Abstinence 'makes men less fertile'

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 06/30/03 | David Derbyshire

[Pokey78]

The old wives' tale that men should abstain from sex before trying for a baby may actually make them less fertile, scientists say.

A study has shown that while the quantity increases after a few days without sex, the quality of sperm can dramatically fall.

Men with low sperm counts - and who may be struggling to conceive a baby - are most at risk, the research found.

Researchers at Soroka University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, tested sperm samples from 6,000 men who had abstained from sex for up to two weeks.

The team looked at the volume and concentration of semen, and the shape and the proportion of healthy sperm.

While volume increased after 11 to 14 days of abstinence, the shape and form of the sperm from some men deteriorated over time.

In samples from men with reduced sperm counts, the proportion of healthy moving sperm fell significantly after just two days' abstinence.

Dr Eliahu Levitas, who presents his findings today at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Madrid, said: "Semen volume was directly and significantly correlated with duration of abstinence."

However, the activity of sperm fell for men with low sperm counts, he added.

[ladysusan]

Frequent sex introduces newer, more vital sperm.

DH calls this being a high production male. BTW, we have five incredible , now grown, kids...all gotten the old fashioned way.

[annyokie]

My secretaries always said that the "chair" was the culprit. I told them it was their husbands and he didn't do it with a chair.

[TheSpottedOwl]

To even suggest using another family's child to bolster one's own flagging fertility is beyond belief. To talk about the commodification of children in this way is bad enough.

Lighten up. Adoption is a great alternative to abortion, or did you forget about that part?

[ladysusan]

My secretaries always said that the "chair" was the culprit. I told them it was their husbands and he didn't do it with a chair

The chair IS the culprit. But it's not doing it WITH the chair........tee hee.

[ladysusan]

Lighten up. Adoption is a great alternative to abortion, or did you forget about that part?

Difficult to lighten up when newborns are being sold for a quarter million a pop, pun intended. Do you think that's moral?

[annyokie]

LOL!

[TheSpottedOwl]

Actually a couple of fellow freepers and I discussed this on the way home from the Century City rally for Bush on friday. No I don't think selling babies is moral. A healthy white baby, especially a male child, can exceed a quarter million. I do think that adoption benefits the parents and the child itself. I've seen where families who have their own biological children make a choice to adopt handicapped babies who would never otherwise be placed. Ugh, run-on sentence...

[ladysusan]

I do think that adoption benefits the parents and the child itself. I've seen where families who have their own biological children make a choice to adopt handicapped babies who would never otherwise be placed.

Thank you for your reasonable reply. It CAN benefit the parents and it CAN benefit the child, but outcomes are far from guaranteed. In adoption as in life, there are not necessarily any happy endings, only human ones. And of course it's not moral to sell children. We all already knew that....wish there was a way to get that through to the vultures who are reaping enormous profits off the backs of the vulnerable and the desperate. But they obviously do not care.

Adoptions of needy children is something that no reasonable or moral person could possibly argue against. It's the exploitation of those in poverty, the commodification of children, and the dehumanization that turns young women into incubators to be used for the profit and pleasure of others that smells to high heaven.

It's my opinion that if anyone is going to offer adoption, with all its consequences to the baby and to the baby's mother, as an alternative of any sort, a major ethical and educational overhaul is needed.

[Salamjohn]

I'm such an expert at this kind of thing. =P
Not

[ladysusan]

add on and ps:

1)It's the exploitation of those in poverty, the commodification of children, and the dehumanization that turns young women into incubators to be used for the profit and pleasure of others that smells to high heaven.
Run on and faulty subject/verb agreement,ugh. :-D


2)I would LOVE the see the documentation of male babies bringing in more that a quarter million. Is it available?

[ladysusan]

I'm such an expert at this kind of thing. =P

The chair thing?

[quietolong]

Use It Or Lose It !

[sine_nomine]

What is the name of your doctor?

I love your pro-life comments on your web page. Babies are a gift from God, the blessed fruit of marriage.

[TheSpottedOwl]

The goal is to help young women choose adoption over abortion. Unfortunately, there is corruption in the adoption industry. As for data for the price of healthy, white male babies, I'm afraid I don't have it. It is common knowledge that they bring the highest price :-(

[Skywalk]

The article doesn't say anything about abstinence lowering sperm counts, in fact it INCREASES them. What it DOES say is that abstinence lowers the QUALITY of sperm, essentially making men less fertile.

[ladysusan]

While the adoption industry goes about their daily business of importing beautiful little foreign babies for the Westerm adoption market, America's children go begging. Adoption is not about finding homes for needy children, folks. It's about finding adorable babies for needy adults. And to Hades with children in foster care, or older children whose parents find it impossible to care for them and meet their needs. IF WE WERE LOOKING TO HELP CHILDREN WHO NEED HOMES, we'd be looking directly at our own foster care system for starters. But those older and damaged kids just don't bring in the bucks like a helpless infant from China or Bulgaria. Or, may God forgive us all, a domestic newborn. American adoption is a BUSINESS. An unregulated business that deals in human souls. Wake UP, America.

[lepton]

BTW, how did your presentation go?

[ladysusan]

The goal is to help young women choose adoption over abortion.

I do not disagree with the goal, SO. But I do think that it is an absolute necessity that if we are going to offer adoption as an alternative, we also need to make very sure that what we are offering is ethical, uncoerced, and does not cause lifelong damage to either mother or child. We need to make sure of several things. In no particular order: 1) Open adoption needs to be made legally enforceable in all states. If a woman is promised an open adoption, it needs to remain open for the duration of the child's eighteen years as a minor. This will require some changes in the laws of many states. At this time, open adoption is not a legally enforceable arrangement in most states. 2) We need to make it a legal requirement that the mother-to-be receives neutral counseling from an individual with no financial interest in the outcome of her pregnancy. Anything less than fully informed consent should invalidate an otherwise legal adoption. Adoption consent should be held to the same standard as consent for medical procedures. That's only common sense. Fully informed consent would include a comprehensive listing of all the sequelae of surrender, including but not limited to severe recurrent depression, secondary infertility and a PTSD like syndrome which may haunt her for the balance of her natural life. She should also be informed of the sequelae of adoption on her child. 3) We absolutely MUST take the profit out of adoption by subsidizing it. I hate to even suggest it, but do you see another viable alternative other than government subsidy? 4) The adoption records must be opened for several reasons, not the least of which is to force agencies into transparency and accountability in the process. Where large sums of money change hands under conditions of secrecy, corruption is sure to follow. 5) Father's rights need to be more protected. 6) The public needs to be educated about the realities of adoption, the recent history of adoption in America, and the suffering of women who lose children, rather than simply wallowing blindly in the popular mythology.

[TheSpottedOwl]

As with anything unpleasant, there is no perfect solution. You brought up an important point about father's rights; fathers need to be informed about the pregnancy, and to be involved with the decision. I've read stories about how men found out too late that they had fathered a child, and they couldn't secure visitation rights, or even see their child.

A lot of things need to be changed in the adoption industry.

[oceanperch]

LOL Thanks for bringing that to attention. Lol.