Man’s involvement in the experience of abortion and the dynamics of the couple’s relationship: a clinical study

Objectives To investigate the way men experience abortion from a psychodynamic
perspective in order to understand better the impact of this experience on their own image as
men and on the couple’s relationship.
Methods In-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 men in Belgium and 14 men in
Greece.
Results Intrapsychic factors seem to play for men an important role in their experience of
abortion, whatever their cultural context and contraceptive practices. Two-thirds of the men
who agreed to participate in the research disagreed with their partner’s decision to have an
abortion. Such men may feel that it is impossible for them to fulfill themselves, in particular as
potential fathers. This impossibility is, according to men, linked to women’s attitudes, but
may also be related to their own difficult identification with parental images and to socioprofessional
concerns.
Conclusions Abortion can create tensions and/or conflicts between partners by revealing
their contradictory desires. It is suggested that institutions where men and women are heard
can help both partners to outlive this experience as a constructive step in their personal
psychosocial evolution and in their relationship.