Psychosocial Problems of Infertility among Married Men and Women in Addis Ababa: Implications for Marriage and Family Counseling
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2017-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the psycho-social problems of infertile married men and women in Addis Ababa. A qualitative research design was employed for the study. Twenty infertile married men and women participated in the study. Three methods of data collection were employed in the main study: 1) In depth-interview 2) Focus group discussion and 3) Observation. The result suggested that there is lack of counseling service practices among the participants. They admitted that they still practice traditional ways of healing infertility and are exposed to several problems including incurring costs and practicing unwanted sex with traditional healers such as wizards to conceive a baby. In addition, because of lack of awareness from the public, infertile couples, particularly females are stigmatized and avoided from social occasions. Even though quite a number of people would like to go to health care institutions for counseling, they are discouraged by the inconvenience of the service they get from health centers. The study suggest that there is a need of public awareness about counseling among the community and the infertile people themselves that they should stop going to the bad traditional healers such as wizards who demand them to scarify a lot of things including practicing sex with the people under pressure. In addition, as discussed in the literature review, infertility has tremendous effect wellbeing of couples such as frustration, aggression feeling of powerless and experience of self-esteem. Therefore, these parts of the society must be supported so that they can also lead normal life and be productive to their country like other citizens. Childless couples also face the critique of the relatives and the community at large. To solve such kinds of problems, the media should create awareness about infertility along the providing counseling services.
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Implications for Marriage and Family Counseling