Affects on Sperm Quality

Dr, does drinking the few days prior to trying to concieve (conceive) hurt the health of the sperm, morphology, quality etc. Can this in turn cause any birth deffects in the embryo/baby. If a baby is concieved, should we go through with the pregnancy. Very worried, I do have a few drinks a day, but the few days prior to trying to conceive and thru IUI with my wife, I had been drinking quite a bit more? Please help ASAP!..

Regards

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
Sperm take three months to "manufacture".  So the sperm that would be used today for an IUI would have been built and stored three months ago.  Heavy drinking of more than 3 alcoholic beverages daily on a regular basis could affect the sperm count and quality.
Luckily, abnormal sperm very rarely have "what it takes" to do the job of fertilization, and the normal, more robust guys are the ones who usually get the job done.
So, drinking alcohol in men is not likely to lead to birth defects in babies.

Smoking and marijuana are also detrimental to sperm quality and quanitity, so for best results, the old adage of everything in moderation is a good one!

Good luck!
Dr B

[mitchkramer]

Also Dr, when is a sperm that leaves the body today via ejaculation actually produced?