Is Spirituality a Source of Support or Conflict for Infertility? A Qualitative Study

Background: Infertility has become an important public health problem in developing countries due to its high prevalence. Infertility is a difficult crisis situation with psychological and spiritual dimensions. Aims: The aim of this study is to determine whether religion provides support or conflict for the infertility process in women. Methods: This research was designed as a descriptive qualitative study. This study was conducted in a governmental hospital's infertility outpatient clinic in Istanbul, Turkey. Twenty participants participated in the face-to-face, in-depth interview technique used to gather the research data. A semi-structured interview and a comprehensive information form were used to gather data. Results: In line with the interviews with the participants, 2 main themes, 9 sub-themes and 12 codes for the sub-themes were determined as the findings obtained based on the content analysis in the study, positive religious behaviors and negative religious behaviors. Conclusions: In our study, it was found that women felt unhappy, hopeless and helpless and could not accept not being able to have children. Women blamed religion for their infertility. Religion first caused infertile women to experience conflict. After the conflict, women with religious affiliation perceived religious support as a source of conflict for others.