Male Infertility: A Doctor’s View

By Dr. Mike Eisenberg

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You may wonder why a male infertility specialist is talking about Glow. Glow is a woman’s health app. My job is to support men who are trying to conceive. On the surface, my involvement doesn’t make much sense.

I’ll give you two reasons. First, I know that fertility is a team sport—and that Glow recognizes this. Second, I believe in the power of data.

Let’s start with the first point. There is a myth that infertility is uncommon, and that it is only a female problem. In fact, neither is the case. Approximately one of every seven couples encounters infertility issues as they look to conceive. And the reality is that up to 50% of infertility cases are due to a male factor. In spite of this, a quarter of couples do not seek a male evaluation when they begin to seek infertility care. The partner connected function on the Glow app acknowledges that fertility is a team sport; in addressing both sides of the infertility equation, Glow increases the odds of each couple’s eventual fertility.

I also believe that data is powerful—especially when applied to understudied disciplines like reproductive health. There is currently limited data around male causes of infertility, and building a comprehensive data set is the clear next step in advancing male infertility causes and identifying better treatments.

Having more data around men’s reproductive health would allow for so much exploration and discovery. For a long time my peers in my field have speculated that medical problems or the medications used to treat them may play a role in male fertility. Data can help us identify which medications might be affecting reproduction. I occasionally see overweight patients who have a rather sedentary lifestyle. And though many believe there is a relationship between physical activity and infertility, this relationship is far from understood. Data would help clarify. Equally important, I suspect that certain everyday behaviors contribute to a man’s infertility; something as simple as the pocket where a man tucks his cell phone could have an effect. We’re just not sure; but more data could help guide recommendations. Crowdsourcing data, both from couples who struggle with infertility and from those who don’t, will better enable us to unlock the many variables affecting women and men who hope to conceive.

Glow has helped many women get pregnant already.  We expect that with the app’s support of men, even more couples will have success.  And as these couples make strides in their personal journeys to conception, their data is helping to advance scientific and medical research.  This is certainly something that I am proud to get on board with.

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Dr. Mike Eisenberg is Director of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. He also serves as Assistant Professor of Urology and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Stanford.

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