In this article, we sought to understand the adaptive challenges and work faced by men with male factor infertility. Using a prospective qualitative study in private (the United States) and academic (the United Kingdom) urology clinics, we recruited seven American and five British men with primary infertility after their urology consultation for male factor infertility between December 2015 and April 2017. Individual in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted shortly after male factor infertility urology consultation and then two additional interviews at about 3 and 6 months. We found three themes related to adaptive challenges faced during fertility treatment: avoidance (not disclosing, avoided social network), uncertainty (about ability to have a child, fertility-related information, and male factor infertility status), and affective symptoms (sadness, shock, disbelief, denial, about not achieving fatherhood, and poor outcomes). Four themes about adaptive work included focusing on goal (having clear, actionable steps; knowledge received from urologist; exhausted all options; focus on parenthood), support from partner (relationship and communication), support from health care team (provision of emotional support, increased comfort with staff over time, disclosure of knowing others with same condition), and acquired information (understanding issue, support from urologist, seeking information). We concluded that men with male factor infertility face adaptive challenges including avoidance, uncertainty, and affective symptoms. To manage during the treatment process, they use adaptive work including focusing on the goal, receiving support from their partner and health care team, and acquiring information. Although qualitative results cannot be generalized to larger populations, they might be applicable to men with male factor infertility during infertility treatment.

中文翻译：

---

应用适应性领导力框架应对慢性病，以了解美国和英国男人如何驾驭不育症过程

在本文中，我们试图了解男性因素不育男性的适应性挑战和工作。通过在私人（美国）和学术（英国）泌尿科诊所进行的前瞻性定性研究，我们在2015年12月至2017年4月期间针对男性因素不孕症进行了泌尿科咨询后，招募了7名美国和5名英国原发性不育的男性。在男性因素不育泌尿科咨询后不久进行了深度定性访谈，然后在大约3和6个月时进行了两次附加访谈。我们发现了与生育治疗过程中面临的适应性挑战相关的三个主题：回避（不公开，避免社交网络），不确定性（关于生育能力，与生育有关的信息以及男性不育状况），和情感症状（悲伤，震惊，难以置信，否认，关于无法实现父亲身份和不良结局）。适应性工作的四个主题包括：专注于目标（具有清晰，可操作的步骤；从泌尿科医师那里获得的知识；穷尽所有选择；专注于父母），伴侣的支持（关系和沟通），医疗团队的支持（提供情感支持，随着时间的推移，员工会更加舒适，了解其他情况相同的人）和获得信息（了解问题，泌尿科医师的支持，寻求信息）。我们得出的结论是，患有男性因素不育的男性面临适应性挑战，包括回避，不确定性和情感症状。为了在治疗过程中进行管理，他们使用适应性工作，包括专注于目标，获得其合作伙伴和医疗团队的支持，并获取信息。尽管定性结果不能推广到更大的人群，但它们可能适用于不育治疗期间患有男性因素不育的男性。