Psychosocial aspects of infertile couples

Louise Brown was born thirty years ago as the world’s first “test-tube” baby. Numerous speculations and concerns were linked to this event, some of them related to the psychosocial aspects of infertility and of assisted reproduction.The last few years have brought huge advances in the understanding of the psychosocial aspects of infertility. This review begins with a presentation of the important demographic and medical preconditions involved.This is followed by an overview of the psychosocial features that are typical of infertile couples and a discussion of the connections between distress and infertility.The psychological effects of reproductive medical treatment are described, and the long-term impact of involuntary childlessness is outlined.The basic principles, aims, and effects of counseling and psychotherapy of infertile couples are set out in detail, together with the urgent requirements regarding future research in this field, after thirty years of in vitro fertilisation.