Table 1.

Overview of the Interview guide

Main topic/subtopic	English question
Introduction	How are you doing?
Diagnosis	How did you experience the moment you heard that you have fertility problems?
Treatment	How did you experience the treatments you received for the fertility problems? At what point did you start thinking about treatment options? What treatments did you undergo? How did you experience the care during the treatments?
Psychologically	What was your state of mind when you were told that you have fertility problems? And how was this during the treatment?
Emotions	What emotions played a role during the diagnosis/treatment?
Behaviour	How did you behave during this period? Has it changed?
Identity	How did the diagnosis affect you as a person?
Life purposes	Did it make you look differently at things in the world? If so, can you give an example?
Social	How did you experience contact with others during the period when you were told that you had fertility problems? And how was it during the treatment?
Work	How was work during this period?
Social activities	How did you deal with social activities during this period?
Relations	Do you talk to others about the fertility problems? Why or why not? How do they react? How do you feel when people ask about your situation?
(Sexual) relation with partner	How did you experience the relationship with your partner during this period? When/how did you support each other? What were difficult moments? How was your intimate/sex life during this period?
Society/stigmatization	How do you think society views male fertility problems? How do you experience that?
Marginalization	How do you feel in relation to men of your age who do not have fertility problems?
Coping	How did you deal with the situation? What helped you? What did not? How do you get support or strength?
Concluding remarks	Are there other things that have not been covered that you would like to share? I would like to thank you for your participation