Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 6, 1437-1440,
June 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
OPINION |
Poor semen quality may contribute to recent decline in fertility rates
1 Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, The Juliane Marie Centre, section GR-5064, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 Copenhagen, 2 University of Southern Denmark, Department of Environmental Medicine, Winsloewsparken 17, 5000 Odense C, 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hillerod Hospital, DK-3400 Hillerod, 4 Department of Biostatistics, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200 Copenhagen, 5 University of Southern Denmark, Department of Epidemiology, Sdr. Boulevard, 5000 Odense C, 6 Danish Centre for Demographic Research, University of Southern Denmark, Sdr. Boulevard, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
During past decades, we have witnessed a remarkable decline in fertility rates (number of births per 1000 women of reproductive age) in the industrialized world. It seems beyond doubt that the enormous social changes of our societies play the major role in this decline, but can it be attributed to changing social structures alone or is a reduced fecundity in the population also a factor? To address this we have focused on trends in teenage pregnancies (which to a large extent are unplanned). During the period in question fertility rates among 15–19 year old Danish women have been falling and the decline in fertility rate is not counterbalanced by an increase in the rate of induced abortion. When seen together with recent results from Denmark, which have shown that more than 30% of 19 year old men from the general population now have sperm counts in the subfertile range, we argue that this fall may not be attributable to social factors, changes in conceptive practices or diminished sexual activity alone. It seems reasonable also to consider widespread poor semen quality among men as a potential contributing factor to low fertility rates among teenagers. Due to the concern caused by the low sperm count among younger Danish men, the Danish Ministries of Health and Environment have launched a surveillance programme which includes an annual examination of the semen quality in 600 young Danes from the general population. We propose that researchers in other countries with low and falling fertility rates among young women should consider the possibility that semen quality of their younger male cohorts may also have deteriorated.
Key words: Denmark/fecundity/fertility rates/semen quality
7 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tkjensen{at}health.sdu.dk
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