The meaning of parenthood and couples' reactions to male infertility

This paper reports findings from a postal survey of 205 couples belonging to the National Association for the Childless who saw their infertility as due to the male partner. Two self-report scales used in previous studies were administered to measure personal and social identity needs as a basis for parenthood (the Meaning of Parenthood scale), and emotional distress and marital problems. Endorsement of items on the Meaning of Parenthood (MOP) scale showed only small mean gender differences for each item and a consistent item rank order for men and women. Factor analysis confirmed that the scale tapped dimensions pertaining to social and personal identity needs. For women, distress was associated with ratings on the MOP scale which emphasized the link between femininity and motherhood, while for men distress was associated with ratings which emphasized masculinity and fatherhood. Implications of the results for further research and counselling in relation to male infertility are discussed.