How frequent is unintentional childlessness in Germany?

Abstract

A representative sample of 1,019 married men and 1,133 women of reproductive age was interviewed and revealed that 21.5% had no children. Of these, 20% stated that their childlessness was deliberate. Of those who had not conceived about two thirds (men: 31%, women: 60%) had already sought medical advice. The men surveyed tended to delay seeking medical advice for longer than the women do, who do so within one or two years. This indicates that there is a deficit in the data on men which results in a lack of knowledge concerning the possible reasons for infertility.

PIP: No comprehensive statistics exist on the number of married, infertile couples residing in Germany, and how many have sought medical advise on the problem . This study therefore interviewed a representative sample of 1,019 married men and 1,133 women of reproductive age to ascertain an approximate idea of the extent of and attitudes toward involuntary childlessness in the country. Couples of reproductive age were identified as married women aged 45 years or less, and married men with wives aged 45 or less. 21.5% of respondents were childless. Of this population, 80% reported involuntary childlessness. 31% of men and 60% of women had previously sought medical advice for their infertility. 1/3 had never seen a doctor for this problem, and almost 1/2 sought consultation only after more than 2 years of being childless. Despite 75% of men being aware of the potential for fertility diagnosis, men delayed longer than women in seeking advice. Potential reasons for greater male delay include the comparative routine frequency with which women see medical specialists, conventional notions implicating women as the root of marital infertility, and male insecurity over issues of sexual potency and personal fertility. Gynecologists are in a central position to persuade the husbands of clients in infertile relationships to seek professional advice. In so doing, infertile couples may more readily either produce their biological offspring or adopt children. Comparatively paltry data on male infertility may also be supplemented in the progress.