With male infertility increasing at an alarming rate, we look at why the issue is now so prevalent and the interventions that could help. Women are so often the focus in conversations about infertility – which is defined as “a failure to establish a pregnancy after 12 months of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse”. In reality, when you look at the causes of infertility, a third of the issues are with the woman, a third are due to the man and a third are caused by either a combination of both or are unexplained.
One in seven couples in the United Kingdom has difficulty conceiving. Over the past 40 years, sperm counts worldwide have halved and sperm quality has reduced. As we’re seeing male infertility increase, it’s more important than ever to bring men into the joint focus.
Fertility clinics need to be more inclusive, men need to be better educated about what lowers their sperm count and there needs to be more emotional support in place for them. What is good sperm health? When we talk about sperm health, we’re talking about sperm quantity as well as quality. The structure of the sperm is important.
It needs to be able to swim and survive in the female reproductive tract. A successful conception is most likely if the ejaculate contains at least 15 million sperm per millilitre. Too few sperm cells makes it more difficult as there are fewer candidates to successfully fertilise the egg.
What lowers sperm count? Several factors contribute to lower sperm count, alt.