Male tips for getting pregnant

How can I improve my chances of becoming a dad – NHS

It may seem obvious, but you need to have regular sex (2 or 3 times a week) if you want to become a dad.

Having sex around the time your partner ovulates (when an egg is released from the ovary) will increase your chances of conceiving.

Read more about the best time to get pregnant.

There are also a number of lifestyle changes you can make to improve your chances of becoming a dad.

Sperm temperature

Your testicles are outside your body because, to produce the best quality sperm, they need to be kept cooler than the rest of you (slightly below body temperature).

If you're planning a pregnancy, taking a few simple measures to keep your testicles cool may help. For example, if your job involves working in a hot environment, take regular breaks outside. If you sit still for long periods, get up and move around regularly.

Wearing tight underwear is also thought to increase testicle temperature by up to 1C. Although research has shown that tight underwear does not seem to affect sperm quality, you may want to wear loose-fitting underwear, such as boxer shorts, while trying for a baby.

Smoking

Smoking can reduce fertility, so you should give up smoking if you want to become a dad.

Smoking around a newborn baby also significantly increases their chances of respiratory disease and cot death (sudden infant death syndrome).

A GP will be able to give you advice and treatment to help you quit smoking.

You can also visit the NHS Smokefree website for more help and advice about quitting smoking, or you can call the helpline on 0300 123 1044 (9am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 11am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday).

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol excessively can affect the quality of sperm. The UK Chief Medical Officers' recommendation is to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, which should be spread evenly over 3 days or more.

One unit of alcohol is the equivalent of half a pint of beer or lager, or a single pub measure (25ml) of spirits. A small glass of wine (125ml) contains 1.5 units of alcohol.

Read more about alcohol support and alcohol units.

Recreational drugs

Some recreational drugs are known to damage sperm quality and reduce male fertility. These include:

• cannabis
• cocaine
• anabolic steroids

You should avoid taking these types of drugs if you're trying for a baby.

Medicines

Some prescription medicines and medicines you buy from a pharmacy can also affect male fertility.

For example, some chemotherapy medicines can affect fertility, either temporarily or permanently.

Long-term use of some antibiotics can also affect both sperm quality and quantity. But these effects are usually reversed 3 months after stopping the medicine.

Speak to a GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional if you're taking a medicine and you're unsure whether it could affect your fertility.

Diet, weight and exercise

Eating a healthy, balanced diet and maintaining a healthy weight is essential for keeping your sperm in good condition.

The Eatwell Guide shows that to have a healthy diet you should:

• eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day (see 5 A Day)
• base meals on higher fibre starchy foods like potatoes, bread, rice or pasta
• include some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks and yoghurts)
• eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein

Being overweight (having a body mass index above 25) may affect the quality and quantity of your sperm.

If you're overweight and trying for a baby, you should try to lose weight by combining healthy eating with regular exercise.

Stress

Stress can affect your relationship. It can also lower your or your partner's sex drive (libido), which may reduce how often you have sex.

Severe stress may also limit sperm production. So when trying to have a baby, learning to relax and taking steps to reduce the amount of stress in your life will help.

Read more about loss of libido, mental health and wellbeing and breathing exercise for stress.

Getting help

Some people get pregnant quickly, but for others it can take longer. It's a good idea to see a GP if your partner is not pregnant after a year of trying.

Further information

• How can I increase my chances of getting pregnant
• What is preconception care?
• Infertility

Page last reviewed: 15 May 2020
Next review due: 15 May 2023

Male fertility: 10 tips for men trying to conceive

Are you and your partner figuring out how to get pregnant? Although a woman will be the one who technically gets pregnant, and carries and delivers the baby, a man also has a crucial role. For fertilization to occur, his sperm must be healthy and strong to reach and penetrate the woman's egg. 

To make fertilization happen, a man must be able to have and keep an erection, have enough sperm that are the right shape and move in the right way, and have enough semen to carry the sperm to the egg, according to the Mayo Clinic . A problem in any step in this process, including male fertility, can prevent pregnancy.  

A variety of factors, from genetics and lifestyle to environmental exposures and hormones, can affect a man's fertility, so it's difficult to isolate the exact cause for infertility, according to Dr. Jared Robins, chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Northwestern Medicine's Fertility and Reproductive Medicine in Chicago.  Nonetheless, doctors identify the cause of problems in about 80 percent of infertile couples, Robins noted. When there is a known cause of infertility, problems in the male partner tend to account for about 40 percent of infertile couples, he said.  But there are many steps that men can take to enhance their health, lifestyle and relationship to increase a couple's chances of conceiving.  Here are 10 tips for men who want to improve their fertility.

1. Lose extra pounds

Studies have suggested that couples in which the man is overweight or obese take longer to conceive than couples with no weight problems. Research has also indicated that being overweight or obese affects a man's sperm quality, reducing sperm counts and decreasing their ability to swim, as well as increasing damage to genetic material (DNA) in sperm, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine .  

A 2012 study found that overweight and obese men were more likely to have low sperm counts or a lack of viable sperm compared with normal-weight men, possibly making it harder for these men to father a child. The researchers suspected that too much body fat was linked with changes in testosterone and other reproductive hormone levels in men.

2. Get health conditions under control

Effectively managing chronic medical conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, may improve a man's chances of getting his partner pregnant, suggests The World Journal of Men’s Health . Other medical conditions, such as cystic fibrosis or varicoceles (enlarged veins in the scrotum that cause overheating), may also affect male fertility, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . In addition, some medications used to treat high blood pressure (beta blockers), depression and anxiety (SSRIs), pain (long-term opiates), and an enlarged prostate (finasteride), could have a negative influence on fertility, according to the Cleveland Clinic.  

Supplemental testosterone can also decrease sperm production. Some chemotherapy drugs and radiation treatments for cancer can cause permanent infertility, according to the Mayo Clinic . A man should speak to his doctor about medication he is taking and whether it might interfere with his ability to father a child.

3. Eat healthy foods

"The role of diet in male fertility is unclear," Robins told Live Science. Even though the science may be inconclusive, it still makes sense for men to eat a variety of healthy foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables, which are rich sources of antioxidants that may help to produce healthy sperm. Men should also consume fiber-rich foods, healthy monounsaturated fats, and moderate amounts of lean protein.  

Robins said men frequently ask him whether drinking soda can decrease their sperm counts. He tells them there's no good evidence that caffeine in soda affects men's fertility, and there's little evidence that caffeine in coffee, tea and energy drinks is linked with fertility problems in men.

4. Get regular physical activity

Robins said he encourages men to get regular exercise because it helps reduce stress, makes men feel better about themselves and benefits their long-term health.  While being physically active is beneficial, according to a 2014 study, published in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine , those who have a strenuous training schedule and regularly participate in endurance events may impact their levels of luteinising hormone and testosterone, impacting fertility. 

Related articles

Researchers have also looked at whether bike riding can affect sperm because the sport involves long periods of sitting in a position that increases scrotal temperatures as well as bouncing and vibrations that could cause trauma to the testicles. A few studies have suggested that long-distance truck drivers may also have more fertility problems for similar reasons as avid male cyclists. 

One study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility , found that men who attended fertility clinics and who reported they cycled for at least five hours a week were more likely to have low sperm counts and poor sperm motility compared to men who did other forms of exercise. However, there's little data on whether or not cycling actually impacts sperm function, Robins said.

5. Increase vitamin intake

Robins tends to recommend that men take a daily multivitamin. "There is little likelihood of harm and some potential benefits," he said.  Many multivitamin formulations for men might include antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, and the minerals selenium and zinc. Some research has found that antioxidants may cause a slight increase in sperm count and movement, according to The American Society for Reproductive Medicine. It makes sense that antioxidants may improve sperm quality because they can protect against free radicals, which can cause damage to DNA within sperm cells, Robins said.

6. Be conscious of age-related fertility changes

Similarly to women, men have a ticking biological clock, but they experience fertility declines later in life than women do, according to a 2020 article by the BBC . Research shows that as a man gets older, both the volume and quality of his semen tend to diminish. As men get older, there is also a falloff in the number of healthy sperm and their movement, and they can also have more DNA damage in their sperm. 

These changes could mean it might take longer for a couple to conceive. With age, there is also a greater risk for genetic abnormalities in their sperm. Random mutations in a man's sperm can pile up as the years go by, making older fathers more likely to pass on more genetic mutations to a child. 

7. Stop smoking

Smoking is linked with reduced sperm quality: Male smokers are more likely to have low sperm counts and decreased sperm movement, and they have higher numbers of abnormally-shaped sperm, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine . 

Marijuana and other recreational drug use, including anabolic steroids for bodybuilding, should also be avoided because some studies suggest they may also negatively impact sperm production, Robins said.

8. Boxers or briefs?

"This is everyone's favorite question," Robins said. But there's not a lot of science to suggest that switching from briefs to boxers improves a couple's chances of getting pregnant. Although a man's underwear choice may affect his scrotal temperature and reduce sperm quality, most studies have demonstrated no real difference between boxers and briefs in terms of their impact on male fertility, Robins said.  

A 2016 study found that it really didn't make much difference whether men wore boxers or briefs or went commando on a couple's ability to conceive or on a man's semen quality, suggesting that it's best for men to wear whatever feels most comfortable to them when a couple wants to have a baby.

9. Beware of the heat

Frequent visits to and long stays in hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms could increase scrotal temperatures, which may decrease sperm counts and sperm quality.  But this heat exposure does not have a permanent impact on sperm, Robins said.  Reduced sperm counts may only be temporary and could return to normal in a few months once a man stops going into a hot tub or sauna.

A 2011 study about men using laptops received plenty of media coverage when it reported that men who placed the computers on their laps may be more likely to have damaged sperm and decreased sperm motility.  But these conclusions were "jumping the gun," Robins said. It's unclear how much time the men spent with the laptop in close proximity to their testicles, he explained, and it's also unclear whether the effects may have been caused by heat or if they resulted from radiation due to the use of a wireless connection.

10. Know when to get help

Infertility is defined as the inability of a sexually active couple who are not using birth control to get pregnant after one year of trying, according to The American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Robins said he tells couples that a woman who is under the age of 35 and her partner should try to become pregnant for one year without success before seeking an infertility evaluation. For women who are 35 or older, the time before seeing an infertility specialist shortens to 6 months in couples who are having sex regularly without using birth control, he noted.

Additional resources

For more information about how to improve male fertility and how to get help, head to the U.K. National Health Service website . You can read about male reproduction in more detail in the Encyclopedia of Reproduction .

Bibliography

"Hypertension and Male Fertility". The World Journal of Men's Health (2017). https://synapse.koreamed.org/articles/1088840

"The Impact of an Ultramarathon on Hormonal and Biochemical Parameters in Men". Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (2014). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1080603214001021

"Physical activity and semen quality among men attending an infertility clinic". Fertility and Sterility (2011). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0015028210027767

"Smoking and Infertility". The American Society for Reproductive Medicine. https://www.reproductivefacts.org/globalassets/asrm/asrm-content/learning--resources/patient-resources/protect-your-fertility3/smoking_infertility.pdf

This article is for informational purposes only, and is not meant to offer medical advice. 

Ailsa is a staff writer for How It Works magazine, where she writes science, technology, history, space and environment features. Based in the U.K., she graduated from the University of Stirling with a BA (Hons) journalism degree. Previously, Ailsa has written for Cardiff Times magazine, Psychology Now and numerous science bookazines. Ailsa's interest in the environment also lies outside of writing, as she has worked alongside Operation Wallacea conducting rainforest and ocean conservation research. 

Preparing a man for conception - clinic "Family Doctor".

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Preparation for conception is necessary for both a woman and a man. This is because the child receives 50% of the genetic material from each parent. So, for the birth of a healthy child, his parents must be healthy.

Many factors can affect the male reproductive system. First of all, bad habits should be mentioned, which include smoking and alcohol abuse, as well as constant stress and chronic lack of sleep. It is also the presence of sexually transmitted infections, exacerbation of chronic prostatitis, hormonal disorders, taking certain medications and steroids, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, overheating of the groin and perineum, etc.

When planning a conception, a man needs to exclude the impact of all of the above factors in three months and cure diseases and infections, because. the full cycle of sperm renewal takes three months.

What can you do to improve the quality of your sperm = the genetic material of your unborn child?

1. Remember that sperm do not like overheating. Therefore, it is advisable to cancel visits to baths and saunas, to keep the seat heating in the car turned on for too long.
2. Reduce weight if you are obese. For men, a waist circumference in centimeters (at the level of the navel) over 94 cm = obese. In adipose tissue, testosterone is converted to estrogens, many inflammatory factors are produced, and this can also lead to type 2 diabetes, etc. Which, as you understand, are not the best companions for easily injured sperm!
3. Exclude sugary carbonated drinks, dyes, trans fats, confectionery from the diet.
4. Do not abuse alcohol. Alcohol, in addition to a direct toxic effect on spermatozoa, reduces the body's ability to absorb zinc, which is necessary for normal spermatogenesis.
5. Stop smoking. According to numerous studies, up to 50% of couples suffering from idiopathic infertility, after stopping smoking, find a long-awaited baby.
6. Try to be less nervous and sleep more.
7. Do not take medicines without a doctor's prescription (many drugs can significantly impair sperm quality). From here follows the rule: treat your chronic diseases before the moment of pregnancy planning.

In order to understand how fertile you are, you need to come to a consultation with a urologist-andrologist. It is advisable to have at least a spermogram with you. The rest of the list of examinations will be consulted by a doctor of the aforementioned specialty. It is better for a married couple to undergo an examination in parallel so that the treatment does not work out late, because. after the age of 35, a woman loses the ability to bear children faster than a man, and many couples miss the moment just because the man does not want to visit medical institutions.

To make an appointment with a specialist, call the single contact center in Moscow +7 (495) 775 75 66, fill out the online appointment form or contact the receptionist of the Family Doctor clinic.

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How to get pregnant quickly the first time

Is it possible to get pregnant the first time?

The process of fertilization is very complicated, so the chances of successful conception in one menstrual cycle are only 25%. And this despite the fact that both spouses are young and do not have any health problems.

Thus, if you did not succeed in getting pregnant the first time, there is no reason for concern.

What should be done to get pregnant sooner?

You need to prepare for a future pregnancy in advance. This approach will help increase the likelihood of conception and prevent dangerous complications during the period of bearing a child.

First of all, future parents should visit a doctor and undergo an examination, which the doctor will prescribe after asking the necessary questions and conducting an examination. In particular, both spouses must be tested for STIs and other dangerous infections. A man will need to do a spermogram - a study that will help assess his reproductive health. If any violations are detected, the doctor will prescribe a course of treatment.

Best time to get pregnant

To get pregnant faster, try to have an active sex life during the period that is most favorable for conception, that is, a few days before, on the day of ovulation and a few days after. It must be borne in mind that the viability of the egg after leaving the ovary is about 1.5-2 days, and the viability of spermatozoa in the female genital tract is about 2-3 days.

Calculate ovulation date for conception

Ovulation Calculator

Length of your cycle

Start date of your period

Planning Tips

On various resources on the Internet you can see a lot of advice for those who want to get pregnant quickly. Unfortunately, most of them have no practical value. So, the possibility of pregnancy does not affect whether a woman has reached orgasm during intercourse and whether she then stood in the “birch” position.

To increase your chances, a few months before the expected date of conception, start to lead a healthy lifestyle, giving up bad habits.

Eat right, including in the menu foods high in various vitamins, trace elements, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Excess weight, as well as sharp fluctuations in body weight, negatively affect reproductive function.

Moderate exercise will be beneficial. Both a sedentary lifestyle and too intense training can prevent you from getting pregnant quickly.

Both parents-to-be should take folic acid, which will not only reduce the risk of neural tube defects in the baby, but also increase sperm fertility. Keep in mind that any drugs, including vitamins, are prescribed only by the attending physician after the examination.

Folk remedies for conceiving a child

To increase reproductive function, decoctions from various herbs can be used: upland uterus, sage, St. John's wort. However, it is important to remember that any means (including folk remedies) should be used only after consulting with your doctor.

Is posture important

There is no scientific evidence that certain positions fundamentally affect the onset of pregnancy, so it makes no sense to waste time choosing the ideal positions for conception.

When to See a Doctor

If pregnancy has not occurred after a year of active sexual activity without the use of any contraception (or 6 months if you are over 35), you should seek help from a specialized institution that diagnoses and treats infertility.

If a woman has a menstrual cycle, the doctor may recommend a lifestyle and nutrition correction, as well as taking hormonal drugs.

With excess or, conversely, insufficient body weight, it is necessary to normalize the weight. If you can’t cope with the problem on your own, you should seek help from a nutritionist.

If you're worried about not getting pregnant, try switching things up: spend more time on hobbies, learn something new, take a trip with your spouse. Are you still nervous? Contact a perinatal psychologist and tell him about all the anxieties and doubts. Sometimes only a few sessions of therapy can achieve the onset of a long-awaited pregnancy.

What to do if pregnancy still does not occur?

If pregnancy has not occurred after a year of active sexual life without the use of any contraception (or 6 months if you are over 35 years old), you need to seek help from a specialized clinic that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.

A gynecologist-reproductologist will ask the necessary questions, conduct an examination and prescribe an examination that will identify all the reasons that prevent successful conception.

The possibilities of modern medicine make it possible to achieve the birth of a child in the most seemingly hopeless situations.

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