Increasing and decreasing factors of hope in infertile women with failure in infertility treatment: A phenomenology study

BACKGROUND Assisted reproductive technology (ART) provide the hope of pregnancy for infertile women, but do not always turn this hope into reality. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of infertile women from increasing and decreasing factors of hope in infertile women with failure in infertility treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using a qualitative research design (Phenomenology study), 23 subjects were selected who had experienced infertility failure visited by gynecologist (Rasekh Infertility center) in 2012. The data were collected through semi structured interviews and analyzed using interpretive research strategies of phenomenology by Collizi's seven-stage method. RESULTS Totally 96 codes were identified. The data arranged in two categories. The factors decreasing and increasing hope in infertility treatments. Totally 5 themes and 20 sub themes were extracted. The increasing factors which emerged from the data contain "spiritual source", "family interaction and support" and "information through the media", and decreasing factors contain "nature of treatments" and "negatively oriented mind".