Why Should You Worry About Men's Fertility?

 I bet you are wondering now why should you worry about men's fertility?

(Photo by Sebastián-Dario is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)

You may think I am going off on a cliff here talking about men’s reproductive health when my focus is on women’s reproductive health. Well let’s dive in.

Without men and their sperm it doesn’t matter what our bodies do when dropping that egg because there will be nothing to fertilize it. Therefore no pregnancy can occur and our population will be null. It’ll be the end of the human world as we know it. Sounds like one of those conspiracy horror flicks. Face it. We need sperm just as much as the sperm needs the egg and our uterus. Harmony right? So this is why I will speak on men’s health at times too. 

(Photo by ntr23 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

So now you see the reason to worry about men’s fertility?

 Brain melt moment here. So while 100-300 million sperm are created each day, it takes on average 72 days for the seminiferous tubules (within the testicles) to produce an individual sperm. So think of a production line and all the parts that make up the single sperm cell times 100-300 million. Busy busy. Then they make the journey through the epididymis (think Fallopian tube) about 2-12 days and then they are ready for ejaculation. 

Together the vas deferens and epididymis store about 700 million sperm at a time. 

The typical amount of sperm per ejaculate is 100-500 million. The thickness of the sperm is a safeguard to prevent leakage so that it can hold itself inside of the vagina to aid in the ability for sperm to survive and reach the egg. The longer it is within the vaginal cavity it will loosen up and leak out. 

The seminal fluid is majority lubrication and helps facilitate sperm survival. 

Sperm can sometimes be found in the lubrication right before ejaculation for a number of reasons so this is why precum as most would call it gets some women pregnant. 

So let’s get into some detail here. If there is an issue with a man's sperm that may cause an issue with his fertility, it would take about 72 days for any changes he makes to fully take effect.

So this is why it is important for men to get tested also when deciding together as a couple to try and get pregnant. Checking their sperm count and mobility is a good start and checking testosterone levels as well. If you get a good doctor then you may be able to do this as a precautionary preparation before having to wait a full year of trying and not getting pregnant. It doesn’t hurt to ask your doctor. If doc says no, they make over the counter sperm tests you can buy at the pharmacy or online. Works pretty similarly. It won’t go into detail on the reasons why or how to fix it, but it is a good start.

(Photo by quapan is licensed under CC BY 2.0)

It takes healthy sperm and a healthy egg to create a healthy pregnancy so the best thing to do is take care of your body 3-6 months prior to getting pregnant. This will decrease chances of trying for 6+ months and not knowing why you haven't been able to share the great news of bringing forth life. There are some herbs that have been used in history that have positive effects on the male and female fertility.

 Have you used any herbs during preconception - birth? Did they work for you?