Coping with male infertility

Abstract

Infertility is a stressor that affects the infertile couple. Coping of infertile couples with the unfulfilled desire for a child is affected by numerous variables. Depending on the diagnose is the patients were assigned to four groups: Group 1: female infertility (infertile women of fertile men), Group 2: infertility of the men, Group 3: infertility of both partners, Group 4: idiopathic sterility). One hundred and ten infertile couples were investigated with the Freiburg questionnaire of Coping with Illness. Compared to their partners, the women of infertile couples report a higher feature rating in the cales "depressional coping" and "self-distraction and self-stabilisation". Women of infertile couples show lower feature ratings compared to the standardised collective of patients with chronic somatic disease only on the scale "religiousness and search for meaning". Involuntarily childless men activate all coping strategies to a smaller extent than the reference sample. The experience of infertility is greatly affected by gender and the associated role expectations.

Gender differences in experiences with and adjustments to infertility: A literature review

“…The coping strategies presented in the studies in this review can be grouped under the category of emotion-focused strategies, which positively or negatively regulate distress. These include: emotionally detached coping (Pinto-Gouveia et al, 2012), self-blame and avoidance (Bayley et al, 2009), depression, self-distraction and self-stabilization (Kowalcek et al, 2001), self-accusation, and rationalization (Liu and Zhao, 2011). Help-seeking (Liu and Zhao, 2011), and seeking information and emotional support (Bayley et al, 2009) in an attempt to manage stress can be grouped under the category of problem-focused strategies.…”

“…However, when the infertility was related to a female factor, women were significantly more active than men in adopting problem-oriented coping (m = 3.55 vs. 2.85) (Kowalcek et al, 2001).…”

Psychological aspects of male fertility treatment

“…Generally, in most surveys covering satisfaction, men are satisfied with the medical part of the fertility treatment, but often experience a sense of exclusion and a lack of consultation (Schmidt , Tjørnhøj‐Thomsen , Kowalcek et al . , Schmidt et al . , ).…”

The male experience of infertility: a thematic analysis of an online infertility support group bulletin board

“…Moreover, infertility may have a long lasting impact on the primary relationship as well as the individual well-being of each partner (Kowalcek et al 2001).…”