According to the 2018 National Survey on Fertility and Family Health and Welfare in South Korea, the most significant difficulty experienced during infertility treatment was “psychological distress and a sense of isolation” (36.1%), while one of the major reasons for discontinuing treatment was “psychological burden” (18.3%). However, current national infertility support policies focus primarily on providing financial assistance for medical procedures, with relatively little attention given to the psychological changes and emotional challenges that women undergoing infertility treatment face. The purpose of this study is to explore the psychological changes experienced by women throughout the infertility treatment process from a phenomenological perspective and to identify key factors contributing to infertility-related stress, with the aim of suggesting effective psychological support strategies. To achieve this, in-depth interviews were conducted using Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method with married women who had undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) three or more times within the past five years. Analysis of the data revealed four major themes: “A Life Overwhelmed by Infertility,” “Stress Caused by Infertility,” “Psychological Changes During the Treatment Process,” and “Efforts to Overcome Infertility Stress.” Based on these findings, this study proposes practical psychological support measures for women undergoing infertility treatment and discusses the implications and limitations of the research.
