The infertility ‘blame game’: When did women become the scapegoats?

Infertility represents one of Africa's most significant yet underexplored public health challenges, affecting an estimated 30-40% of couples across sub-Saharan Africa according to WHO data. Yet as healthcare systems grapple with this reality, a troubling cultural pattern has emerged: women bear the overwhelming burden of blame, stigma, and medical intervention, despite male factor infertility accounting for approximately 40-50% of cases across the continent. This gender-skewed narrative carries profound implications for European investors eyeing Africa's healthcare expansion. The fertility treatment market in Africa is projected to reach $2.1 billion by 2030, driven by rising middle-class incomes, urbanization, and increasing access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART). However, the current landscape remains fragmented, undersupplied, and distorted by cultural assumptions that primarily target female patients while marginalizing male diagnosis and treatment. The reality on the ground reflects this imbalance starkly. In many African healthcare settings, when a couple presents with infertility, women immediately undergo invasive diagnostic procedures—hysterosalpingography, laparoscopy, and hormonal assessments—often without corresponding male partner evaluation. Men, by contrast, frequently avoid fertility clinics entirely due to social stigma linking infertility with masculinity or virility. This creates a perverse market dynamic where fertility service providers have optimized their offerings around female clients, missing half their