This research makes use of the qualitative analysis of interview data to explore the effects of infertility on sexual satisfaction and perceived marital intimacy. Intensive interviews were conducted with twenty-two couples living in Western New York. Couples were located through a "snowball" sampling technique. Marital partners were interviewed concurrently by two separate interviewers. Most of the couples in our study reported unsatisfactory sex lives. Our analysis of infertile couples' descriptions of the effects of infertility on sex uncovered four major themes; sex was adversely affected (1) due to having to schedule intercourse; (2) because intercourse became a means to an end; (3) because privacy was invaded when physicians and others required information about couples' lovemaking; and (4) because the act of intercourse itself was a reminder of the couples' infertility. In spite of their unsatisfactory experiences with sex, half of the people in our study reported that their marriages had become closer rather than more distant because of the experience of infertility. Couples who saw infertility as a shared problem to be faced together seem more likely to report that the experience of infertility has brought them closer together. Implications of these data for clinical practice are discussed.