Perceptions, expectations and challenges among men during in vitro fertilization treatment in a low resource setting: a qualitative study

Abstract

Introduction Partner support is very important in alleviating the burden of infertility related stress and although understudied, partner coping patterns also play a key role in the other partner’s ability to cope with the infertility experience which eventually affects treatment outcomes. Very few studies more so in a low to middle income setting, explore the psychological and social aspects of infertility in men. There is a need for a deeper understanding into men’s perceptions, expectations and challenges of fertility treatment in our low resource setting. Objective To explore men’s perceptions, expectations, challenges and experiences during IVF treatment among men in a low resource setting. Methods A qualitative research design was utilised. The study was conducted at life sure fertility and gynaecology centre. The study participants were men participating in the IVF cycles. They were selected purposefully by maximum variation sampling. All the interviews took place on the day of enrolment for treatment and inductive content analysis was used to draw meaning from the transcripts. Ethical approval for the study will be sought from Nsambya Hospital IRB/REC. Results Seven major themes arose, and these included: (1) Societal influence on IVF treatment experience; (2) Social support during IVF treatment; (3) Feeling insignificant; (4) Financial burden; (5) IVF as an emotional bridge; (6) Inadequate sensitization; (7) Fear of treatment failure. Conclusion Men’s experiences during IVF treatment were negatively affected by the society’s perceptions of IVF treatment and infertility, cost of treatment, perceived men’s involvement and insufficient knowledge about the IVF process. However, spouse and friends’ support helped with coping and the IVF treatment experience strengthened emotional bonds. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40738-019-0058-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Men and infertility in The Gambia: Limited biomedical knowledge and awareness discourage male involvement and exacerbate gender-based impacts of infertility

“…Historically, women have been held responsible for a couple’s infertility, with a majority of public health and social science research focussing on the experiences and care seeking behaviours of women (compared to those of men). More recently however, there has been a growing awareness of male-factor infertility, as well as of the importance of male engagement in infertility services [ 12 , 15 , 16 ]; in The Gambia this is partly due to ongoing reproductive activism [ 13 ]. Of the emerging literature that has addressed infertility among men, relatively few studies have focused on men in West Africa (with some exception), and no studies conducted to date in The Gambia [ 7 , 17 ].…”

“…This invisibility of African men is problematic because it reinforces the idea that women are responsible (and to be blamed) for infertility. It also contributes to the ongoing concealment of reproductive health care needs of men who face (male- and/or female-factor) infertility within their marriages, and to the lack of appropriate male-oriented responses [ 4 , 16 ].…”

Stigma and in Vitro Fertilization: Perception of Women With Ivf Experience

“…Non-disclosure and selective disclosure may have different negative consequences, although they are commonly applied strategies. High perception of stigma is related to reduced disclosure to others and it leads to less social support (Slade et al 2007;Ranjbar et al 2015;Zaake et al 2019). Moreover, it can be noticed that not revealing the way of conception could be a reflection of an existing stigma at the same time, but it also contributes to maintaining the stigma (Faccio et al 2019).…”

Independent value of PMOI on hCG day in predicting pregnancy outcomes in IVF/ICSI cycles

“…The term "infertility" refers to the inability to achieve a successful pregnancy after 12 months or more of appropriate, time-limited unprotected intercourse or therapeutic donor insemination. Nevertheless, early evaluation and treatment after six months may be reasonable for women over 35 years of age (1). A distressing fact about infertility is that the number of infertility patients is increasing every year, and infertility has become a major health problem, affecting 8%-15% of couples of reproductive age worldwide (2).…”