Abstract
The definite diagnosis of infertility for a couple wanting to have a baby is a disaster. In my experience with infertile couples, this information is a heavier burden for the infertile couples, this information is a heavier burden for the infertile man than when it concerns an infertile woman. There is a taboo on male infertility, it is historically kept secret, male infertility has to be masked, for the “masculine pride” has to be respected. If infertility is due to the male partner, artificial insemination by donors (AID) can be a solution. However, here we meet a second taboo: the AID is not talked about, it is rejected and disapproved by society. There seems to be a vicious circle: if AID is kept secret, the public remains ignorant, so that it can not overcome its resistance against AID.
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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg
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Bos, G., van Dijk, J.G., Lambers, K.J. (1982). The Big Secret: Male Infertility. In: Prill, HJ., Stauber, M., Pechatschek, PG. (eds) Advances in Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-81876-9_74
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-81876-9_74
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-11710-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-81876-9
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