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Is there a problem with male reproduction?

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 5, pages 144–145 (2009)Cite this article

Increased demand for fertility treatment—in vitro techniques and intrauterine inseminations—has been noted in many Western countries in the past 10 years. For example, the parents of ∼8% of all children born in 2007 in Denmark had undergone some form of fertility treatment. Impaired semen quality was the main determinant of treatment in ∼50% of these cases. In addition to an increased demand for fertility treatment, many Danish couples now choose to adopt: estimates suggest that 1% of children in Denmark are adopted from foreign countries. A fertility rate of 2.1 is required to sustain a population at its current level; the fertility rate in Denmark and many other Western countries is far below this limit, and has decreased substantially over the past few decades. Here, we discuss the problem of reduced semen quality, and whether the Western world is on the brink of a crisis in male reproduction.

Decreased fertility rates, coupled with increased demand for fertility treatments, could occur for a host of reasons. Fertile couples might want fewer children than previous generations, or fertile women might not want children until later in life, and so have an increased demand to get pregnant quickly once they decide that the time is right. Also, improved treatment options might now be available to infertile couples. However, we cannot ignore the fact that semen quality seems to be decreasing in many Western countries, and a decline in the quality of semen might plausibly contribute to low birth rates.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Tina Kold Jensen for helpful discussions during the preparation of this manuscript. N Jørgensen received financial support from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (grant no 271070678).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. all at the University Department of Growth and Reproduction at Rigshospitalet, U Nordström Joensen is a PhD Student, NE Skakkebæk is a Professor and N Jørgensen is Chief of the Andrology Section, Copenhagen, Denmark.,

    Ulla Nordström Joensen, Niels E Skakkebæk & Niels Jørgensen

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  1. Ulla Nordström Joensen
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  2. Niels E Skakkebæk
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  3. Niels Jørgensen
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Correspondence to Niels Jørgensen.

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Joensen, U., Skakkebæk, N. & Jørgensen, N. Is there a problem with male reproduction?. Nat Rev Endocrinol 5, 144–145 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpendmet1077

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