You'll rarely find this writer lamenting the lack of male voices anywhere, because, well, there is no deficiency. The most recent data I can find, from 2015, suggests that across news and current affairs shows on Irish radio, male voices made up 72 percent. Undoubtedly, significant efforts have been made to address this disparity, and we hear far more female voices now than a decade ago, but we can all agree that men are in no immediate danger of being silenced about any given topic. However, there are some subjects about which you will rarely hear male voices speak, and one of these is infertility.

Hands up: having decided at a very young age that being a parent was not for me, I will never fully comprehend the impact and anguish of infertility or pregnancy loss, of desperately wanting children and being unable to have them. I have witnessed it at close quarters with dear friends who have undertaken that journey; some have become parents, others have had to accept with sadness, even heartbreak, that they will not. As a society, we do not acknowledge this pain enough, nor the sheer toll it takes on people’s health, finances or relationships, be they heterosexual or otherwise. The physical and emotional pain of an unsuccessful IVF cycle or miscarriage is shrouded in secrecy and sometimes, still, even shame. Women are entitled to no paid leave, their grief and loss often silent and unrecognised in workplaces. It was only in 2023 that the State began publicly funding assisted human reproduction........

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