Gender differences in psychological reactions to infertility among couples seeking IVF- and ICSI-treatment

Abstract

The women reacted more strongly to their infertility than the men and they felt an intense desire to have a child. They received more social support than their partners, who experienced the fulfillment of the male role as well as the social role to become a parent as the most central aspects of infertility. The information-seeking coping style was significantly correlated with infertility distress only among men.

Correlative analysis of social support with anxiety and depression in men undergoing in vitro fertilization embryo transfer for the first time

“…It has been shown that the pressures placed on infertile men come mainly from the social impact of being recognized as a man who does not have any children, the influence on daily life caused by not having any children and the influence on sex life caused by infertility. 10 The incidence of anxiety and depression was 4.5% and 6.9%, respectively, in men undergoing IVF-ET in Italy. 11 Beaurepaire et al 12 reported that anxiety occurs in 38% of men undergoing IVF-ET …”

Psychological and social aspects of infertility in men: an overview of the evidence and implications for psychologically informed clinical care and future research

“…Anderson et al 14 used a structured study-specific questionnaire to assess 'concerns' and found that men in infertile couples were less likely than women to experience self-blame and reduced self-esteem and were also less likely to avoid seeing friends. In Sweden, Hjelmstedt et al 28 found that significantly more men (approximately 50%) than women had not shared their infertility problems with another person . In contrast to other reports, in this study, men who had an information-seeking adaptive style were more distressed than those who tended to avoid information.…”

“…Men who used active coping strategies (expression of feelings, seeking of advice) could make meaning of the experience and did not keep their infertility secret described greater marital benefits. Hjelmstedt et al 28 found that in men, the experience of infertility was associated with a sense of injustice and increased concern about partner well-being but that infertility led to enhanced personal maturity and a closer marital relationship.…”

“…Some reports investigated the extent to which men affected by infertility confided in and sought additional support from family members and friends. A Swedish study 28 found that for men, common sources of support included friends (38%) and their own mothers (27%) and fathers (23%), but a large proportion (47.3%) had not confided in anyone other than their spouse. In Italy, Agostini et al 73 conducted a cohort study of 83/161 (51%) couples from treatment initiation to 1 month after embryo transfer and investigated perceived social support using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support.…”

“…Nevertheless, 25% of men reported compromised life satisfaction. In Sweden, 28 reactions to infertility were investigated in 91 couples prior to initiation of treatment using a translation of the Infertility Reaction Scale (Keye et al, unpublished data, 1984). Men were less likely than women to think about infertility, found it difficult to separate infertility from the rest of their lives or felt a sense of failure because of infertility.…”