He said, she said: How third-party presence shapes infertility reporting in couples

BACKGROUNDEstimating infertility prevalence at the population level is challenging and little is known about the factors that influence how individuals report it. OBJECTIVEWe assess whether third-party presence, such as that of a partner, influences the likelihood of reporting infertility among a sample of heterosexual couples.We also examine the consistency of responses between partners interviewed separately and evaluate whether third-party presence increases agreement or disagreement within couples. METHODSUsing data from the 2019 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, we apply descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to assess associations between third-party presence and (1) infertility reporting and (2) consistency of infertility reports between partners. RESULTSOverall, 10.1% of men and 16.1% of women reported infertility.When a third party actively influenced the interview, reported infertility increased to 16.7% among men and 21.4% among women.After adjustment for confounders, men interviewed in the presence of an influencing third party had more than twice the odds of reporting infertility, while women had 65% higher odds.Agreement on infertility between partners increased from 7.5% to 14.5% in men's interviews and from 7.1% to 13.7% in women's