By Prusothman Raja, Co-founder — twoplus Fertility
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 19 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 find themselves unable to conceive for the first time, even after trying for a year. Women who have successfully given birth previously can also suffer from infertility when trying for a second or subsequent child.
Unfortunately, many conventional fertility treatments tend to take a reactive approach and neglect prevention. Aspiring parents can spend tens of thousands of dollars on a single procedure, yet several factors can affect one’s fertility, and some of these are within our control.
This means people who wish for a child can choose a proactive approach that boosts their chances for conception and fecundity. You can take your fertility into your own hands in some important ways, and the sooner you decide to do this, the better.
When it comes to enhancing fertility, the first thing any aspiring parent can do is to educate themselves.
The importance of fertility education
As a professional in the field of fertility, one of the most heartbreaking things I see on a routine basis is people who have undermined their chances of having a child simply because they didn’t know any better. That’s why education is a key factor in preventing infertility.
The first step to dispelling ignorance is realizing that you don’t actually know things you may previously have thought you knew. When you are experiencing trouble starting or building your family, you may have assumed that fertility can only be acquired with enormous financial outlays, numerous visits to clinics, and unromantic, pre-scheduled intercourse with your partner — but that isn’t the case.
Lifestyle factors can affect fertility, and these decisions lie within your control. You have the power to eliminate risks by properly educating yourself and your partner.
Stop smoking
For both men and women, smoking can lead to infertility. For women, the list of possible damages from smoking while pregnant is long: Miscarriages and premature births increase. The risk of low-birthweight babies doubles and infants of smokers can have health problems for years, including heightened risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Even just inhaling secondhand smoke can lead to these same adverse effects. Ditto for vaping.
Studies have shown that fertility treatments become less effective for women who smoke. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, “Female smokers need more ovary-stimulating medications during IVF and still have fewer eggs at retrieval time and have 30% lower pregnancy rates compared with IVF patients who do not smoke.”
For men, smoking has been associated with low sperm count and erectile dysfunction.
While it is usually difficult to quit smoking, finding a support group and working with your healthcare provider can help. It’s not a good idea to use nicotine patches while you are pregnant, but this method can help people stop smoking who are preparing for a pregnancy.
Eliminate alcohol
Most people know not to drink alcohol while pregnant, but ingesting alcohol can also have a deleterious effect on fertility. A 2017 meta-analysis found that the higher the amount of alcohol participants consumed, the more their ability to have a child was reduced.
Even men should avoid drinking too much alcohol while trying to have children as men who drink heavily produce lower-quality and fewer sperm. These sperm can demonstrate decreased motility, which is the ability of sperm to propel itself toward an egg. Men who overimbibe also have lower testosterone levels.
The good news is that mocktails featuring nonalcoholic “spirits” are more popular today than ever before.
Weight problems
Both being overweight and underweight can lead to fertility problems in women. As the US Department of Health and Human Services explains, “Overweight and obesity affect fertility by preventing ovulation” and can also “lower your chances of getting pregnant with certain fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).” Your body can stop ovulating due to being underweight, as well.
Once again, sperm count decreases among men who are overweight. According to national Australian organization Healthy Male, “Overweight men are 11% more likely than their normal-weight peers to produce low numbers of sperm and 39% more likely to produce no sperm at all. Obese men are 42% more likely to have a low sperm count and 81% more likely to produce no sperm.”
For people who are overweight or obese, I recommend a healthy, balanced diet along with exercise. For women who are underweight, I would screen for eating disorders and caution against exercising too much or at too high of an intensity.
Act early
The truth is that time alone can increase the risk of infertility. Most people are aware that women are more fertile in their 20s than their 30s, and their ability to become pregnant decreases fast after the age of 37.
Men are not exempt from this risk factor, however. A 2014 meta-analysis associated increasing male age with “significant declines in many semen traits,” such as “semen volume, percentage motility, progressive motility, normal morphology and unfragmented cells.”
Acting early to reduce risk factors and live a healthy lifestyle can greatly affect your chances of conceiving. In addition, fertility screenings can help you plan ahead, identify potential fertility problems, and give you the knowledge needed to succeed. New at-home fertility tests and treatments can even be purchased online.
Take control of your fertility, and you will also take control of your future.
— Stanford Biodesign Fellow and biomedical engineer Prusothman Raja is twoplus Fertility’s co-founder and CEO. Having seen how fertility challenges affect people close to him, Raja wants to provide couples with fertility solutions that are accessible and scientifically sound.
