@article{ART003366710},
author={Son, Hyunmi and Han, Gyumin},
title={The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study},
journal={Global Health and Nursing},
issn={2233-5560},
year={2026},
volume={16},
number={2},
pages={85-96},
doi={10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85}
TY - JOUR
AU - Son, Hyunmi
AU - Han, Gyumin
TI - The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study
JO - Global Health and Nursing
PY - 2026
VL - 16
IS - 2
PB - Research Institute of Nursing Science
SP - 85
EP - 96
SN - 2233-5560
AB - Purpose: To use van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach for exploring the lived experiences of women and men who have experienced infertility treatment. Methods: This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study enrolled seven participants (comprising both women and men) diagnosed with infertility who were undergoing or planning treatment. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews and analyzed using repeated reading, reflective writing, and thematic interpretation, while reflecting on van Manen’s existential themes of lived time, body, relation, and space. Results: Four essential themes emerged: being displaced from expected parenthood and drawn into the time of treatment; bodies adjusted toward pregnancy and the helplessness of bodies that were unable to take over the other’s pain; enduring together from different positions within relationships; and continuing an unending struggle to achieve and sustain a pregnancy. Participants experienced infertility treatment as an existential process that reorganized everyday time around treatment schedules, reshaped bodily experiences in gendered ways, reconfigured marital and social relationships through endurance, support, selective disclosure, and silence, and continued beyond conception through anxiety, loss, and renewed reflection on life’s meaning. Conclusion: Infertility treatment should be understood not only as a medical process directed toward pregnancy, but also as a lived experience that reshapes time, body, relationships, and meaning in life. Nursing care should provide integrated, gender-sensitive, and continuous relational support.
This care must address women’s bodily burdens, men’s helplessness and support needs, relational strain and bonding, selective disclosure, and ongoing anxiety and loss.
KW - Key Words: Infertility;Reproductive techniques;assisted;Qualitative research;Hermeneutics
DO - 10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
ER -
Son, Hyunmi and Han, Gyumin. (2026). The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study. Global Health and Nursing, 16(2), 85-96.
Son, Hyunmi and Han, Gyumin. 2026, "The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study", Global Health and Nursing, vol.16, no.2 pp.85-96. Available from: doi:10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
Son, Hyunmi, Han, Gyumin "The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study" Global Health and Nursing 16.2 pp.85-96 (2026) : 85.
Son, Hyunmi, Han, Gyumin. The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study. 2026; 16(2), 85-96. Available from: doi:10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
Son, Hyunmi and Han, Gyumin. "The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study" Global Health and Nursing 16, no.2 (2026) : 85-96.doi: 10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
Son, Hyunmi; Han, Gyumin. The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study. Global Health and Nursing, 16(2), 85-96. doi: 10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
Son, Hyunmi; Han, Gyumin. The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study. Global Health and Nursing. 2026; 16(2) 85-96. doi: 10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
Son, Hyunmi, Han, Gyumin. The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study. 2026; 16(2), 85-96. Available from: doi:10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
Son, Hyunmi and Han, Gyumin. "The Lived Experiences of Women and Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study" Global Health and Nursing 16, no.2 (2026) : 85-96.doi: 10.35144/ghn.2026.16.2.85
1,
Han, Gyumin