Analysis of Discourses on “Divorce and Male-Related Infertility” in an Online Forum with Focus on Social Support: Women’s

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the types of social support provided by forum members in response to questions posed by women with infertile spouses on the Women’s Club forum, specifically within discussions centered on divorce due to infertility. Topics and comments on the subject of “divorce due to male-related infertility” in the Women’s Club forum between 2008 and 2023 were analyzed. Five topics and 487 comments were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis, and 458 different codes emerged. The codes were grouped into three themes: informational support, emotional support, and relationship improvement support. Consequently, women considering divorce due to male-related infertility are provided informational, emotional, and relationship-focused social support through the forum. These types of social support indicate factors that may affect marital adjustment during the infertility process. Therefore, it is recommended that experts who provide professional support to these couples should pay attention to these factors and that the scope of psychosocial services currently provided in Turkey should be person-specific to cover the social support needs of these couples.