Time costs of fertility care: the hidden hardship of building a family.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the time that infertile couples spend seeking and utilizing fertility care.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort.

SETTING: Eight community and academic infertility practices.

PATIENT(S): A total of 319 couples presenting for a fertility evaluation.

INTERVENTION(S): Face-to-face and telephone interviews and questionnaires.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Participants recorded diaries of time spent on provider visits, travel, telephone, and miscellaneous activities. Participants also recorded time off from work due to the physical and mental stress related to fertility care. Linear regression was used to assess relationship between fertility characteristics and time spent pursuing care.

RESULT(S): Diaries were completed by 319 subjects. Over an 18-month time period, the average time spent on fertility care was 125 hours, equating to 15.6 days, assuming an 8-hour workday. For couples utilizing cycle-based treatments (CBT), overall time spent pursuing care averaged 142 hours, versus 58 hours for couples using other therapies, with the majority of time spent on provider visits (73 hours). After multivariable adjustment for clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, possessing a college degree and intensity of fertility treatment were independently associated with increased time spent pursuing fertility care. Furthermore, couples that spent the most time on care were significantly more likely to experience fertility-related stress.

CONCLUSION(S): Over the course of 18 months of observation, couples pursuing fertility treatment dedicated large amounts of time to attaining their family-building goals. This burden on couples adds to the already significant financial and emotional burdens of fertility treatment and provides new insight into the difficulties that these couples face.