An Exploration of the Lived Experience of Infertile Men in Rasht City, Iran: A Phenomenological Study

Male infertility has been defined as one of the significant disorders and complex social issues with various consequences. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of infertile men using a qualitative and phenomenological approach. The research population consisted of 17 men undergoing treatment at the Mehr Infertility Institute in Rasht. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participants, and sampling continued until data saturation at which point no new information was obtained. The research employed semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using Colaizzi’s method. The findings revealed that the predominant theme is "silent masculinity." This situation proved to be paradoxical and multi-faceted for infertile men, as evident in eleven sub-themes: feeling of despair about parenthood, existential crisis, cognitive shift in the realm of fertility, the label of "having no offspring," erosion of marital capital, pervasive suffering, erosion of social capital, blurred masculine identity, proximity to the downfall of life, feigned indifference, and living in the shadow. Infertility and delayed parenthood, as a multidimensional dilemma, have brought about specific conditions and are accompanied by entrenched cultural patterns, and mental and social tensions.