Causes of reduced fertility in men
About 50% of the time, failure to conceive can be attributed to problems with male fertility. A great many factors can influence male fertility; some disrupt sperm production while others affect sperm transport.
Factors which can jeopardise sperm transport include erectile dysfunction (penis not hard enough or not hard long enough for normal intercourse), premature ejaculation (sperm not deep enough inside the vagina), retrograde ejaculation (sperm is not released outside the body but into the man's bladder) and obstruction of the sperm ducts (no sperm cells in the ejaculate, may be congenital, for example in cystic fibrosis, or acquired, for example following sterilization).
Factors which can disrupt sperm production - one of the main causes of reduced fertility in men - include hormonal imbalances (faulty hormonal stimulation of sperm cell production), an infection of the testes (mumps virus or a sexually transmitted disease, such as gonorrhoea), a scrotal hernia (varicose vein in the scrotum, occurs frequently, may be accompanied by slight local increase in temperature which affects the maturing of sperm cells), scar tissue (following a wound or damage to the scrotum and testes), twisting (torsion) of the testes (blood supply to the testes is cut off so that they die; requires rapid treatment), undescended testicles or other abnormal positions, genetic abnormalities, faulty separation between seminal ducts and the blood (with direct contact between seminal ducts and blood vessels; immune cells from the blood can destroy the sperm cells).
Nonetheless, it is important to realise that a sensible medical explanation can be found for reduced fertility in men in at least half of all cases.
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