The Fertility 101 Series, because there’s no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert.
In today’s episode, we explain some of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to fertility, male-factor infertility, and how lifestyle choices impact fertility.
Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, a reproductive urologist and Progyny network specialist, walks us through everything you need to know on male-factor infertility. Tune into this episode to also learn about how a post-COVID environment has made it easier for men to take the first steps in their family building journey.
Expert: Dr. Bar-Chama, RMA of New York
Host: Dan Bulger
For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources.
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Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.
Here are some highlights from this episode:
Importance of lifestyle choices
13:06 – 14:08
Dr. Natan Bar-Chama: Lifestyle is critical. I think one of the new developments is that lifestyle not only affects sperm quality and the ability to conceive, but also can affect the offspring. We have good data that obesity, excessive smoking, or even marijuana usage, affects not only sperm quality, but may affect the ability to generate healthy offspring. The quality of your sperm in the present has implications in how quickly you’ll be able to impregnate, but also has implications regarding the health of your future children.
Emphasize male involvement
23:00-23:30
Dr. Natan Bar-Chama: We have to do our best to emphasize and educate that achieving a pregnancy requires a male and a female; we want to assess the male partner and understand if there’s underlying male factor contribution. The sooner we do that, the better we can help the couple and relieve the anxiety and the stress associated with infertility.