Couple-Based Gender-Transformative Program to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence Against Women Facing Female Infertility Undergoing IVF or ICSI in Beijing

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to evaluate a gender-transformative intervention designed to reduce intimate partner violence IPV against infertile women. It focuses on couples diagnosed with female-factor infertility undergoing their first or second IVF or ICSI cycle. The trial addresses the overlap between infertility and IPV, recognizing that infertile women face higher risks of IPV and that their needs have often been overlooked. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two groups. The intervention group receives five 60-minute sessions led by trained nurses and social workers throughout the fertility treatment cycle. These sessions cover gender norms, gender equality, and healthy relationship skills at key treatment stages before the cycle starts, during follicular monitoring, before oocyte retrieval, two weeks after embryo transfer, and 28-30 days post-transfer. The control group receives standard reproductive care. A total of 376 couples will participate, split evenly between the two groups. During the study, couples will undergo assessments at baseline and multiple points up to about 14 months after delivery. Researchers will measure the rate of IPV against infertile women over the past 12 months as the primary outcome. Secondary assessments include IPV against male partners, attitudes toward gender roles, marital quality, coping with stress, patient satisfaction with treatment, pregnancy outcomes, and neonatal health. This comprehensive follow-up includes questionnaires, clinical pregnancy tests, and monitoring of birth outcomes to understand the interventions impact over time.

A Couple-based Gender-transformative Intervention on IPV Against Infertile Women