How to get pregnant with low sperm count 

Are you keen to learn how to get pregnant with low sperm count? It’s a problem more and more guys are facing, so you aren’t alone – sperm counts have plummeted by 59% since 1973! 

Whilst finding out you have a low sperm count can be a stressful and disappointing thing to experience, don’t panic! There are lots of things you can do to improve your sperm count and many assisted fertility options available if your swimmers just won’t play ball. Here’s our handy guide on getting pregnant with low sperm count. 

Understanding Your Sperm Count 

Before we get stuck into our (great) advice on how to deal with a low sperm count, you firstly have to know if you have one. Many guys only get their sperm tested when they are already struggling to conceive – and this often means they have lost valuable time to make improvements or assess their options. 

At home sperm testing makes it easier than ever to get to know your swimmers proactively. The ExSeed test not only shows you your sperm count, but your total motile sperm count – aka how many sperm cells are moving the way they are supposed to. 

At home testing makes it easier than ever to be proactive about your fertility and our app gives you tailored advice on how to improve your sperm health if your results weren’t what you were hoping for. 

You can find out more about our test right ici. 

How To Get Pregnant With Low Sperm Count – Lifestyle Factors 

If your sperm count is sub-optimal, don’t give up hope straight away. Sperm regenerates around every 3 months, which means that changing your lifestyle could potentially help you turn your sperm count around pretty quickly. Here are some of the key things you should address if you hope to get pregnant with low sperm count. 

Fumer 

It’s no surprise that a habit like smoking is bad news for sperm count – it’s bad for pretty much all areas of our health! Smoking not only impacts the number of sperm you have but can also have a negative impact on the quality. If you’re a smoker who is struggling with low sperm count, stubbing out the cigarettes should be your first port of call if you’re hoping to get pregnant. 

Sleep

Research has indicated that poor sleep quality can play a role in reduced sperm count. Now, before you get excited thinking that lie ins = a high sperm count, the study seemed to show that men who slept too little or too much were both affected. 

You want to be aiming for around 8 hours of quality sleep a night. If you know that you are going to bed late, tossing and turning, or sleeping past noon – it might be time to address your sleep routine. Try to let your mind and body relax before bed (ditching screens and social media is a big one for this) and make sure you are going to bed at the same time every evening and setting your morning alarm for a similar time too. 

IMC

Now, we think guys look great whatever their size, but the science does show that a high BMI could correlate to a low sperm count. Études have shown that overweight men are 11% more likely to have a low sperm count and obese men were 42% more likely to be in the same boat. 

If you want to get pregnant with a low sperm count and you know you may be tipping the scales in the wrong direction, it might be time to take a look at your lifestyle. Could you be moving your body more? Ordering takeaways less? This is not the time for a dramatic diet that’s going to make you miserable, but instead an opportunity to adopt a healthier lifestyle that will improve your fertility and your life! 

Nutrition

Even if you have a healthy BMI, if you are struggling with low sperm count, it might be time to take a look at your diet. Nutrition is an important part of any preconception plan. Some key changes can make a big difference. Swap sugary, processed foods for whole foods and dirty to top up on your fruits and vegetables as they contain the vitamins and nutrients needed for healthy sperm production. Check out some of the superfoods you should be adding to your plate right here. You might also want to consider adding supplements geared towards male fertility into your routine as they can help give your vitamin levels as much needed boost when tackling low sperm count. 

Talk to your doctor 

Whilst there are many lifestyle factors that could be keeping your sperm count low, a lot of the time there is an underlying medical issue that could be causing the problem, such as varicoceles, retrograde ejaculation. In some cases, these conditions can be simple to treat or deal with through surgery, but many men have know idea they are living with them until they are quite far down their fertility journey. If you are concerned that there could be medical conditions at play that are impacting your fertility, don’t hesitate to speak to your doctor. 

How to get pregnant with low sperm count – assisted fertility 

Whilst it’s often possible to improve your sperm count, there are times when it just doesn’t happen. This can be a hard pill to swallow, but it doesn’t mean you need to give up on your dreams of being a Dad. Advancements in technology mean that there are various ways to become a parent aside from conceiving naturally. If you are looking to get pregnant with a low sperm count that won’t improve, it’s a good idea to get your head around the assisted fertility options available to you.

IVF

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) may be an option if you have a slightly low sperm count – as it gives the swimmers you have a better chance of fertilising the egg! 

During IVF, an egg is removed from your partner’s ovaries and then paired up with your sperm sample in a lab. The fertilised egg is then returned to your partner’s womb to grow and develop -hopefully into a healthy pregnancy! 

ICSI

ICSI – aka Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection – is a very similar process to IVF, but can be even more successful if you are trying to get pregnant with low sperm count. Again doctors will harvest eggs from the female partner and take a sample of sperm from the guy – however this time they will inject a single sperm cell directly into the egg. This can be very helpful with men with very low sperm count (you technically only need one good swimmer to make it work) and can also be great if you are struggling with poor sperm motility or DNA Fragmentation. 

Sperm Donor 

For some guys, their sperm count is so low – or potentially non existent – that it is not possible to conceive using their sperm. In these cases , you may want to consider using a sperm donor. This might be a difficult concept to get your head around at first, but donor sperm has helped many men become fathers and couples become families, so it is definitely worth looking into. There are some incredible examples of happy and healthy children conceived through donor sperm – like Emma Grønbæk – and some amazing communities and inspiring guys sharing their story that could help you too – definitely check out the Knackered Knackers community run by our mate Shaun!