title: Experiences of infertility through the lens of Iranian infertile women: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of Iranian infertile women regarding infertility.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative design, based on a content analysis approach, was used to reach this study aim. After employing purposive sampling to choose 10 women who were seeking infertility treatment at a referral center in Tehran, Iran, semi-structured interviews were carried out to gather data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the data analysis, four main themes emerged including "abuse", "marital instability", "social isolation", and "loss of self- esteem".
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infertility influences both the psychological and social well-being of women. Improving the knowledge of healthcare professionals especially nurses about the complications of infertility and its related cultural-contextual factors are crucial in order to provide high quality care to infertile women.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. bahar_behboodi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Behboodi-Moghadam
authors.forename: Mahvash
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salsali
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eftekhar-Ardabily
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaismoradi
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramezanzadeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007492:Iran; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D012934:Social Isolation