Is Your Fertility Drying Up?

New Research Suggests That Sperm Counts Are Plummeting. Men’s Health Investigates Why It Matters To You Now – Whether You Want A Family Or Not.

- Sarfraz Manzoor

Avradeep and Emma met in 2010, when they were both in their early 30s and living in Bristol, England. Because they knew they wanted a family, they started trying to conceive just a year into their relationship. But after months of attempts: nothing.

Concerned, they went to their doctor. Both had several blood tests; Avradeep followed up with a semen analysis. A few weeks later, the results arrived while Avradeep was playing squash; Emma called to say they needed to talk. When he returned home, he learned the reason that Emma was failing to become pregnant: him.

THE EMPTY GUN

One estimate suggests that infertility affects as many as one in six heterosexual couples. In a third of cases, the cause lies with the man. And despite advances in medical science, some research suggests the problem is only getting worse: A study published last year showed that among men from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, sperm counts have declined by more than half in less than 40 years. Scientists love to disagree on how accurate sperm count studies are. But for researchers like Sheena Lewis, a professor emerita at the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University, Belfast, the statistics spell a widespread threat to male fertility and reproductive health – in terms of both sperm quantity and (perhaps more importantly) quality.

Unless you’re like Emma and Avradeep, a couple hoping for kids, it’s easy to think that sperm counts don’t matter all that much. But according to Lewis, the implications are grave and wide-ranging: “Numerous reports over the past few years show that sperm is the canary in our coal mine.” If sperm is decreasing in production and in quality – as she believes it is – “this is a big take-home message about societal health.”