Letting go of your dreams—Adjustment of child-related goal appraisals and depressive symptoms during infertility treatment

To examine the adjustment of child-related goal appraisals during infertility treatment and whether such adjustment contributes to depressive symptoms 178 (86 men, 92 women; age for women M = 33.92, SD = 0.34, for men M = 35.68, SD = 0.45) patients at an Infertility Clinic filled in child-related goal appraisal questionnaires six times: (1) before starting the hormone injections, (2) before the oocytes were retrieved, (3) after embryo transfer, (4) the day when the pregnancy test was done, and (5) two and (6) six months after the infertility treatment. At the first and last measurement times they filled in questionnaire on depressive symptoms. Appraisals concerning child-related goal changed in tandem with the treatment result, and goal adjustment had an effect on depressive symptoms.