Exploring the Challenge of Adoption from the Perspective of Iranian Infertile Women

Background: Adopting another person’s child by infertile couple might not alleviate their pain so much but direct the suffering and pain of infertility towards parenthood and parental experience. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the challenges of adoption to assist in proper planning to improve the quality of adoption. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with conventional content analysis method on 25 women with primary and secondary infertility. The study was conducted in Vali-e-asr Reproductive Health Research Center, Tehran, Iran. Sampling method was done purposefully and data were gathered from semi-structured interviews. The interviews continued until saturation of the data. Concurrent with data collection, their analysis was done based on the conventional content analysis method. Results: The main concepts derived from data were categorized into 3 main themes and their subthemes as follows: 1) Legal and cultural barriers (importance of blood ties, priority of treatment before deciding to adopt a child, and strict legal requirements), 2) The attitude of the husband towards adopted child (adoption as a good deed, husband preferred to continue the treatment asmuch as possible, the decision of the husband depends on the reaction of others around them, and preferring remarriage over adoption), 3) Attitude of the others (fear of disclosure of adoption in the future and negative attitudes of the society). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that in our society, the importance of blood ties, cultural factors, and infertility treatment are among the barriers to adoption. The results show that it is critical to raise the awareness and enlightenment in society through the media to minimize the socio-cultural consequences of adoption.