Hi. You are hanging out with your friends. And during the hangout, one of your friends discloses his very personal issue. You come to know that he has not succeeded in being a father or making his female partner pregnant. As per your knowledge, it is infertility that is obstructing him in his family expansion plan. Here are how you can give the requisite support to your friend:
1. Navigate male infertility
In today’s world, male infertility is a stigma in society and makes men feel uncomfortable while looking for help or effective treatment. Many males ignore or put off communication needs. They think they will efficiently deal with it. Unfortunately, such thinking about male infertility is not good.
As a friend, you should make him see an expert at a fertility clinic or the best IVF clinic in Bangalore or his locality. Try to make him comprehend that a sound idea about reproductive health, healthy communication, and support are helpful for him. You should open up with him and offer the requisite support he needs so that he could not feel isolated in his fertility treatment journey.
2. Learn together
On fertility, several resources and myths float around in each society. Males or females may be blaming themselves for the fertility issues they are facing. If one of your friends is suffering from male infertility, you should produce the best support that is learning together. Yeah, you with hopeful fathers should educate yourself on this topic.
While gaining education on infertility, you will know both males and females are responsible for bringing no children into their families. As per the World Health Organisation, around 48 million couples and 186 million individuals across the globe have fertility issues. So, you have to make him comprehend that he is not alone with male infertility. Many males around the world have the same issues. Make him comprehend it is curable.
3. Communicate and listen
Communicating on topics like sex and fertility is a challenging task for many in the contemporary world. Therefore, you should start communicating with easy topics like career and work at the office. Gradually, you can move to the matter he has disclosed to you and repeat his statement. Here is more on what you can do:
- Talk to him about his feelings, emotions, etc.
- Make him comprehend that you are listening to his every word
- Encourage him to have a fine-tuning with you while talking to you about his fertility issues and the associated feelings
- Try to contradict his negative statements such as I can’t become a father and My issues won’t get away from me.
- Do your best to make him comprehend that you are with him to facilitate this ongoing issue
- Make him feel safe and supported while being with you
4. Keep him engaged in daily life
Fertility treatment is an ongoing process and it takes time. You need to make sure that he is giving time to other things in his life. These things could be his job/business, his spouse, or friends. With this, he will realise that he is wanted and needed by his spouse, family, friends, etc. And this feeling will help him come out of the fertility stress he has. Here are more things that you can do for or with him:
- Watch a movie at a multiplex after the dark
- Join a comedy club together
- Take hobby classes
- Play competitive games such as crossword puzzles
5. Encourage him to join a support group
Going through this phase is tough for males. Every town or city has a support group for males with fertility problems. You can let him join such a group if he:
- Feels isolates
- Has no company of people who can comprehend his ongoing situation
- Does not have people to reach out
- Is facing a hard time making a decision
Joining such a support group makes him feel that he is not alone with this issue. He will have an opportunity to know the experience of other people with the same problems. Being around people with ongoing fertility treatments can help him recover fast.
Support groups are available in several different forms – online or in-person, all-male or mixed gender. These groups produce a friendly and safe environment for discussion on individual experiences, taking a decision, and future family-building options.
Conclusion
Infertility or being aware of this issue makes many feel isolated and helpless. If you know your close one is going through it, you should offer the requisite help to him. And for this, you can navigate the issue, learn it together, communicate with him, keep him engaged in daily life and make him join a fertility support team. He will be thankful to you for your valuable support in this tough situation in his life.
