{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T11:38:16Z","timestamp":1773920296695,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773878400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Reprod. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Infertility affects a substantial proportion of couples in low- and middle-income countries, yet access to fertility care remains limited. In India, research has primarily focused on psychosocial and biomedical aspects of infertility, with comparatively limited attention to care-seeking behaviours. Understanding the determinants of care-seeking is critical for promoting equitable access to infertility services.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a cross-sectional study among 1,530 married women, aged 18\u201330 years, who intended to conceive and lived in low- to middle-socioeconomic urban neighbourhoods of Delhi. All participants had not conceived after 18 months of participation in a preconception randomized-control trial. Structured interviews captured information on sociodemographic characteristics, fertility intentions, psychosocial experiences, and care-seeking actions. Care-seeking was categorized as formal (health system providers), informal (family or traditional healers), or mixed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>69.9% of women sought some form of help for delayed conception and, among them 85.5% consulted both formal and informal sources. Logistic regressions identified predictors of care-seeking where longer duration of trying to conceive [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.6 per year, 95% CI: 1.4\u20131.7], perceiving conception as taking too long (aOR 3.1, 95% CI: 2.1\u20134.5), feeling isolated (aOR 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2\u20132.4), emotional abuse from husbands (aOR 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2\u20132.4) or family members (aOR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2\u20132.2), and heavy menstrual bleeding (aOR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0\u20132.2) were associated with greater odds of care-seeking, while regular menstrual cycles were associated with lower odds (aOR 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4\u20130.9). The negative association of regular cycles with care-seeking was significantly modified by social isolation (interaction aOR 3.78, 95% CI: 1.20\u201311.89).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings underscore the importance of integrating psychosocial support and fertility education into accessible, affordable infertility services within the public health system.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frph.2026.1772807","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T06:50:53Z","timestamp":1773903053000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence and determinants of fertility care-seeking among women experiencing delayed conception in North India: a cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Barsha","family":"Gadapani Pathak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Society for Applied Studies","place":["New Delhi, India"]},{"name":"Centre for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health, Centre for International Health, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen","place":["Bergen, Norway"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gitau","family":"Mburu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization","place":["Geneva, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ndema","family":"Habib","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization","place":["Geneva, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rita","family":"Kabra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization","place":["Geneva, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"James","family":"Kiarie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization","place":["Geneva, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ranadip","family":"Chowdhury","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Society for Applied Studies","place":["New Delhi, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Neeta","family":"Dhabhai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Society for Applied Studies","place":["New Delhi, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sarmila","family":"Mazumder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Society for Applied Studies","place":["New Delhi, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","volume-title":"International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11)","year":"2018"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2683","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dep343","article-title":"The international committee for monitoring assisted reproductive technology (ICMART) and the world health organization (WHO) revised glossary on ART terminology, 2009","volume":"24","author":"Zegers-Hochschild","year":"2009","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"B3","volume-title":"Infecundity, Infertility, and Childlessness in Developing Countries. 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