Men’s Guide to Trying to Conceive

A 2021 survey revealed that 73% of men who are trying to conceive or thinking about starting a family have no knowledge of their sperm quality.

People with a menstrual cycle get a monthly message from their bodies that can alert them to any fertility “red flags.” Irregular, very light, or heavy menstrual cycles can all be signs of hormone imbalance, ovulation disorders, or endometriosis, all of which can affect a person’s chances of conceiving.

Male infertility symptoms are not so obvious. There are a handful of possible male infertility symptoms, but for the most part, you may not know there’s an issue with your sperm health until you’re trying to conceive or being evaluated for infertility by a specialist.

That’s why we recommend proactive male fertility testing. Semen analysis is the cornerstone of male fertility testing; this simple lab analysis can determine your sperm count (how many sperm you have), motility (how many of those sperm are moving), and morphology (how many of those sperm are the proper shape).

All too often, men’s fertility isn’t tested at all until a couple has been trying for 12 months. Male fertility issues contribute to half of infertility cases — and in many instances, can be addressed with simple lifestyle changes. Testing early in the process of trying to conceive can help you avoid costly and unnecessary tests or treatments down the line. Additionally, it can help you choose lifestyle interventions or treatments that address your specific needs and quickly diagnose male infertility symptoms.

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats (such as what’s found in seafood and nuts) — and low in refined grains, processed meats, and added sugar — is associated with improved fertility. The meat-and-potatoes (and pizza and soda and fries) “Western diet” most of us are familiar with is likely detrimental to sperm, research shows.

If you’re looking for specific foods to increase male fertility, know it’s not that simple; it’s much more about patterns than about consuming one individual ingredient. But a good template can be found in the Mediterranean diet, based on the eating habits of those living in Greece, Italy and Spain. This diet, composed primarily of fruits and vegetables, seafood, healthy fats, and whole grains, has been shown to improve sperm health and pregnancy rates.

Vitamins and supplements can help fill in the gaps in our diets. There are several male conception supplements that can benefit male fertility by boosting sperm count, improving motility or morphology, or increasing testosterone levels.

One example of a male conception vitamin is CoQ10 and other antioxidants, which appear to help protect sperm from the oxidative stress caused by pollution, illness, poor diets, and more. Another is folate, a nutrient that’s critical to cell division and development and is associated with improved semen parameters.

Learn more about male fertility supplements.

Regular physical activity is associated with improved semen parameters, as well as healthier hormone profiles for fertility (such as higher levels of testosterone). But you don’t have to become a marathon runner overnight to enhance your sperm health.

The best exercise for sperm health is actually the most straightforward: the simple habit of walking or jogging for at least 30 minutes, 3–6 times per week has been shown to have the greatest benefit for sperm motility and morphology.

We know that smoking and drinking is a no-no for women who are trying to get pregnant. But what about their partners?

Cigarette smoking has long been considered one of the leading factors in male-factor infertility. Extensive research has determined that smoking is associated with significantly reduced sperm count and quality. If you quit smoking, your fertility may improve fairly quickly, beginning to return to normal within six months. If you’re planning to or trying to conceive right now, you should quit smoking as soon as possible.

When it comes to alcohol, you don’t need to quit altogether. Research tells us that occasional, moderate drinking has no serious effect on fertility. But habitual binge drinking is detrimental to sperm health, so keeping it under 5 drinks per week is best.

Some medications have the unintended side effect of affecting testosterone levels or spermatogenesis, the process of sperm production in the testicles. While this isn’t an issue on a day-to-day basis, it may become one if you and your partner are trying to conceive. Antidepressants, antipsychotics, alpha blockers, antifungals, antibiotics, hair loss medications, Viagra, opiates, and steroids have all been associated with reduced sperm count and sperm quality.

Contrary to what you were likely taught in high school sex ed, you can’t just get your partner pregnant any day of the month. Conception is slightly more complex than it seems.

In order to conceive a healthy pregnancy, a couple needs three things:

• A healthy egg to be ovulated
• A healthy sperm to make it to, and fertilize, the egg at the right time
• A healthy uterus to accept the fertilized egg

The fertile window is the period during which a person can get pregnant. This window is the day an egg is released from the ovaries (ovulation) and the five days beforehand. This time period offers couples looking to conceive the best chance of getting pregnant naturally.

• Day 1–4: Menstruation. This is the period in which the uterine lining from the month before is shed to prepare for a new cycle.
  
  
• Day 1–14: Follicular phase. During this phase, hormones prompt the development of the ovarian follicles, which contain eggs. Typically, only one egg will become mature and ready to be ovulated.
  
  
• Day 10–15: The fertile window. This is the period in which unprotected sex is most likely to result in pregnancy. Sperm can live in the female reproductive system for up to five days, so the five days leading up to ovulation and the one day after should all be considered “fertile” days. However, the 2–3 days before ovulation are optimal for intercourse if you’re trying to conceive.
  
  
• Day 14: Ovulation. This is the process by which the mature egg is released from the ovary. Then, it travels down the fallopian tube, where it may meet with sperm and become fertilized. If the egg does not become fertilized within 12–24 hours of ovulation, it will disintegrate.
  
  
• Day 15–29: The luteal phase. During this phase, hormones prompt the uterine lining to thicken. If the egg is fertilized, it can implant in the uterine lining about a week later. That’s when hCG, the “pregnancy hormone,” will begin to be produced. If the egg is not fertilized, toward the end of the luteal phase, the body will prepare to shed the lining and start again.

Note: This timeline is based on a 28–29 day cycle, which is average. Your partner may have cycles between 21 and 35 days long, and phases will adjust accordingly. The luteal phase is typically around 12–14 days long, but the follicular phase can be as short as 7 or as long as 21.

There are few methods you and/or your partner can use to identify the fertile window and determine the best time to have sex if you’re trying to conceive.

• Cycle tracking. If your partner uses an app or a calendar to track her menstrual cycle, that can give her a rough idea of when she may ovulate. Not every cycle is 28 days long, and ovulation doesn’t always occur exactly halfway through the menstrual cycle.
  
  Keep in mind that the luteal phase, the final phase before the period, typically stays about 12–14 days long and directly follows ovulation. So, if she usually has a 32-day cycle, she is likely to be ovulating around day 18; in a 24-day cycle, it will be around day 10.
  
  
• Basal body temperature monitoring. Basal body temperature (BBT) is the body’s resting temperature. When a woman is ovulating, her BBT will rise slightly — about half a degree — and remain higher until her next period. Some women also experience a little dip in BBT just before ovulation, though this is not universal. By charting BBT over several months, your partner can identify which day she’s ovulating and count back to determine her fertile window.
  
  She can check her BBT by taking her temperature with a thermometer every morning before she gets out of bed. Or, she can use a wearable like the Ava tracker to automatically record BBT and alert her to her fertile window.
  
  
• Ovulation prediction kits. Ovulation prediction kits or “OPKs” use urine test strips that identify luteinizing hormone. In women, this hormone surges about 24–36 hours before ovulation. When your partner gets a positive ovulation test, you should plan to have sex that day.
  
  It’s helpful to test frequently so you don’t miss the ovulation window; many women start testing on day 8, if they have shorter or irregular cycles, or day 10–11 if they have average or longer cycles.

Remember: The best time to have sex when you’re trying to conceive is within the three days prior to ovulation. So while these methods can pinpoint your partner’s ovulation date within a particular cycle, it’s helpful to look at a few month’s worth of data and use that to determine her most likely fertile window.

Abnormal or otherwise defective sperm fall to the many dangers of the journey, along with a good percentage of healthy sperm. In fact, less than 1 in a million from the original ejaculate will reach the egg at the time of fertilization. It is hypothesized that this long, arduous journey is nature’s way of weeding out the weak, so only the healthiest, strongest sperm survive.

When a sperm reaches the upper part of the female reproductive system, it undergoes the final steps that allow it to fertilize the egg: chemical changes to the surface of the sperm allow it to dissolve the egg’s outer layer, and the sperm tail begins to “beat” faster to facilitate egg penetration. After the sperm penetrates to the cytoplasm of the egg cell, it releases its nucleus to combine with the egg’s. Immediately, the external layer of the egg, known as the zona pellucida, changes to become impermeable to additional sperm.

After fertilization, the zygote — the term for a fertilized egg — will travel down the fallopian tubes and into the uterus. It can implant in the uterus approximately a week after fertilization. It’s at this point that the body starts producing human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG, the “pregnancy hormone.” Typically, hCG levels become high enough to get a positive result on an at-home pregnancy test around 10–14 days after ovulation, or around the day of her missed period.