Focusing on fathers when questioning masculinity: The desire to become a father, changing paternal roles and being a man in procreative realm

This research examined the family, one of the main intervention areas of social work, from the perspective of Critical Study of Masculinities and wanted to present a different approach to the field. The aim of the study is to deal with the individual and social dimensions of the reasons underlying the desire to become a father based on the effect of "masculinity" perceptions of male participants on their roles as fathers and to establish a relationship with family policies in Turkey. At the same time, it was aimed to work with men who became fathers with the IVF method, for which little research has been done, to convey their experiences in procreative realm and to discuss the possible effects of men's fatherhood practices on the transformation of "masculinity". Phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in line with the aims of the study. Participants were determined using homogeneous sampling technique, one of the purposeful sampling methods. Data were collected by conducting in-depth interviews with 23 men from 8 different cities who become fathers through IVF method and these data were subjected to descriptive analyses with the analyses program of Maxqda 2020 Project. The findings of the study were collected under the themes of "the men's own fathers as a founding element", "marriage life before fatherhood", "the desire to become a father", "IVF process", "pregnancy process", "first paternity period", "father's place in the child's life", "man's self-assessments", "masculinity" and "social policies about paternity" and the experiences of the participants were conveyed under each title. In the study, it was understood that the perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood in the society were in a process of change as a results of the experience transfer of the participants, and men –especially through the IVF experience- started to be more involved in procreative realm as subjects but they did not feel sufficiently involved in this field. Suggestions were made fort the realization of social transformation through gender equality and the capacity of the fatherhood role to positively change the dominant form of masculinity was questioned.