Fertility clinics have a duty of care toward patients who do not have children with treatment

Gameiro, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2496-2004, Leone, D. and Mertes, H. 2024. Fertility clinics have a duty of care toward patients who do not have children with treatment. Human Reproduction 39 (8) , pp. 1591-1598. 10.1093/humrep/deae128

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Abstract

In medically assisted reproduction (MAR) success has mostly been measured in terms of achieving (healthy) livebirths. We argue this focus is too narrow and that success should be measured in terms of alleviating patient suffering caused by an unfulfilled child wish (Mertens and Mertes, 2023). The major implication is that clinics must better tailor care to effectively support patients who do not have child(ren) with treatment (Gameiro, et al., 2013). First, we argue that clinics have a duty of care towards patients for whom MAR does not result in children because this is a common treatment outcome, because treatment is burdensome and creates new losses for patients, because the field has the necessary expertise to provide support and it is part of patient centred care. Then, we examine concerns about the adequacy of addressing the possibility that treatment may end without children, namely, that this may hinder patients’ hope and put them off doing treatment and that it may be perceived as a sign of clinical incompetence, as well as concerns about the required skill set. We end with a set of research-informed recommendations to promote healthy adjustment to ending fertility treatment without children. These focus on the need to reconceptualise ‘success’ and ‘failure’ in MAR, to promote open discussion about the possibility of treatment not resulting in children and encourage patients to develop ‘plan(s) B’, to support patients who end treatment without children, and to create the organisational structures needed to support clinics and healthcare professionals in this endeavour.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0268-1161
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 May 2024
Date of Acceptance:	13 May 2024
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2024 13:39
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169305

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