Men's experiences of antenatal screening: A grounded theory analysis

Antenatal screening requires prospective parents to routinely participate in, and make choices about, genetic testing. While pregnant women’s views of screening have been widely researched, those of expectant fathers’ remain under-explored. We thus conducted in-depth interviews with 12 men about their experiences, as well six women about their partners’ involvement in screening. Interview transcripts were analysed using Grounded Theory.  Four categories were constructed, (a) Screening as good parenting, (b) Who am I a father to? Deconstructing the “future child” (c) How will I be a father? Deconstructing fatherhood, and (d) Screening, ambivalence and uncertainty. Overall, the findings suggest that men began to integrate the unborn child into their perception of their family, and considered themselves to be fathers to the child before he/she was born.  Participating in screening was part of being a ‘good parent’. However men’s ideas, beliefs and feelings about the future child were challenged by the information that genetic screening provided. Hence screening caused disruption in men’s transition to fatherhood, eliciting ambivalence and confusion. Pregnancy was a period of constant adjustment to new ideas about the growing family, as well as their role as the man within that family. The findings suggest that since men are involved in antenatal screening, they require engagement from healthcare professionals in the antenatal setting. Research using a psychometric scale based on our findings is currently underway.