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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- We often hear about the unhappiness infertility causes women, but what about how it affects men?
Researchers from the United Kingdom wanted to see whether infertile men suffer more than men where the couple's infertility comes from the woman. They looked at 256 men -- most in their mid-30s and married for almost eight years on average.
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Participants knew they were infertile for more than four years. Most of the couples had no children either together or from previous relationships. The men were divided into four groups -- unexplained infertility; female infertility; male infertility; or mixed. All completed a questionnaire before they started treatment, and again after 12 months of treatment if their partners had not become pregnant.
The study shows social stress, marital stress, coping effort and physical stress increased over time, while mental health decreased.
"Perhaps surprisingly, though, we found that men in all four groups suffered equally," lead researcher Laura Peronace, from Cardiff University, was quoted as saying. "Infertile people appear to rely particularly on their social environment for support, and this seems to deteriorate over time. Couples should be made aware of the possible decline in their social support network and encouraged to organize support systems that do not solely include close friends and family."
The authors say couples should focus on their partnership and communicate with each other in a mutually supportive way. They also suggest online support services and speaking to other couples with infertility problems. They add psychosocial counseling may be best during the alter stages of treatment, when social networks are at their weakest and treatment has failed repeatedly.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: 23rd Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Lyon, France July 1-4, 2007
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