Emotional and psychological consequences of infertility in a group of men with over 4 years of follow-up treatment: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Infertility is one of the problems that can be at the individual and social level. Little research has been done on individual infertility problems among men. The purpose of this study was to investigate the emotional and psychological consequences of infertility in a group of men with more than 4 years of follow-up treatment. Methods: This research was conducted in a descriptive qualitative way with the aim of extracting the emotional and psychological consequences of infertility in a sample of 16 men in Hamedan. According to the qualitative method, a semi-structured interview was used to collect information. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results: The findings of this study displayed the three following main categories as the emotional and psychological consequences of infertility in men: social self-esteem (including fears of negative evaluation, having distress in discussions about childbirth, and tendency to loneliness), negative emotions (including categories of frustration and general inefficacy) and marital inadequacy. Conclusion: Infertile men, like infertile women, have emotional and psychological consequences that should be addressed in psychological training.