Abstract
Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after a year of engaging in regular, unprotected sexual intercourse, according to the World Health Organisation. It is a global phenomenon that affects individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures. Historically, infertility has been ascribed to women due to the traditional focus on women’s reproductive systems. Consequently, fertility treatments have centred around women’s bodies, and this exclusion has led to the oversight of men in matters of fertility discussions and possible treatment options. Male infertility continues to be an underreported condition, and this shows in the lack of sufficient research and resources dedicated to male infertility, which hinders the development of effective treatment methods and discussions that cultivate an understanding of this condition in society. The media is implicated in creating discussions and discourses around societal issues as it is a global platform for disseminating messages. As a result, it may also be involved in creating reality and perceptions. Newspapers are one of the oldest forms of media and are the main data source used in this study. This is because newspapers are considered to influence societal perceptions significantly. Therefore, this study aims to explore the sociocultural perceptions of male infertility in South African newspaper articles through purposive sampling, so articles that reported on women’s fertility and medical causes of infertility were excluded. The study used thematic analysis to investigate how newspapers represent male infertility in 31 articles. The findings from the analysis reported that there were three universal themes: risk factors, stigma and interventions. The risk factors theme reports on environmental and lifestyle factors that may cause male infertility. The stigma theme reports on factors that contribute to the perception of male infertility and are involved in perpetuating stigma. The intervention theme focuses on the lifestyle modifications recommended by experts that may give men a better chance at having children. These themes contribute to the sociocultural understanding of male infertility in society.