Parenthood After Primary Infertility

Abstract

The authors review the literature on the experience of parenting after primary infertility and describe construction and initial testing of an instrument for assessing characteristics of this understudied population. The Parenting After Infertility Survey (PAI) consists of eight theoretically and empirically derived subscales that measure important aspects of parenting after infertility. The method of survey development and results of initial testing are described. The 64-item PAI was administered to 181 volunteers who had become parents after experiences with primary infertility. Results indicated that four subscales—Being a Perfect Parent, Disclosure of Children’s Origins, Emotional Aspects of Infertility, and Overprotection of Children—had internal consistency of .60 or higher. Factor analysis largely substantiated these four scales, with one exception: Items on the Disclosure of Children’s Origins scale loaded on two factors.