5 October 2000
Psychological Well-Being Of Infertile Men
by George Atkinson

Infertile men trying alternative ways of achieving pregnancy with their wives are less stressed than men whose wives were already pregnant, a new study based out of the University of Alberta reports.

The results demonstrate a vast majority of men handle this situation in a healthy way and don't support previous assumptions that anyone undergoing fertility problems needs counselling or assistance, said Dr. David Cumming, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"The implication of this is how much counselling should you have for people with infertility problems," said Cumming, who worked on the study with Dr. Ceinwen Cumming, from the Department of Oncology and Dr. Rajvir Dhillon, now a family doctor in British Columbia. "This study shows us we can be selective in choosing those people who need counselling and those who don't."

They compared three groups of men: fertile men who had previously fathered at least one child and whose partners were currently pregnant; men with low or no sperm count and a third group of men with unexplained infertility. There were no significant differences among the groups except in one particular stress measure where the fertile men reported higher stress levels.

The researchers' first reaction was "these [infertile] guys may be doing a good job of faking it, but the picture is so consistent and there's no reason for them to lie," said David Cumming, who also has a practice at the Capital Health's Royal Alexandra Hospital. Ceinwen Cumming has a cross-appointment at the Cross Cancer Institute.

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