Best and worst things for future fertility

You don’t need us to tell you there’s no equation for your future fertility. That said, there are choices you can make now that might pay off later down the line.

Best Things (As a Rule)

For Everyone

• Try to eat a balanced diet
• Exercise regularly
• Try to maintain a healthy weight
• Get tested for STIs
• Visit your GP to discuss: any medication you’re taking, medical conditions that could impact your fertility and family history that could be relevant.

For Women

• Consider taking a multivitamin (make sure it contains folic acid and vitamin D)
• Check you’ve had your rubella vaccine
• Check you’re up to date with your cervical screening
• You may want to research egg freezing

For Men

• Consider taking a multivitamin (make sure it contains zinc, selenium, vitamin C and L-carnitine)
• Visit your GP if you’ve had any treatments that could impact your fertility, you can’t maintain an erection or ejaculate during sex
• Check that any medications or supplements you’re taking don’t contain testosterone

Worst Things (As a Rule)

For Everyone

• Smoking, vaping or any products with nicotine
• Drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol (14 units per week)
• Recreational drugs

For Women 

• Too much stress about optimising your fertility health – the jury is out on whether stress reduces fertility but either way, it’s important to take care of your mental health too

For Men

• Tight underwear and trousers
• Sitting with a warm laptop on your lap
• Sitting down for a long time
• Hot showers, hot baths, saunas, jacuzzis, anything hot really
• Lots of cycling (without taking steps to ease the pressure on your perineum)