ISTANBUL – Women who want to become mothers but fail to bear children are at more than twice the risk of being hospitalised for alcoholism as those who succeed, it appears.
Researchers also found the risk of ending up in hospital for other serious psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia was markedly higher in women unable to become pregnant due to infertility.
The academics behind the study, presented at the annual conference of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Istanbul, said their results were “only the tip off the iceberg” because many more would be affected, but not so badly as to need in-patient treatment.
British fertility specialists argued the results were “shocking” evidence that infertility should be classed as a disease, reported the Daily Telegraph.
They said it added weight to the argument that IVF should receive greater public funding, because infertility was a disease in its own right.