Before, then and after: An interpretative phenomenological study on the experience of motherhood in the context of infertility

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the subjective experience of motherhood in the context of infertility. Two women who had twins after in-vitro fertilization (IVF) were interviewed about their conceptions on motherhood. Interviews were semi-structured and the data were generated using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data analysis led to a narrative organized in three phases characterized by different types of negotiations; negotiating motherhood as a woman; negotiating motherhood as a mother to be; and negotiating motherhood as a mother. The first phase captures their social and personal constructions of femininity and motherhood. The second phase traverses the advertises of their experiences with fertility and sheds light on coping mechanisms (disconnecting vs connecting) and the third phase explores their meaning making process of motherhood (idealistic vs realist views) following IVF. This retrospective investigation of women’s experiences on motherhood gave access to aspects of their experiences that remain unexposed in research which is mainly empirical in orientation.