Women have been able to get social and psychological support when compared to men.
This has been seen in many research study findings. Men is general were questioned and were forced to dismiss about their sexual techniques, relationship with their partners and such forms of intimate spheres of their lives. In the presence of such discussions, they had shown a tendency to move away from seeking further support from their friends and in some occasions, colleagues also. Feelings of being humiliated and being lower to others were predominant. Infertile men have often said that they felt the need to be strong for their partners.
Lavania, 2006 in her study among couples with fertility in India has identified that childless is a syndrome of multiple origins and is the result from a condition which prohibits natural conception. It is not a disease in itself. The couple get confirmed to a cultural expectation to produce children and a failure to do this leads to psychosomatic disorders and general dysfunction. Loss of relationship, good health, status in society, self-esteem, self-confidence, security, fantasy and loss of something or someone of great symbolic value were seen commonly among couples.
Impact on marital relationships, sexual identity , self-esteem and communication pattern changes were seen among such couples. Shapiro,1982.Social questions like, “How’s” and “Why’s”`are often difficult for such couples to answer. Inability to have a child was seen a failure to perform a role function associated with a gender, resulting in couple stigmatization. Women are often at risk of familial displacement in such situations. Rosenfeld (1984) and Miall (1986).
Marital life has often been affected among such couples, Sharma (1999) found that rates of divorce were higher among such couples than with others. Van Keep and Smith (1975) found that such couples also prefer to be in the presence of others with children than being totally isolated.
