IRISH men who have difficulty conceiving children are just as likely to get depressed as infertile women, writes Dearbhail McDonald.

According to a new study — the first of its kind in Ireland — more than a third of such men suffered anxiety. Clinically significant levels of depression were found in almost 10% of men who had no realistic chance of becoming fathers because of sperm defects.

The study, which assessed the mood profiles of men in infertile couples, was carried out by doctors at the Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland unit at the Rotunda hospital, Dublin.

“For many couples, infertility is undeniably a major life crisis,” says the report, which calls for the provision of a counselling service for couples undergoing treatment.

“Men are devastated when the underlying problem is their own sperm dysfunction,” said Helen Browne, the chairwoman and founder of the National Infertility Support and Information Group. “It goes to the very heart of their manhood, and a man is gutted when he is the reason the couple can’t conceive.

“At our meetings, the stress levels among men is visible. It is more difficult because they find it hard to discuss their infertility. A woman will often lie to her friends and family and say that she has the problem to protect her partner’s feelings.”

The study, which will be published in the Irish Medical Journal, says more trials are required to assess if genuine “at-risk” groups of men exist.

One in six Irish couples have problems conceiving, and every year thousands of them undergo assisted reproductive treatments at fertility clinics.

Modern lifestyle factors, such as heavy drinking and smoking, eating processed food and high levels of stress, have been blamed on lower sperm counts.

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