生殖補助医療後に双子を出産した女性が母親となっていく体験—出産後6か月から2〜3年頃までに焦点をあてて

Experiences of Women Becoming Mothers after Giving Birth to Twins Using Assisted Reproductive Technology: From The 6 Months to Around 2〜3 Years after Delivery

目的

　本研究では、生殖補助医療（以下ART）によって双胎妊娠した女性が、出産後約2年までにどのような体験を通して母親となっていくのかを明らかにした。

対象と方法

　研究デザインは、ライフストーリー法である。研究参加者は、ARTによって双胎妊娠し双子を出産して2歳頃の双子を育児する4名の女性であった。データ収集は半構成的面接法と参加観察法により行った。

結果

　本研究では、双子に憎しみを感じる程の辛い育児をよかったと意味づけ親となった自分を受け入れるAさんのライフストーリー、納得できないARTの治療内容を払拭させるために今が「ベスト」と意味づけるBさんのライフストーリー、理想の育児を諦め双子との生活を好ましく思う一方でARTを受けたことに対する偏見から脱することのできないCさんのライフストーリー、双子の生命維持への不安が払拭し不妊治療期から抑制してきた母親となった喜びを実感するDさんのライフストーリーが記述された。

結論

　ART後に双子を出産した女性達の母親となっていく体験は、周囲や双子との関わりを通して、双子の母親となったことを肯定的に捉えていくプロセスだった。女性達は、不妊治療中に納得ができなかった出来事や大変な双子の育児を語りによって肯定的に意味づけることで過去を受容して母親としての人生を歩んで行こうとしていたと推察された。医療従事者は、不妊治療期から育児期までの個々の女性の体験を理解し、その体験に即して継続的に支援することの必要性が明らかとなり、育児期においても不妊治療中の思いを語る機会が必要であることが示唆された。

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the experiences through which women become mothers in the roughly two years after giving birth to twins by assisted reproductive technology(ART).

Method

The study design is the life story method. The participants of this study were four women who had become pregnant with twins by ART, gave birth to and cared for them for roughly two years. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews and participant observation.

Results

This study describes the life stories of four participants: Ms. A, who had experienced hardships caring for her twins, so much so that she had even started to hate them, later embraced motherhood by attributing positive meaning to the hardships; Ms. B, who focused her energy on the "here and now" in order to forget the ART procedure that she did not agree with; Ms. C, who abandoned her ideals of child rearing, liked her life with the twins and yet was unable to escape the prejudice of using ART; and Ms. D, who had suppressed her joy of becoming a mother while receiving infertility treatments and after giving birth to her twins, finally became able to appreciate her joy when she reached the stage where she no longer needed to worry about her twins continuing to live.

Conclusion

The experiences of the mothers giving birth to twins after receiving ART and becoming mothers were found to be processes that they gradually considered more positively. They were able to consider becoming mothers of twins positively through the women's relationships with the people surrounding them and with their own twins. It is presumed that the women were able to try and accept the past and move forward with their lives by telling stories of and attributing positive meaning to the events they could not accept during infertility treatments and to the difficulties of raising twins. It is evident that healthcare professionals need to understand the experience of each woman from the time of infertility treatment through to child rearing and continuously support these women according to their individual experiences. It can also be inferred that even during child rearing, mothers need the opportunity to talk about the thoughts they had when they received infertility treatment.