Men are being sidelined when it comes to tackling a couple’s fertility problems, claims a leading gynaecologist.
Dr Gedis Grudzinskas, a Harley Street consultant who specialises in patients who are still childless after IVF treatment, said both partners should be involved in each stage of the process – and not just when it’s the man’s fertility that is being discussed.
He added: ‘Frequently I find women attending fertility appointments without their male partners, not necessarily because they don’t want to include them or they don’t want to attend, but because it is felt they are not required.
‘We need to support men not only when there is a male infertility issue but also involve them more generally, so they feel better equipped to support their partner through the heartache that can follow IVF.’
Mollie Graneek, a specialist fertility counsellor, added: ‘It’s difficult to know how much men want to take a back seat and how much they feel as though they are marginalised in this respect.’