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Background & Aim: Infertility leads to sexual dissatisfaction in women who believe that their inability to conceive have serious negative effects on their life, particularly their sexual relations. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of counseling on sexual satisfaction among infertile women referred to Tehran Fertility Center.

Methods & Materials: It is a controlled clinical trial. One hundred infertile women were recruited in the study using convenience sampling method. Then they were randomly allocated in case and control groups. Data were gathered in two phases: before the intervention and 3 month after the intervention. The intervention group participated in two-hour counseling sessions for about 2 weeks. Data were collected using a 2-sectioned questionnaire including demographic characteristics, and sexual satisfaction questions. Data were analyzed using χ^2, Mann Whitney U, and Willcoxon statistical tests.

Results: Results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between two groups in sexual satisfaction before the intervention (P=0.401). There was significant difference between two groups 3 months after the intervention (P=0.019). Also, there was significant difference between women&aposs sexual satisfaction in the counseling group before and 3 month after the intervention (P=0.002).

Conclusion: Sexual counseling improves sexual satisfaction of infertile women.

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Background & Aim: Infertile women experience greater stress in their life and have lower quality of life compared to fertile women. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive psychotherapy (MBCT) on quality of life in infertile women.
Methods & Materials: In a randomized clinical trial (IRCT2017021132321N2) with the Solomon four-group design, 60 infertile women referred to Fatemeh Zahra Infertility Research Center in Babol in 2015, were randomly assigned into four groups (15 in the group of experiment with pretest, 15 in the group of experiment without pretest, 15 in the group of control with pretest, 15 in the group of control without pretest). A total of thirty participants in the experimental group received MBCT in eight group sessions (120 minutes, once a week). The control group received no intervention. Thirty participants at the beginning and sixty participants at the end of study completed the Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-26). Data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 20 using univariate ANCOVA.
Results: The mindfulness-based cognitive psychotherapy improved the quality of life in both experimental groups. The mean scores for all the four domains of quality of life including, physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment significantly increased in both experimental groups compared to control groups (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The use of MBCT as a reliable method for promoting the quality of life of infertile women is recommended in infertility clinics.
 

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Background & Aim: Couples face many problems in pregnancies following In vitro fertilization (IVF) compared to normal pregnancies. The majority of studies have focused on women, and men have received less attention. So, this study aimed to explore the perceptions of men awaiting the first child following IVF.
Methods & Materials: This qualitative study was carried out in Shahid Motahari hospital in Urmia during 2017-2018. Data were collected using 19 individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected among men whose wives got pregnant by IVF, through purposeful sampling, until data saturation was reached. Data were analyzed through conventional content analysis approach using the MAXQDA software version 10.
Results: Four categories of "hope and fear of treatment outcome", "fear of social stigma", "financial concern", and "need for participation and training" were emerged from data analysis.
Conclusion: Men whose wives got pregnant through IVF have expectations and needs that must be addressed. On the one hand, the men are concerned about the social stigma of infertility and donation, the outcome of treatment, and the economic problems of treatment, and on the other hand they expect to be involved in the process of treatment and prenatal care.
 

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Background & Aim: Considering that a decline in sexual satisfaction after assisted reproductive treatment failure can cause a decrease in the overall quality and satisfaction of life, the present study was conducted to compare the effect of sexual counseling based on EX-PLISSIT and BETTER models on the sexual satisfaction of infertile women following the failure of assisted reproductive technologies.
Methods & Materials: This randomized clinical trial, conducted in 2022, involved 66 infertile women who had experienced unsuccessful assisted reproductive treatments and were referred to the Milad Infertility Center of Imam Reza (AS) Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. The participants were divided into two intervention groups – EX-PLISSIT and BETTER – and received individual sexual counseling across four weekly sessions, comprising two face-to-face and two virtual sessions. Data were collected using the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (SSSW) and subsequently analyzed using SPSS software version 25, through chi-square, independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests.
Results: After the intervention, there were no statistically significant differences in the total scores of sexual satisfaction and its components between the two groups (P>0.05), with the exception of relational anxiety (P=0.021). Intra-group comparisons revealed a significant increase in the total scores of sexual satisfaction and its components within each group after the intervention, as compared to before the intervention (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Sexual counseling utilizing the EX-PLISSIT and BETTER models was found to be an effective, affordable, and side-effect-free method in enhancing sexual satisfaction among infertile women after the failure of assisted reproductive methods, particularly by addressing relational anxiety.
Clinical trial registry: IRCT20210211050324N1