More evidence has cropped up recently that when it comes to having healthy babies, and conceiving a baby when you want to, guys don’t have all the time in the world, either. A study published in July in the journal Fertility and Sterility looked at age and semen quality in a group of nearly 1,000 Chinese men ages 20 and 60 and found a specific turning point when a man’s sperm starts its downslide: Both the amount and motility (how well sperm move, especially toward an egg for fertilization) of sperm began a slow slide at 30, and the scientists saw “significant differences” starting in men 35 and over. (It may be worth noting that half the men were smokers, and nearly half drank alcohol.) The same journal also just released a small study linking “advanced paternal age” to less fertility.
Men don’t get a pass when it comes to their weight, either, it seems. A Scottish study explored a link between body mass index (BMI) and semen quality from over 2,000 men whose partners were being evaluated at a fertility center. Their finding: “Obese men are more likely to have lower semen volume and fewer…normal [sperm] than men with normal BMI.” A normal BMI range is 18.5 to 24.9. You can calculate yours here.
Has your husband/partner undergone a fertility evaluation?
