Abstract
Background
Surrogate mothers are routinely assessed for their suitability to function in the
role of surrogacy. Such assessments often include psychological testing including
the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised (MMPI-2). There has been a
paucity of research detailing the personality structures of these women, especially
with the MMPI-2.
Research objective
The current study examined the validity and clinical profiles of surrogate mothers
(N = 43) compared to a non-patient, normative reference sample of women (N = 40) using their MMPI-2 results.
Method
This study examined between group differences among the 68 scales of the MMPI-2. Independent-sample
t-tests were conducted for each of the scales, with those violating homogeneity of
variance assessed with a non-parametric, Mann–Whitney U test.
Findings
The findings demonstrated that surrogate mothers produce profiles with lower values
than normative samples across several MMPI-2 scales. For this unique group, elevations
were observed on scales that assess profile validity, views on traditional gender
roles, repression, ego strength, social obligation and duties, and contained hostility,
relative to the normative group.
Conclusion
The findings provide an initial examination of the profiles of surrogate mothers on
the MMPI-2. The findings revealed that the psychological suitability of surrogate
mother candidates appear to be a composite of being both tough-minded and sensitive,
sufficiently resilient to manage the role of surrogacy, and aware of the importance
of emotional boundary-setting related to pre-natal attachment.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 23, 2012
Accepted:
June 25,
2012
Received in revised form:
May 23,
2012
Received:
February 13,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
