Peer Support in Online Discussions of Male Infertility: A Natural Language Processing Study of Reddit

Abstract Infertility generates profound psychological and social distress for both women and men, yet men’s communicative experiences remain comparatively underexamined. Male infertility (MI) is often shaped by stigma, norms of masculinity, and limited opportunities for emotional disclosure, constraining help-seeking in offline settings. This study investigates how men use anonymous online peer-support spaces to discuss MI by analyzing discussions from the r/maleinfertility subreddit on Reddit. Using natural language processing techniques, we examined 10,769 posts and 80,381 comments published between 2013 and 2025. Analyses assessed sentiment and emotional expression, topic structure, hyperlink networks, and discussions related to diagnostic testing, treatment decision-making, and donor sperm use. Topic modeling revealed a functional differentiation between posts and comments. Original posts primarily focused on clinical sense-making, including interpretation of semen analyses, hormonal testing, and assisted reproduction options. In contrast, comments emphasized emotional validation, experiential knowledge-sharing, and normalization of alternative family-building pathways. Emotional expression varied by discussion topic, with heightened fear and sadness in conversations involving genetic testing, surgical sperm retrieval, and donor sperm. Hyperlink analysis indicated frequent engagement with peer-reviewed medical information, reflecting active evidence-seeking alongside peer exchange. Taken together, findings suggest that anonymous online communities function as critical infrastructures of support for men experiencing infertility, enabling forms of disclosure and vulnerability often constrained in offline contexts. These spaces facilitate interpretation of medical information, collective coping, and decision-making regarding treatment and donor options. The study highlights the role of digital anonymity in mitigating stigma and expanding communicative possibilities for men navigating infertility alongside clinical care.