Human Reproduction · 2001 · 227 citations · 0 references
MedicineCounselingObstetricsInfertilityReproductive HealthReproductive MedicineAssisted Reproductive TechniquesFemale InfertilityFertility CareFertility CounselingInfertility CareInfertility CounselingCounseling For SurrogacyInfertility CounsellingPerson-centred Care PlanningPsychological Counseling In InfertilityPsychosocial Aspects Of InfertilityPsychosocial Care PlanningPsychosocial FunctioningPsychosocial Support In Infertility
The Guidelines for Counselling in Infertility outline six sections covering the unique nature of infertility consultations, core counselling concepts, integration with medical care, special circumstances, third‑party reproduction, and supplemental psychosocial services. This paper aims to summarize the Guidelines’ sections and explain how to obtain the complete text. The authors report that the paper provides a concise overview of the Guidelines and instructions for accessing the full document.
The Guidelines for Counselling in Infertility describe the purpose, objectives, typical issues and communication skills involved in providing psychosocial care to individuals using fertility services. The Guidelines are presented in six sections. The first section describes how infertility consultations differ from other medical consultations in obstetrics and gynaecology, whereas the second section addresses fundamental issues in counselling, such as what is counselling in infertility, who should counsel and who is likely to need counselling. Section 3 focuses on how to integrate patient-centred care and counselling into routine medical treatment and section 4 highlights some of the special situations which can provoke the need for counselling (e.g. facing the end of treatment, sexual problems). Section 5 deals exclusively with third party reproduction and the psychosocial implications of gamete donation, surrogacy and adoption for heterosexual and gay couples and single women without partners. The final section of the Guidelines is concerned with psychosocial services that can be used to supplement counselling services in fertility clinics: written psychosocial information, telephone counselling, self-help groups and professionally facilitated group work. This paper summarizes the different sections of the Guidelines and describes how to obtain the complete text of the Guidelines for Counselling in Infertility.