What Men Need To Know About Their Fertility

Often in the clinic, men say they have heard that too frequent ejaculation could have a negative impact on their fertility. The question is should you save up your sperm by abstaining until your partner is in her fertile window, or does cleaning the pipes regularly give you a better chance of conceiving?

Before we look at what the science says, it helps to first understand the mechanics of sperm production, also known as spermatogenesis.

Spermatogenesis

It all begins inside the tiny tubes in the testes, where germ cells, under the influence of hormones (FSH, LH and testosterone) divide and change until they resemble little tadpole shapes (complete with head and a tail).

From here they move into the epididymis, another structure containing a maze of tubes. They travel through the epididymis for about 5 weeks until they become fully developed sperm. Then they move to the vas deferens (another tube) where they wait to be combined with seminal fluid and released from the penis during ejaculation.

Spermatogenesis takes between 70-100 days, but this process is happening constantly and new sperm are produced every day.This means men don’t really run out of sperm, even if they ejaculate more than once a day.

How does ejaculation impact sperm?

Traditionally it has been a common thought that frequent ejaculation may reduce the amount of sperm per ejaculate, and thus could reduce the chances of conceiving.

On the contrary, other sources suggest that daily ejaculation could improve the quality of sperm and improve your fertility.

So, let's take a look at the research...

A 2015 study did find that when men ejaculated daily over a 14 day period the sperm concentration in each ejaculate was slightly reduced1. However the sperm count did not fall below normal thresholds.

In fact, more recent research found that daily ejaculation actually improved parameters of sperm including the shape (morphology) and swimming ability (motility)2. And, for men with DNA damage, daily ejaculation can reduce the percentage of damaged sperm3. It is thought that frequent ejactulation encourages healthy turnover in the male reproductive system ensuring that older sperm are cleaned out and can be replaced with newer stronger ones.

So how often should you ejaculate?

To promote healthy sperm production and fertility, we recommend men ‘clean the pipes’ regularly and don't go more than 3 days without ejaculating.

And did you know, sperm can survive inside a woman’s reproductive system for up to 5 days. So, to optimise your chance of conceiving, have sex every 1-2 days during your partner’s fertile window.

References

1Mayorga-Torres, B.J.M., Camargo, M., Agarwal, A. et al. Influence of ejaculation frequency on seminal parameters. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 13, 47 (2015).

2Zi-Qi Shen, Bei Shi, Tian-Ren Wang, Jiao Jiao, Xuejun Shang, Qi-Jun Wu, Yi-Ming Zhou, Tie-Feng Cao, Qiang Du, Xiu-Xia Wang, Da Li. Characterization of the Sperm Proteome and Reproductive Outcomes within VitroFertilization after a Reduction in Male Ejaculatory Abstinence Period. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, (2018)

3European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). Daily Sex Helps Reduce Sperm DNA Damage And Improve Fertility. ScienceDaily (2009).

References

https://rbej.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12958-015-0045-9

https://www.mcponline.org/content/early/2018/08/20/mcp.RA117.000541

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630075311.htm#:~:text=Daily%20Sex%20Helps%20Reduce%20Sperm%20DNA%20Damage%20And%20Improve%20Fertility,-Date%3A%20July%201&text=Summary%3A,according%20to%20a%20new%20study.