INFERTILITY AND PARENTHOOD - DOES BECOMING A PARENT INCREASE WELL-BEING

There is a large'literature that demonstrates that infertility has a v ariety of negative effects on women's and men's well-being, but little is known about the impact of becoming a parent. The effects of parent hood were examined in a longitudinal study with both wives and husband s from 174 infertile couples and a comparison group of 74 presumed fer tile couples. Infertile women who became parents experienced greater g lobal well-being but diminished marital well-being, compared with infe rtile women who had not become parents. Infertile men who became paren ts experienced the same negative effects that their wives reported, bu t they did not experience positive effects to the same extent. Parenta l status had fewer positive and negative effects on members of presume d-fertile couples. These results are discussed in terms of gender diff erences in the meaning of parenthood, and their implications for resea rch and clinical services are considered.