THE MALE IVF PATIENT - PSYCHOSOMATIC CONSIDERATIONS

In order to study psychosomatic considerations of the male IVF patient, three issues were investigated. First, the personality traits of sterile males (n = 180) were recorded. Male IVF patients were found to have largely the same personality traits as the general population although they tended to have more dominant and retentive traits. Second, in examining the specific stress experiences during IVF, the individual treatment steps were ranked as being similarly stressful by both partners. Males felt the waiting periods (fertilization? pregnancy?) to be clearly more unpleasant than the physical aspects of treatment (e.g. masturbation). Third, an individual comparison of sperm parameters taken during the diagnostic phase with those measured during the IVF attempt, showed that density and morphology were significantly different. Some practical recommendations to reduce the stress that men experience during IVF include his presence during the treatment steps that the female must undergo, as well as his participation in a self-help discussion group.