Parental investment in couples who conceived spontaneously or with assisted reproductive techniques.

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that couples who conceive with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) invest more in their child than those who conceive spontaneously. This study examined how parental investment in the child (PIC) varied as a function of method-of-conception, gender and other contextual variables, i.e. prenatal depression, social support and satisfaction with the marital relationship. METHODS A total of 39 couples who conceived with ART and 34 couples who conceived spontaneously completed self-report questionnaires about depression, marital satisfaction and social support at their 24th pregnancy week and about PIC 4 months after the partum. Data were analysed with multilevel regression analyses. RESULTS Results showed that method-of-conception and gender did not predict parental investment. There was a strong association between spouses on parental investment and investment was associated with couples' satisfaction with their marital relationship and the amount of support they perceived from their network. CONCLUSIONS Investment in children depends on the marital relationship and support perceived from family members and friends and not on how the child was conceived nor on the gender of the parents.