November 2018 107M
DDH
ASWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE
What thelatest data** tells us about male fertility350
300
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1970 1980 1990 2000 2010Total Sperm Count (Millions)Year of Sample Collection
**HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEMWestern men,
random sampleWestern men, fertilefind anything to relate to,” he says. “I couldn’t
speak openly about how I was feeling.” So,
he decided to start his own page. “After I set
it up, I had a place where I could post about
what I was going through. The strength of the
Facebook group is that it is only men
- so it seems that [on issues] where men
might normally stay silent, they feel able
to speak out.”
Avradeep and Emma also noticed an
imbalance in support. “Compared to the
thousands of female infertilit y blogs, male
blogs are in a minority, because men don’t
tend to share their feelings much, let alone
write about them online for all to see,” says
Avradeep. He started his own blog in
2014 to verbalise his concerns. One
anxiety repeatedly mentioned by men with
fertility issues relates to how a lack of sperm
affects their sense of masculinity. “I have
spent my whole career trying to separate
fertility from virility,” says Lewis. “Men’s
self-esteem is dented when they find they
have a low sperm count. They think it makes
them less of a man.”THE NEXT GENERATION
Last year, scientists at the Francis Crick
Institute announced they had created
healthy offspring from genetically infertilemale mice. It was a ground-breaking result,
pointing to a potential new approach to
tackling infertility. The technique requires
further development before it can be tested on
humans, but it does offer some hope.
“The research being done in genetics is
the most promising thing for the future of
fertility,” says Barnes, “and the lab scientists
who are studying male infertility are finding
really interesting answers. I think in 20-30
years, we will know a lot more about what
causes infertility and how it can be solved.”
In the meantime, while there are no
medical fixes, there are things that men can
do to improve the quality of their sperm. That
you are reading this magazine – and therefore
presumably taking an interest in your health- is a good first step. “Men produce new
sperm every 70 days,” says Lewis. “So if you
were to change your lifestyle for just three
months, you might be able to improve your
sperm quality.” It’s worth keeping in mind,
too, that the world’s Mick Jaggers are the
exception: men do have biological clocks.
Avradeep and Emma spent seven
years and over $0,000 on fertility treatment.
After three rounds of IUI and five rounds of
IVF, in April this year Emma gave birth to a
girl they named Matilda Bea. “Matilda
means mighty in battle,” explains
adeep, “and Bea means bringer of
y.” Avradeep’s and Emma’s
aby offers living proof that
nfertility need not mean
ildlessness. “Where donor sperm is
, the big thing that many men like
lf have to understand is that this donor
m is just DNA,” says Avradeep. “The
r is not the father. Once you get over that
dle, it’s easier to progress.”
For Barnes, the story of Viagra offers
ome clues about how progress might be
made. “Viagra and erectile dysfunction
are now commonly talked about in popular
discourse, but that wasn’t always the case,”
she says. “I don’t know what it would take for
us to be able to acknowledge male infertility
as openly as we do erectile dysfunction.”
Funding new research is a separate
battle – sperm studies are viewed as
unattractive, given that they require
large sample groups over many years and
rarely give clear answers. But the first step
towards greater understanding is simply
to talk, to encourage men to vocalise their
experiences honestly and to allow their voices
to be heard. “The more we share, the more it
becomes acceptable,” says Homa. “If people
understand they are not alone, then the
taboo is broken – and the real conversation
can start.”
DESPITE GROWING
AWARENESS, THERE’S
NO MEDICAL FIX.I
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