[The psychosocial profile of couples consulting a fertility clinic]

The objective of this study is to draw the psychosocial profile of couples who consult fertility clinics. More specifically, it consists of a) comparing the psychosocial status of subjects who seek fertility consultation with that of normal subjects or individuals at grips with psychological problems; b) determining whether there are profile differences between men and women who seek fertility consultation; and c) assessing whether it is possible to predict the nature of the psychosocial profile of the subjects from various sociodemographic and medical characteristics. The sampling includes 30 couples who are consulting a specialist in a fertility clinic belonging to a Montréal-area hospital. Analysis of results shows that the psychosocial profile of subjects consulting a fertility clinic is midway between that or normal subjects and that of individuals suffering of psychological problems. The psychological status of men and women consulting a fertility clinic is different according to three variables: depression, self-esteem and stress. Finally, multiple regression analysis has allowed the author to identify several medical characteristics linked to the extent of the psychosocial difficulties experienced by the infertile subjects.