The effect of cognitive behavior therapy on attitude of infertile individuals toward child adoption

BACKGROUND: Infertility is one of the most important life-threatening crises that will cause serious psychological problems and serious stressful experiences for couples. Granting the parenting of neglected children can benefit both infertile couples and those children. PURPOSE: The study aimed to investigate the effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling (CBT) on the attitude of infertile individuals towards child adoption. METHODS: It is a clinical trial study. Forty samples were determined in each case and control group. Five 90-minute cognitive-behavioral counseling sessions were held for the intervention group. Control group participants were on the waiting list. Data were reported based on frequency distribution, central distribution, dispersion, Wilcoxon, and paired T-test. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. FINDINGS: Participants in this study had a mean age of 32.5 years old, the mean years without children was 6.29 years, most of them had higher education. The majority of individuals in the control and intervention groups referred more than once to treat infertility. Based on the current study results, the attitude score of the intervention group before the consultation was 100.74, and it was 112.46 after counseling (p = 0.046). Moreover, the score of attitudes toward adoption after counseling in the control group was 97.10 and 112.46 in the intervention group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CBT has been influential on the attitude of infertile people towards adoption.