Infertility and Assisted Reproduction in Denmark: Epidemiology and Psychosocial Consequences

Most young people expect to become parents later in life. However, in industrialized countries 17-26% of those couples having tried to get a child will be infertile. They will not have achieved a pregnancy after more than 1 year of trying. Besides being a medical condition infertility is a social situation. For many couples infertility causes serious strain on their interpersonal relationships. This doctoral thesis provides information about infertility and assisted reproduction in Denmark. This country has the highest percentage of fertility treatment compared to the size of the population, and in 2007 8% of all newborn children were conceived after fertility treatment. This book provides estimates of infertility and medical care seeking and patient?s expectations to and evaluation of fertility treatment. Furthermore, on the communication strategies and coping strategies used in order to manage the stress related to infertility. The book will be especially useful for health care staff and counselors working with fertility patients as well as for researchers in infertility epidemiology and psychosocial infertility research.