The secret shame of having no sperm

There is an urgent need to tackle a decline in male fertility and address the "absurd" reliance on giving female partners expensive and invasive IVF treatments to try to overcome the man's lack of quality sperm, a leading fertility expert has said. For men, being told you are infertile can be a crushing and lonely experience.

Male infertility is now the most common reason for couples in the UK to seek IVF - but when Craig Franklin was told bluntly that he had no sperm, he felt alone and emasculated.

"The GP essentially said, 'You're producing no sperm, you won't be able to have children. Out the door, away you go,'" the 39-year-old explains.

"There was no support whatsoever."

The effects hit him hard and almost led to him breaking up with his partner Katie.

"I was very angry for a long time. I went mad with money," he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.

"My performance at work deteriorated quite significantly to the point that I lost my job late last year."

"It broke my heart. I saw a...