Knowledge, attitude and practice of child adoption among men and women attending the infertility clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City

Abstract

Objective:to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of child adoption among men and women attending the infertility clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City.Methods:This was a cross-sectional descriptive stthstudy conducted between 1 October, 2018 and 30 May, 2019 among 264 men and women attending the infertility clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, a major tertiary referral Centre in southern Nigeria. Ethical approval for this study was obtainedandrespondentswereassuredofconfidentiality. Data was analysed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences, Version 21.

Results:The mean age of men and women was 37.26±6.9 years (42.12±6.2 for males and 37.24±7.7 for females). Out of the 264 respondents, 86% of males and 87.9% of female respondents have heard of child adoption in the past. Majority of the respondents, 232 (82% males and 89.3% females) thought of adoption as a good thing which should be encouraged. A hundred and six (44% of males and 39.3% of females) were willing to adopt a child. Only 2 respondents had adopted a child. Level of education of the female respondents significantly influenced attitude towards child adoption (p=0.01). Sex of respondents did not influence their attitude towards child adoption.

Conclusion:Majority of infertile men and women had a positive attitude towards child adoption but the practice was rather poor