The Association of Religious Beliefs in Infertile Couple's Attitude towards Donation Procedures and Its Selection as a Therapeutic Approach to Infertility

Nowadays assisted reproductive donation procedures have raised various inquiries which their acknowledgment necessitates to conduct widespread research in different countries according to their particular socio-cultural and religious beliefs. This study was conducted aimed to investigate the association of religious beliefs with infertile couples’ attitude towards donation procedures and its selection as a therapeutic approach to infertility.

This descriptive- correlational study was carried out on 115 infertile couples that were selected using convenience sampling from Montaserieh infertility research center in Mashhad، Iran، 2010. Infertile couples’ religious beliefs and also their attitudes and practices towards donation procedures were measured using valid and reliable self-structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 14 and statistical tests including t-test، Mann-Whitney، chi-square and Spearman correlation coefficient test. P value less than 0. 05 was considered statistically significant.

There was no relationship between religious beliefs and infertile women’s attitude towards donation procedures (p>0. 05)، but a direct correlation was seen between religious beliefs and infertile men’s attitude (P=0. 036). Also there was no relationship between women and men’s religious beliefs and their selection of donation procedures (p>0. 05).

Considering the results، it seems that it is needed to get advantage of religious scholars to illuminate the basics of Islamic jurisprudence، in addition to the infertility health care team who provide a holistic care to meet all physical، psychological، social and spiritual needs of infertile couples.