Currently, at least one in six couples require medical assistance to conceive, with half of these cases attributed to low sperm quality. Infertility experts express concerns that this increasing issue among men may lead to a future where most couples depend on medical intervention to have children.
A significant French study released this week indicated a steep decline in sperm counts and quality since the 1990s.
The decline is thought to be associated with diet, lifestyle choices, and chemicals that disrupt gender norms. Researchers, utilizing data from 126 fertility treatment centers, noted that their findings represent a ‘serious public health alert.’ Yet, what actions are being taken to address this issue?
Thus far, it appears, very few.
In Australia, physicians are hardly addressing male infertility, often opting to concentrate on the woman when couples seek assistance for their challenges in conceiving.
One must question, ‘Why do male practitioners persist in attributing infertility to women?’
Do women inherently believe that infertility is their responsibility? Or might the underlying reason be that invasive and intricate fertility treatments for women are highly profitable for the providers?
The prevailing attitude in most hospitals suggests that men are indisputably fertile and strong, making it seemingly inappropriate to subject them to invasive testing.
Women may seek help from their GP after struggling to conceive for 18 months, only to be referred to a gynaecologist — a specialist in female health issues, regardless of the fact that the woman has already had a child.
From an average release of 200 million to 500 million sperm during ejaculation, only 50 to 100 will manage to reach the egg, overcoming obstacles of disorientation or exhaustion. This process can last as long as six days.
Merely a few dozen will possess enough strength to penetrate the egg, with only a single sperm accomplishing this feat.
This selective natural process — ensuring that only the fittest sperm thrive — has sustained human reproduction for countless generations.
However, it is now visibly deteriorating, yet remains a sensitive subject that many men, including medical professionals, feel uncomfortable discussing.
It seems they prefer to subject women to unnecessary and invasive examinations rather than risk offending fragile male pride.
This suggests that even men with abundant sperm may still face infertility if their sperm is too compromised to successfully enter a female egg. The so-called ‘sperm comet’ test utilizes a specialized light field to reveal intact DNA within a sperm cell.
This test provides a more reliable indication of fertility compared to a basic sperm count and requires minimal involvement from the man aside from providing a sample.
Conversely, fertility assessments typically conducted on women are considerably more invasive, painful, and costly. These include drawing blood to measure hormone levels and injecting dye into the ovaries to verify egg production.
Additionally, examinations of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries take place under general anesthetic via keyhole surgery, with another procedure potentially performed to scrape tissue from the uterine lining for analysis.
Evidence indicating that sperm concentrations have decreased by half since the 1940s first emerged two decades ago.In the past, many scientists raised concerns about the testing methods employed in these early studies; however, an overwhelming amount of subsequent research has demonstrated a yearly decline in sperm quality.
Furthermore, since the Seventies, the rate of genital organ cancer in young men has mysteriously doubled.
Recent research released just last month indicates that over one in 20 newborn boys is now delivered with undescended testes, which significantly increases the risk of testicular cancer—typically occurring in young adulthood and often leading to infertility.
We have come to understand that chronic obesity and poor fitness can undermine men’s reproductive capacity, and the long-term effects of smoking can be transmitted from smoking fathers to non-smoking sons.
It’s also established that certain plastic by-products mimicking female hormone effects are detrimental to sperm, as are by-products resulting from vehicle pollution.
‘There are many causes for concern regarding this issue,’ states Marco Gaudoin, the medical director of the Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine.
‘Approximately 80,000 new chemicals have entered the Western world over the last century. We have rivers where all the fish are female.
‘It’s possible to have a man with a normal sperm count according to traditional standards, yet still find significant damage to the sperm’s DNA, and the cause remains unknown.’
Despite a growing acknowledgment among various doctors about environmental influences, many still assert that the primary driver behind the infertility epidemic is the culture of self-fulfillment.
On one side, we are becoming increasingly promiscuous, facing outbreaks of chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections that hinder fertility.
On the flip side, couples are postponing parenthood attempts to later stages in life, allowing age and heightened exposure to lifestyle risks to take their toll.
by Susan Floyd
