The Fertility Problem Inventory and Infertility-Related Stress: A Case Study

Abstract

More than seven million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility. Oftentimes, for women, the experience of infertility is stressful. The Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) has been used to quantitatively measure women’s experience of infertility-related stress. However, the construct of infertility-related stress is poorly described in existing literature. The purpose of this case study was to understand how women experience the FPI as a measure of infertility-related stress. To address this issue, women who were undergoing infertility treatment completed the FPI and participated in unstructured interviews. Archival documents were also retrieved to corroborate findings and satisfy saturation. Results indicated that the FPI is lacking in structure and organization to describe women’s experiences of infertility-related stress. Specifically, women described feeling infertility having an influence upon their identity and their coping.