You’ve been looking forward to starting or adding to your family, but you and your partner are running into issues — namely, an inability to get pregnant. You’re certainly not alone — between 12% and 15% of couples in the United States fail to conceive after a year of trying.
Considering all that needs to come together for a pregnancy to take hold, these high numbers shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nor should it be a surprise to learn that male infertility plays no small role in the overall infertility equation.
As urology and men’s health specialists, the team at Arizona Urology counts male infertility as one of our areas of expertise. So, if you want to get to the bottom of your fertility issues, this is a great place to start, as we cover a few important points about male infertility.
We’ve referenced the fact that male infertility accounts for a large part of the overall infertility picture, and we want to get more specific with some numbers.
In about 20% of cases, male infertility is solely responsible for the inability to conceive. Male infertility is also a contributing factor in 30% to 40% of cases of infertility, so, overall, the issue is a factor half the time.
When it comes to issues that directly affect your fertility, they largely boil down to:
There are any number of health issues that can lead to the above problems, ranging from trauma to the testicles to genetic disorders. Frustratingly, in about 10% to 20% of cases of male infertility, the cause is unknown.
While there are direct causes of male infertility, there are also indirect ones, and obesity is at the head of the list. More than 1 in 3 men in the United States is overweight, and nearly 7% of men have severe obesity.
Obesity can wreak havoc on your health, including your metabolic health and men who have obesity often have lower testosterone levels, which is a direct path to infertility.
And this problem is projected to get much larger — a new report finds that nearly 260 million Americans will be overweight or obese by 2050.
If you and your partner struggle to get pregnant, evaluate your fertility from all angles. We can analyze your sperm to see if there are any issues with count, movement, and/or quality.
If we find an issue with your sperm, we can continue our investigation to determine what is causing the problem. If it’s something we can treat, we can immediately get you on the road to better fertility.
If we don’t find a direct cause, we can look at your contributing factors and mitigate them, such as losing excess pounds and quitting certain lifestyle habits, such as drinking and smoking, which can affect fertility.
We can also discuss sperm retrieval for in vitro fertilization, which is a good solution for sperm and eggs that just aren’t connecting.
Getting to the bottom of fertility issues often takes some time, but rest assured, we’ll work with you until we find a solution. To start your fertility investigation, please schedule an appointment at one of our locations in Phoenix, Goodyear, Gilbert, or Glendale, Arizona.
