Adversities of being infertile: the experience of Jordanian women.

Objective: To describe and interpret the experiences of and adversities faced by infertile Jordanian women as described from their own perspectives.

Design: A qualitative descriptive design.

Setting: The women were interviewed at a nonprofit women's organization in the north of Jordan. The organization focuses on empowerment and health issues.

Patient(s): This study included a purposive sample of 25 infertile Jordanian women who were unsuccessfully trying to conceive for a minimum of 1 year, and who were receiving treatment for infertility.

Intervention(s): Face-to-face, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted, audiotaped, and transcribed using thematic analysis.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Outcomes were measured using thematic analysis of the interview transcripts.

Result(s): Four key adversity themes emerged from the data: the adversity of incomplete being, the social adversity of being infertile, the adversity of another wife, and the adversity of changes in the marital relationship.

Conclusion(s): Jordanian women are seriously affected by infertility and experience personal, social, and marital adversities, which affect their well-being. These adversities need to be conceptualized within a framework that can be used to empower and counsel infertile women in all aspects of life.