Reasons for infertile couples to discontinue in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment

The aim of this study was to determine the reason for treatment discontinuation for couples who had received at least one in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) treatment at the IVF centre of a university hospital in Turkey. The research was conducted with 113 couples who discontinued the IVF-ET treatment. The questionnaires were prepared separately for the women and men following a literature review. The mean age for the women discontinuing treatment was 35.51 +/- 4.35 and for the women who discontinued the centre was 34.29 +/- 4.31. The mean age for the men discontinuing treatment was 38.72 +/- 4.74 and for the men discontinuing centre was 36.14 +/- 3.38. The women stated the most important reason for discontinuing IVF-ET treatment was 'unsuccessful treatments and fear of coping'; however, the men stated 'depletion of financial resources' as the most important reason, which was the least important reason for the women. It is assessed that this difference arises from the priorities of men and women in accordance with their roles within the family. Both women and men stated the important reasons for discontinuing the centre were 'causes related to the centre' and there was no statistically significant difference. Earning the trust of the couple is very important even if the treatment team carries out all treatment procedures to the letter. The study indicates that most of the women and men still want to have a child and would like to continue treatment as long as their psychological and financial status allows.