“It’s actually a good diagnosis”

Abstract

In this article, I offer an autoethnographic examination of unexplained infertility. The narrative is driven by a central question: how does unexplained infertility mean in my life? By exploring the how of unexplained infertility, narrative inquiry emphasizes the long-term impacts of a persistent diagnosis. As an unstable diagnosis, unexplained infertility presents a complicated site from which to consider family planning and gender work. Narrative vignettes occurring over a period of years explore identity. These experiences highlight moments of conflict and upheaval where the abstract diagnosis derails heteronormative and cisgendered constructions of fatherhood and masculinity. This infertility account disrupts codes of silence around experiencing infertility.