Factors in Future Fertility
OK, so maybe you’re not ready to have a baby just yet. You’re still in college, and you want to get started on your career first. Maybe you’re younger, and having a baby just really hasn’t crossed your mind yet.
Or, maybe you’re a dude, and it’s totally off your radar.
The thing is this: the decisions you make today will have a big impact on your ability to get pregnant down the road.
Let’s take the whole “I’m a dude” thing for a minute. You might not know it, but someday you may want to be a dad and find that you’re not able to. The tendency among dudes is to blame the woman and assume she’s just “barren.” (Gosh, you’re a dork, sometimes.)
The fact of the matter is that around 40 percent of couples who have fertility issues do so because of a male factor infertility. About 40 percent are due to female factor infertility, leaving 20 percent of cases where it’s actually both partners.
Smoking now, or sleeping around and getting STDs can affect your ability to become pregnant down the road. In some cases, using an IUD may cause a certain risk, as can some types of birth control pills. While medical science has come a long way in the past few decades, you need to realize that the decisions you make now will affect you later on.
Drug use and abuse, for example, can affect both men and women. If a man is exposed to certain chemicals and heavy metals, for example, it can cause his sperm count to be low or for his sperm to be misshapen. A woman who drinks excessively can damage her internal organs, including her reproductive organs.
Be smart. Avoid things that can cause fertility problems down the road. Also, you need to recognize that your opinions may change over time. Even if you believe today that you’ll never want kids, things may change when you get older.
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