A home without a child: Effect of infertility on marital quality and psychological well-being among Indian women

Abstract

Infertility is a complicated problem that affects both individuals and families and has a significant influence on the mental health of an individual, especially in a country like ‘India’ where having children is the essence of being a woman. The proportion of couples having trouble conceiving a child is believed to be between 10 to 14% in India. Female infertility has been consistently shown to impact mental health and quality of married life. Thereby, it is important to explore this area to develop interventions and strategies to promote optimum mental health in those affected. Women facing infertility issues compared with the female who has a child in the sample for the present study. Participants completed the psychological well-being questionnaire by Ryff and the marital quality questionnaire Hindi version by Dr. Anisha Shah. The t-test analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between the group of women having children and women with fertility issues. The findings of Pearson product-moment correlation reflected that a child has a positive impact on marital quality and psychological well-being. Regression analysis shows that a child contributes 56% to marital quality and 51% to psychological well-being.