Grown Men Do Cry- How Men Cope with Infertility and its Emotions.

Everyone knows that infertility is a stressful situation that is usually focused around the woman and the processes she goes through with IVF. The daily scans, appointments, constantly having blood taken, hormone injections, and surgical procedures that sometimes seem endless, and most women become exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed. But what about the men?

As little control as women have over the process, the men in their lives have even less. Yes, they can attend visits and administer the hormone shots, but most men are usually waiting in the wings trying to figure out how to help.

Most couples experience the struggle in much the same way, but it is probably fair to say that men and women are affected by infertility in different ways. Perhaps this is related to the traditional ways men and women think, feel and act.

Women are typically seen, by others as well as themselves, as the emotional caretakers or providers of the relationship.

Women in infertile couples often protect their husbands from their own pain and feelings of failure by taking much of the responsibility for the treatments upon themselves and some have often suggested they fear their husbands will leave to find a woman who can bear children.

‘Men are traditionally the financial providers in a relationship’

Men are traditionally seen as the financial providers of the relationship and are responsible for protecting the family from real or imagined dangers and often feel overwhelmed by the intensity of their partner’s emotions as well as an inability to access their own. It has been suggested that men tend to focus their energy back into their work, a place where they have more success.

Infertility for many is the most stressful and emotive experience that couples face and it tests the deepest of emotions and fears. But to get a real idea of how men really feel, I spoke with two men in my clinic who were willing to share their story, both with different reasons of infertility and at different stages of treatment to get their very real stories on the struggle of infertility.

Josh -33

Josh and his wife started to think th