Abortion is becoming among the most common options human beings have to deal with unwanted or unplanned offspring. The United States is among the leading regions with high cases of abortion. Various research has been conducted to identify how abortion affects the mother’s life, confidence, and social relationships. However, only limited research has been implemented to identify how men are affected by post-abortion grief. Therefore, this section intends to provide a comprehensive literature review to demonstrate what existing literature has found about the relationship between post-abortion grief and trauma in men to identify the existing gap that the research paper will focus on.
Abortion
Research by Kero & Lalos (2004) found that men’s reactions to abortion vary. This makes it challenging to explore how abortion affects men. According to the article, it can be concluded that only a few men participate in abortion legally. The study conducted research to explore their views and feelings in relation to abortion. Using questionnaires, 26 men needed to answer specific questions related to abortion after a period of between 4-12 months after abortion. The findings were that men are that most men are pleased with their women having an abortion since it helped to eliminate some burdens and responsibilities off their shoulders. M. However, the article notes that abortion is unethical and a difficult experience. Therefore, women prefer their women to have an abortion, especially when they are not ready to take the burden and responsibility of being a father. Most men expect healthcare practitioners to be understanding and welcoming to individuals planning on having an abortion, unlike what was reported in the study that the men were not welcomed warmly.
Coyle & Rue (2015) conducted a thematic analysis using qualitative research methodology to identify how men feel when their partner decides to have an abortion. The study focuses on the cases when women have an elective choice to perform an abortion. The stuan dy is conducted through online surveys on men who have their partner having undergone induced abortion. Respondents were provided with both open and close-ended questions to collect detailed information about their experience with abortion. From a sample of 89 participants, 13 were married, and their wives had done at least one abortion. Unlike Kero & Lalos (2004), who stated that men do not experience a strong connection with the fetus and are usually happy when their women decide to have an abortion Coyle & Rue (2015) found that men experience different negative emotions include loss, helpless, and prejudice when their women have elective abortion. Due to social victimization, these men turn to spiritual support to heal their emotions. Loss and grief was the most common finding from the respondents who stated that the abortion made them feel that they have lost a child and lost the place of being a father in the future, increasing their grief. Moreover, the article found that grief was associated with guilt and regret, low self esteem, feeling worthless, and identified themselves as failure.
Grief is highly associated with abortion. Coyle & Rue (2015) stated that the respondents stated they lost a child or a baby and none referred to the abortion as loss of pregnancy or fetus. This illustrates the strong connection and emotional suffering experienced by men after an elective abortion. Another major implication of abortion is end of relationship with their partners. The article found that if the relationship did not come to an end, its value and quality reduced, increasing their stress levels and exposing them to depression. Men faced loss of trust and rejection from their partners, without considering if they agreed to the abortion or not. Some men reported to experience victimization in relation to anger although they tried their bets to help their female partners recover from the loss. The article did not ask direct questions on how men healed from the experience, but it provided a section for the respondents to comment on their healing process. From the 89 participants, 88 reported that spirituality contributed significantly to their healing process. Faith helped 98.9% of the responding men to heal from abortion experience. 81% stated that they have managed to heal since they forgave their partners and themselves for the decision.
Despite the emphasis of men’s experiences and feelings after an abortion, there is limited research in relation how men experience trauma. Most of the existing research maintain that men feel happy when they were not prepared to take the responsibility of the pregnancy and being a father (Kero & Lalos, 2004). However, men grief and experience a feeling of loss when their partners have elective abortion (Coyle & Rue, 2015). Moreover, the existing research focus on surveys to collect qualitative details (Coyle & Rue, 2015). However, neither of the research identifies the connection between post-abortion and trauma. This leaves the gap of exploring how post-abortion contributes to trauma among through interviews as the qualitative method. Thus, this research will be implemented to bridge this gap.
Disenfranchisement Grief
Disenfranchised grief is associated with the feeling of loss that is challenging to recognized by society. Obst et al. (2020) conducted a systematic review to examine men’s grief after an abortion and neonatal loss. Reliable sources related to the research topic were sourced from PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and PsyclINFO to identify the nature of men’s grief and how to identify if a man is griefi8ng after an abortion. The article were published between 1998 and 2018 (Obst et al., 2020). The findings were that from a the 46 articles sued as samples with 19 as qualitative and 26 bas quantitative, the level of grief among men after abortion differ. The grief worsens because society expects men support female partners without anyone supporting them. The qualitative studies also found that society does not recognize men’s grief after abortion and does not offer any help to help them recover from the grief, resulting in disenfranchisement grief.
Therefore, although the existing research provides detailed review on disenfranchisement grief in men after an abortion, the studies do not provide any information related to the complexities of men’s grief and society’s response (Obst et al., 2020). Moreover, most of the research may contain outdated or irrelevant details in the modern world since most of the sources used were published many years ago. Therefore, this research will focus on bridging this gap by exploring all the dynamics and complexities of grief using recent and updated literature.
Grief
Riggs et al. (2018) conducted a qualitative research by presenting questionnaires to 48 Australian men who identify themselves as heterosexuals. The study aimed at identifying how men feel after losing a pregnancy through abortion. The questions aimed at extracting information related to losing pregnancy, how men identify the loss, the level at which men seek for help and support, grief, possible stigma, and mental issues such as anxiety and grief. Through the closed and open-ended questions, the article found that most men experience grief due to depression and anxiety that develops after an abortion. Men avoid to look for help to avoid being stigmatized by society (Riggs et al., 2018). As a result, men reacted to stigmatization and grief by forming groups with fellow men who have experienced similar loss and seeking formal support. However, a significant portion of the respondents did not access formal support due to existing social limitation, exposing them to progressive grief.
Fieldsend & Smith (2021) implemented semi-structured interviews through qualitative research methodology to identify hoe men who live unwillingly without children feel. Four British men were involved in the interview to identify how they are impacted by abortion at personal level, their relationships, how they convert the loss into ability, and they deal with the whole situation. The article found that grief is part of the men’s daily life (Fieldsend & Smith, 2021). The men reported that although they try to transform the loss into inner strength and reform themselves, they cannot forget that they have become childless. They also experience grief because it is hard for them to remain in a relationship for long, knowing that they are childless
Existing research provide detailed information related to what transpires to grief in men. Riggs et al. (2018) identified that negative impacts of abortion such as stigmatization, lack of support, depression, and anxiety drive men into grief. However, some literatures are out of scope as they focus on the impact of childlessness in men. Sources like Fieldsend & Smith (2021) state that men experience grief and inability to form good relationships due to their unwilling inability to get children. This leaves a research gap of how men with the ability to get children, but are denied that opportunity by women through abortion, experience grief and how they respond to post-abortion.
Shame
Shepard & Rabinowitz (2013) stated that shame is a major barrier to socialization. Based on the findings from the study’s qualitative research, individuals become ashamed when the society finds out that they were involved in a shameful and challenging situation like abortion. The article was based on a thorough review of literature related to shame, how it contributes to depression, and how it limits an individual’s ability to socialize. Men are the most affected by such situations as demonstrated by the three case studies used in this article.
Current literature pay more attention of shame and how it contributes to depression among men. Studies like Shepard & Rabinowitz (2013) focus on factors causing shame in men, its limitation in enabling them to form relationships, and how it drives them to depression as well as how such men can be helped to recover from depression. However, the research does adequately explore the correlation between shame in men and post-abortion. Therefore, this research will identify the relationship between shame and post-abortion to identify how it contributes to grief and disfranchisement anger.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Trauma
Hetzel-Riggin & Roby (2013) conducted an assessment to 1,503 college learners who have encountered a natural problem, lost a loved one, or experienced a interpersonal conflict. 58.3 percent of the participants were women while 41.7 percent were men. The research aimed at identifying the relationship between the form of trauma and gender on posttraumatic stress disorder. Based on the study’s findings, women who have experienced different trauma experiences in their life had more signs of posttraumatic stress disorder than men did (Hetzel-Riggin & Roby, 2013). Abortion is among the traumatic experienced assessed in this study, where men reported less symptoms of PTSD. The study concluded that men are loess affected by traumatic experiences like abortion.
The resource by Studley & Chung (2014) conducted an investigation to identify in PTSD from a traumatic event, suppression, and alexithymia can result in PTSD and affect an individual’s psychological wellness after the termination of a romantic relationship. The assessment involved 189 individuals who needed to finishing filling in all the questionnaires. Studley & Chung (2014) found that more people are likely to isolate themselves and avoid others after ending a romantic relationship. This affected the participants psychological wellness, increasing the chances of developing PTSD, especially if the romantic relationship ended due to an abortion.
Talebreza-May (2015) conducted a qualitative research by implementing semi-structured interviews to four men who are Neuvomexicano. The research aimed at identifying the nature of relationship between men with trauma and healthcare practitioners after having experienced a traumatic event in their life. Men overlook the impact of personal, cultural, and societal aspects and how they contribute to trauma. Men did not consider the need to seek health care attention after a traumatic event.
However, although the research identified men and women’s experiences in relation to traumatic experiences and how they contributed to posttraumatic stress disorder, the source pays minimal attention to explaining the connection between post-abortion and PTSD in men (Hetzel-Riggin & Roby, 2013). The existing literature does not provide a direct link between post-abortion impact, trauma, and PTSD in men (Hetzel-Riggin & Roby, 2013; Studley & Chung (2014; Talebreza-May, 2015)). This research will use qualitative research through interviews to identify if they is a direct or indirect correlation between post-abortion and PTSD in men. This literature will consider cases where men developed PTSD due to abortion as a traumatic experience after realizing that their partners performed abortion without their consent.
Stigma
Qualitative interviews conducted by Steward et al. (2013) focused on exploring how stigma impacts the gender roles of men involved in homosexual. The interviews were recorded as audio, transcribed, and translated into English. Steward et al. (2013) found that men involved in sexual intercourse with other men were ashamed and maintained that community members stigmatize them for being homosexuals. However, from the 30 participants, less than half reported few instances of discrimination (Steward et al., 2013). Such men make decisions like not being involved in sexual relationships with women, acting that they are heterosexuals by marrying a lesbian, or marrying a heterosexual woman. The participants had not risk of suffering from post-abortion since they have decided not to impregnate any women. Nonetheless, social stigma was high among these participants.
More research is needed because the existing research pay more attention on homosexual men. Steward et al. (2013) stated that stigma is high on homosexual men who are not highly acknowledged in Chinese society. However, the research does not consider cases when men might be stigmatized for being involved in abortion. Therefore, this research will conduct qualitative research to identify if stigma is among the post-abortion impacts in men and how it contributes to grief.
In summation, the literature review provides a comprehensive analysis of the methods and findings of existing research in exploring the impact of post-abortion in men. Various studies are compared and contrasted to identify possible research gaps. The literature review relates to the research question of how men are affected by post-abortion grief and trauma. Identifying the various effects, including shame, grief, anger, and PTSD, is significant in understanding the various aspects that should be incorporated in further research to identify the existing gap in uncovering the significance of the meaning in men’s lives after an abortion that they did not know would happen.
References
Coyle, C. T., & Rue, V. M. (2015). A thematic analysis of men’s experience with a partner’s elective abortion. Counseling and Values, 60(2), 138–150. https://doi.org/10.1002/cvj.12010
Fieldsend, M., & Smith, J. A. (2021). Exploring the Experiences of Four Men Living with Involuntary Childlessness in Midlife. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 27(1), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2021.1892942
Hetzel-Riggin, M. D., & Roby, R. P. (2013). Trauma type and gender effects on PTSD, general distress, and peritraumatic dissociation. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 18(1), 41–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2012.679119
Kero, A., & Lalos, A. (2004). Reactions and reflections in men, 4 and 12 months post-abortion. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 25(2), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/01674820400000463
Obst, K., Due, C., Oxlad, M., & Middleton, P. (2020). Men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal loss: a systematic review and emerging theoretical model. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2677-9
Riggs, D. W., Due, C., & Tape, N. (2018). Australian Heterosexual Men’s Experiences of Pregnancy Loss: the relationships between grief, psychological distress, Stigma, Help-Seeking, and Support. Omega – Journal of Death and Dying, 82(3), 409–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222818819339
Shepard, D. S., & Rabinowitz, F. E. (2013). The Power of Shame in men who are depressed: Implications for counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 91(4), 451–457. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00117.x
Steward, W. T., Miège, P., & Choi, K. (2013). Charting a Moral Life: The Influence of Stigma and Filial Duties on Marital Decisions among Chinese Men who Have Sex with Men. PLOS ONE, 8(8), e71778. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071778
Studley, B., & Chung, M. C. (2014). Posttraumatic Stress and Well-Being Following Relationship Dissolution: coping, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms from past trauma, and traumatic growth. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 20(4), 317–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2013.877774
Talebreza-May, J. (2015). Cultural trauma in the lives of men in northern New Mexico. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 23(2), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060826515582521
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