Social construction and Management of Male Infertility among the Akamba People: a Case of Muvuti/kiima Kimwe, Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

The World Health organization, estimates that 60-89 million couples are infertile. Africa has the highest number of infertility rates of between 20%-35%, male factor infertility accounts for 40% of the 60% of all infertility cases. Male infertility rates in Kenya have reached epidemic level yet the gendered nature of infertility obscures male infertility. This is because infertility is socially and culturally perceived as a woman’s problem. Hence, the main objective of the study was to establish how male infertility is defined, understood and managed among the Akamba people. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design and a mixed method strategy in data collection. Quantitative data were collected from a randomly selected sample of 210 respondents while qualitative data were assembled from a purposively selected sample of 28 Key Informants. Additional augmentative data were obtained from 4 Focus Group Discussions. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis using the QR-NUDIST. The study found that male infertility is conflated with virility, and that infertile men are deemed weak and less masculine. Infertile men are stigmatized and ridiculed, and infertility is construed as a personal failure and a social failure. Male infertility is also alluded to witchcraft, the will of God, drug abuse, and incompatible blood. Traditional herbs and tying medicinal charms around the waist are the most common methods used to cure male infertility. In addition, a brother or a cousin to the infertile man is expected to sire children for the infertile man with the infertile man’s wife as a way of propagating the family of the infertile man. Male infertility is therefore not experienced as a bio medical problem but it is stigmatized and understood as a failure on the part of the man. The study recommends that the Ministry of Health should come up with strategies that incorporate men in reproductive health, and engage in campaigns that aid in debunking the myths associated with male infertility. The study recommends further research on the experiences and coping strategies of infertile men.