Sperm Banter
Meet Paul and Helen and a little bundle of joy! I spoke with Paul about his experience of treatment, after the couple had been through two failed rounds of IVF – with their embryos only getting to day three and despite having transfers, they never made it through their two-week wait.
Having been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, the couple had access to NHS funding and after their first failed cycle was told it was due to the quality of their egg. After their second cycle, they assumed there would be some feedback and were surprised and saddened to learn there wasn’t.
They had no follow-up appointment, no feedback, nada. Paul talked about how he wasn’t spoken to during the appointments, nobody made eye contact with him which sadly is something I’ve heard from a number of men. He described feeling like a spare part and not being able to help the situation.
He did go to counseling – due to other things happening in his world which helped and he explained how the pair were open with their closest friends but talked about how awkward it had been having that first with someone unless they’ve been it as they don’t know what’s involved and that emotional strain you got through with each cycle.
I’m always keen to share men’s stories to hopefully help more men know they’re not alone and that there are other guys willing to talk about this and I have a number of previous episodes talking about male fertility issues which you can hear more of here
I also mentioned the next Talk Fertility event happening in Manchester on 12th June, which is all about male fertility issues and you can still get tickets here
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