Table 1. Characteristics of eligible studies.

No.	Year	Author	Population	Sample size	Title	Results of investigation (include masculine/gender theme)
1	2011	Johansson, Hellström, and Berg	Sweden	8	Severe male infertility after failed ICSI treatment—A phenomenological study of men’s experiences.	Men undergoing ART programs feel inadequate as men, stuck with masculine stereotypes as part of fertility.
2	2013	Hinton and Miller	UK	38	Mapping of men’s anticipations and experiences in the reproductive realm: (In) fertility journeys.	This environment makes it challenging for males to consider the possibility of not being able to father a child.
3	2011	Shirani and Henwood	UK	53	Taking 1 day at a time: Temporal experiences in the context of unexpected life course transitions.	Men’s experiences as fathers have an impact on their future lives.
4	2004	Throsby and Gill	UK	13	“It’s different for men” Masculinity and IVF.	Male perception of infertility is heavily influenced by hegemonic masculine culture. Some men struggle with the perception that having children with a spouse is a necessary aspect of their role.
5	1994	Carmeli and Birenbaum-Carmeli	Israel and Canada	32	The predicament of masculinity: Toward understanding the male’s experience of infertility treatments.	The advent of female-centered infertility medicines has turned a male-inspired link of procreation with women into a disadvantage for men. From a feminist standpoint, these therapies were critiqued. At the same time, as this research demonstrates, the same medicines result in man’s isolation.
6	2001	Daniluk	Canada	65	“If we had it to do over again . . .”: Couples’ reflections on their experiences of infertility treatments.	Mixed feelings of uncertainty regarding the success of the therapy and the cost of treatment.
7	2010	Fahami et al.	Iran	10	Lived experience of infertile men with male infertility cause.	Men feel depressed and worthless. After finding that they are infertile, some men have sexual problems.
8	2004	Gannon, Glover, and Abel	UK	26	Masculinity, infertility, stigma, and media reports.	Men were portrayed as weak and powerless to circumstances beyond their control. The narratives used a variety of stereotypically masculine references, such as battle and mechanical parallels.
9	2005	Cudmore	UK	Not stated	Becoming parents in the context of loss.	Infertile men felt as if their masculinity had been questioned.
10	1999	Webb and Daniluk	Canada	6	The end of the line: Infertile men’s experiences of being unable to produce a child.	Inability to become a father is interpreted as a loss of manhood and authority. They call themselves losers, rubbish, and cowardly on some occasion. They also have issues with their sexual function as well.
11	2003	Herrera	Chile	49	“Men always adopt”: Infertility and reproduction from a male perspective.	Fatherhood is a central aspect of a Chilean man’s life and identity. However, they are still looking for ways to validate their position in the reproductive process.
12	2008	Malik and Coulson	Online/threads/messages	53 threads, 728 messages	The Male experience of infertility: A thematic analysis of an online infertility support group bulletin board.	The males felt uninvolved in the treatment, as if they were being ignored and treated as spectators.
13	2020	Hanna and Gough	UK	41	The social construction of male infertility: a qualitative questionnaire study of men with a male factor infertility diagnosis.	Men who are infertile feel as if they have failed to be masculine and invisible.
14	2013	Mumtaz, Shahid, and Levay	Pakistan	8	Understanding the impact of gendered roles on the experiences of infertility among men and women in Punjab.	Men’s infertility experience is largely determined by the gender roles men are encouraged to fulfill.
15	2016	Hanna and Gough	An online forum with 13 threads that were selected for analysis, totaling 415 posts, and there were 20 unique posters	13 threads: 415 posts, 20 unique posters	Emoting infertility online: A qualitative analysis of men’s forum posts.	Infertility deprives men of their pride, dignity, privacy, self-assurance, and future. This emotion is related to the tyranny of infertility.
16	2013	Tabong and Adongo	Ghana	45	Understanding the Social Meaning of Infertility and Childbearing: A Qualitative Study of the Perception of Childbearing and Childlessness in Northern Ghana.	Infertility is not just described as a couple’s inability to conceive children by the participants. But it also covers the failure to have male offspring or conform to society’s significant family expectations. The failure of men to conceive sons is blamed on them.
17	2020	Harlow et al.	Online from USA/Canada	14	A qualitative study of factors influencing male participation in fertility research.	Men expressed concerns about infertility as a result of their masculinity. It is challenging to discuss pregnancy and fertility with the men in this study.
18	2016	Arya and Dibb	UK	15	The experience of infertility treatment: the male perspective.	Social stigma has a big impact on how they think about infertility. Infertility is a symptom of men’s deterioration. This feeling affects their ability to communicate and express themselves.
19	2003	Inhorn	Egypt	2 infertile couples	“‘The Worms Are Weak’: Male Infertility and Patriarchal Paradoxes in Egypt.”	From the perception of a female spouse, men don’t always want to be blamed for infertility. There is a strong correlation between patriarchal culture and beliefs toward infertility treatment.
20	2013	Inhorn	Lebanon	120	“Why Me? Male Infertility and Responsibility in the Middle East.”	Men’s perspectives of infertility are influenced by their culture and beliefs. Some men are still hesitant to acknowledge that they are infertile, which may be affected by the negative stereotype of sterile males.
21	2004	Inhorn	Egypt, Lebanon	±18 couples with male infertility	“Middle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and Lebanon.”	Male infertility is complicated for Middle Eastern men, whereby fertility is traditionally associated with manhood. Infertility in men is thus a potentially emasculating condition that is shrouded in secrecy and stigma.
22	2009	Birenbaum-Carmeli and Inhorn	Israel, Lebanon	Not stated briefly	“Masculinity and Marginality: Palestinian Men’s Struggles with Infertility in Israel and Lebanon.”	Male infertility was considered a serious life disturbance by most of the males in this survey, both in Israel and Lebanon. Male infertility is associated with masculinity as a burden of secrecy.
23	2020	Baranwal and Chattopadhyay	India	150	Proposition of Belief and Practice Theory for Men Undergoing Infertility Treatment: a Hospital-based Study in Mumbai, India’	They are baffled and experience a range of feelings, including stress, separation, and frustration. Some of them also received unfavorable feedback from family members, prompting them to doubt their masculinity.
24	2017	Dolan et al.	UK	22	‘It’s like taking a bit of masculinity away from you’: toward a theoretical understanding of men’s experiences of infertility.	In the context of infertility, the male body can be regarded as a failing entity in and of itself (unable to father a child) as well as a subservient social entity (unable to measure up to hegemonic ideals) that defines men’s masculine identities.