertiQoL scales can provide insight into patients’ emotional functioning; however, screening for perceived level of social support may allow for an earlier identification of patients at an increased risk of psychological distress. Further, the negative correlations between patient mental health history and a reported need for more social support demonstrate that simply screening patients for a history of anxiety or depression is insufficient to adequately recognize at-risk patients. Infertility and mental health providers therefore must work together
e360
ASRM Abstracts
to provide prompt and preventive support to infertility patients from the first patient encounter. P-737 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 ADOLESCENTS CONCEIVED THROUGH DONOR INSEMINATION: AN IN-DEPTH QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCES OF CONTACTING AND MEETING DONOR OFFSPRING. S. Persaud,a T. Freeman,b V. Jadva,b J. Slutsky,c W. Kramer,d M. Steele,c H. Steele,e S. Golombok.f aClinical Psychology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY; bUniversity of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; cThe New School for Social Research, New York, NY; dDonor Sibling Registry, Nederland, CO; ePsychology Dept, New School for Social Research, New York, NY; fCentre for Family Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the experiences of adolescents conceived through donor insemination contacting and meeting their donor relations and how they make meaning of these relationships. DESIGN: Adolescents were interviewed at their home using semi-structured interviews aimed at understanding the experiences of adolescents meeting other children conceived from the same donor’s sperm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three participants were recruited from the Donor Sibling Registry, a website that assists families in contacting their donor relations (both the donor and other families who share the same donor). Inclusion criteria included the following: participants must be 12-19 years old, reside in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, and have contacted or met at least one donor sibling. Thematic analysis was conducted on interview transcripts to identify central themes within and across interviews. RESULTS: Preliminary analysis has produced the following emergent themes: a) neutrality/normality in discussion of donor conception in which participants express a sense of normalcy about donor conception through an integration of their identity as a donor-conceived person, b) curiosity related to knowing about their donor relations and forming relationships with them, c) donor siblings in multiple relationship roles in which participants experience their donor siblings in a multi-faceted manner as both ‘‘friend’’ and ‘‘family,’’ and d) having a unique experience as part of identity where being donor conceived provides a sense of being different that is affected by the social context. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of an in-depth, qualitative inquiry into the experiences of donor-conceived persons meeting their donor relations, particularly in the adolescent age range, when identity formation is developing. As this is an area that has not previously been studied, it provides insight into these experiences in their complexity and challenges assumptions commonly held about this population. Supported by: This study was Supported by the Wellcome Trust [097857/ Z/11/Z].
P-738 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN WOMEN PRESENTING FOR FIRST-TIME IN VITRO FERTILIZATION: RELATIONSHIPS AMONG MATERNAL IDENTITY CENTRALITY, GRIEF, AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. K. Levin, L. Samstag, S. Haden, J. Duncan, N. Papouchis. Department of Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to answer the following two questions: (1) to what extent do women presenting for firsttime IVF differ from ‘non-infertile’ control samples on measures of anxiety, depression, and grief; and (2) does the interaction between maternal identity centrality – a developmental construct measuring self-reported identification with the social role of motherhood (Levin et al., 2014) – and infertility-specific grief increase the likelihood of developing anxiety and depression in women presenting for first-time IVF? DESIGN: A between-subjects design was used to compare women presenting for first-time IVF to control samples on measures of anxiety (N ¼ 152), depression (N ¼ 152), and grief (n ¼ 138). A within-group design was used to examine a possible interaction between maternal identity centrality and grief on the presence of anxiety and depression in a sample of women presenting for first-time IVF (n ¼ 112).
Vol. 104, No. 3, Supplement, September 2015