The Hidden Pain of Male Childlessness - Dr Robin Hadley | #31

I sat down with Dr Robin Hadley to discuss involuntary male childlessness - the research around it and his personal experience. Dr Hadley is the author of many scientific publications on the subject, as well as the book, ‘How is a Man Supposed to be a Man? Male Childlessness – a Life Course Disrupted’, available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1800731876/

Dr Hadley on X: https://x.com/RobinHadley1

Dr Hadley’s website: https://www.robinhadley.co.uk/

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Robin’s experience of male childlessness

04:35 We’re conditioned to dismiss male broodiness

09:24 The stigma around childless men

12:16 Economic factors delaying fertility

15:17 Is it ethical to bring a child into the world?

19:31 We want instant gratification - which kids don’t provide

22:49 IVF is mostly unsuccessful

25:17 Young people are now corporate targets

27:24 Can antinatalism override biology?

31:04 The depopulation crisis

34:02 We’re living sicker, for longer

37:37 Attachment issues reduce fertility

43:40 Sperm health and steroids

47:06 Men have a biological clock too

48:12 The biggest predictors of male childlessness

48:48 The West does not celebrate the family

51:19 “There’s something missing”

52:47 The grief of not raising children

55:35 Tackling inequality

56:54 Final words

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ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION:

In a world saturated by social media and marked by skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and ADHD among Gen Z, young people are growing up in a landscape of chaos and contradiction. While protests swell in city streets and activists hurl soup at famous artworks to demand climate action, a quieter crisis unfolds within - the mental and emotional battles faced by a generation trying to make sense of it all.

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