title: Exploring infertile women's experiences about sexual life: A qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infertility is a serious problem in a couple's life that affects their marriage relationships. So, dissatisfaction with sexual function resulting from interpersonal problems is common among these couples. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of infertile women in their sexual life.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. The participants were 20 infertile women referring to the health care centers and infertility clinics of Isfahan and were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected by tape recording of deep interviews and analyzed by Colaizzi's method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of the participants' experiences led to five main concepts: "Disturbed in femininity-body image," "discouragement of sexual relations," "sacrifice of sexual pleasure for the sake of getting pregnant," "confusion in sexual relation during infertility treatment," and "striving to protect their marriage."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings revealed that infertility affects women's different aspects of sexual life, especially disturbance in femininity-body image and sexual reluctance. With regard to women's willingness to protect their matrimonial life and prevent sexual trauma as a destroying factor for their family's mental health, it seems sexual counseling is necessary for infertile couples.
authors.affiliation: Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Centre, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohan
authors.affiliation: Department of midwifery, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beigi
keywords: Experiences; Iran; infertility; phenomenology; qualitative research; sexual life