Identity suffering in infertile men

The suffering caused by infertility in a man can have multiple aspects. It can display a narcissistic dimension, an objectal dimension (object-libido) turned toward others or/and an identity dimension. Two clinical case reports were used here to (i) illustrate all these aspects of infertility suffering, (ii) to evidence the difficulty for infertile men to speak about their infertility and (iii) underlie the importance for professional of medical assisted reproduction to be attentive to this suffering that many men keep silent. An empathetic attention to infertile men may give a way to express this suffering and thus allow the beginning of a psychoanalytic approach which is necessary in infertility and especially for infertile men who do not easily express their suffering.