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Male fertility myths and facts
Male infertility can result from many different reasons, from abnormal formation of sperm to failure of sperm – egg interactions. Medically, the definition of infertility is the inability to conceive a child after twelve months of active or regular unprotected sex.
There are many myths surrounding male fertility, which include, ‘If you have more sex, you will exhaust your sperm supply’. While a delay in the time periods between ejaculation may increase the concentration and volume of the next ejaculate, it is unlikely to have a long term effect on the production of sperm. And, a man may lose all sensations and sexual functions due to a spinal cord injury but still have what the World Health Organisation would consider a 'normal' sperm count.
There are many myths surrounding male fertility, which include, ‘If you have more sex, you will exhaust your sperm supply’. While a delay in the time periods between ejaculation may increase the concentration and volume of the next ejaculate, it is unlikely to have a long term effect on the production of sperm. And, a man may lose all sensations and sexual functions due to a spinal cord injury but still have what the World Health Organisation would consider a 'normal' sperm count.
Does sperm count decrease with age?
According to Dr Silber, of St Luke's Infertility Hospital in the US, until recently we have had a poor understanding of the effect of ageing on male fertility. As many examples have been offered of older men having babies, the thought of decreased fertility in men was never greatly addressed. "It was assumed that male fertility was relatively immortal because so many elderly men have been able to impregnate their wives," says Dr Silber. "However, there has been previous crude data showing a relative decrease in sperm count, and possibly fertility, in a certain percentage of ageing men. Now, the field of male fertility has come to be mainstream and full of new research, new data and new conclusions."