Is He Too Sexy for His Sperm?

Dec. 17, 2009
a blog by marie lee

Earlier this year, I wrote "Are You Too Sexy for Your Eggs?” suggesting TTC women avoid wearing tight bras (and nipple rings) because constant breast stimulation may delay ovulation. Now I’m back with some suggestions for the guys out there: Don’t be too sexy for your sperm.

Everyone wants to look nice, but successful fertility requires moderation and there may be some fertility busters in the everyday things your man does to look sexy.

We already know the first: Cool it on the smoking. Sure, it looks great in the movies, but it breaks DNA, affects sperm motility and morphology, and it promotes free radicals, which is exactly what your man is taking those antioxidants for (hopefully he is).

Ditto for the marijuana, not just for the reasons above but ALSO because the plant may have estrogenic (oops!) properties. This will not do him any fertility favors.

Sweaty exercise? Sexy and good for sperm, but don’t overdo it. Biking can squish and cook sperm (although new seats with cutouts prevent this). And excess crazy-beast exercising again can promote free radicals.

What about that manly steak he loves to eat? Hormones! Again, it’s best to eat organic and GRASSFED to get the extra benefits of vitamin K and omega 3s that come in naturally through grass. Organic produce may seem a bit fussy, but pesticides often work by jamming up insects' endocrine systems, and that’s not something he wants to be doing.

How about all that yard work and manly weed killing with Roundup? Leave the pesticides alone for now. Atrazine weed killer, for instance (used a lot on golf courses) has already been clinically shown to decrease male fertility.

Lastly, here’s something you might not have thought about: Propecia. First, it has these crazy warnings that pregnant women shouldn’t even touch it (which makes me a bit uneasy right off the bat). But the way it works is by BLOCKING TESTOSTERONE. Studies have shown this not only decreases sperm count but also sexual desire — kind of the opposite of what you want.

Rogaine is a blood pressure drug and blood pressure affects erections (this is how Viagra works), so I would be suspicious of that, too.

Think of it this way, you love your man enough to have kids with him, it shouldn’t matter by now too much what he looks like.