Depression in men reduces couple's chances of getting pregnant by 60 per cent

A new study now claims that when a man is depressed, he and his partner are less likely to conceive.

However, the study also found that a woman’s depression made little difference in the odds that a couple being treated for infertility would be able to conceive.

The study, being conducted by the National Institutes of Health looked at a wide scope of the intersection between infertility and depression, including treatments for both men and women.

The study also found that taking certain kinds of antidepressants may raise risks that a woman would miscarry.

Trying and struggling to get pregnant is a frustrating and disheartening process for 10 percent of women, and their male partners are hardly immune to the effects.

While, historically the study and treatment of fertility has overwhelmingly focused on the woman's body, only since the late 18th century have doctors taken a broader view of the issue, and finally started to consider the other half of the equation: men.

And even then, it wasn't until the 1970s that in vitro fertilization was introduced to treat infertility in both men and women.

However, many couples still prefer to use drugs to help them conceive together and these include hormone therapies and drugs to treat erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation in men.

The new research found that depression can counteract their effects, especially for men.

The study found that men who are depressed have lower concentrations of sperm in their semen, while other research has suggested that men's stress levels influence their children's resilience.

In the new study, the numbers were much lower for major depression, with only about six percent of women and 2.28 percent of men reporting the condition.

The vast majority of those women were also taking some form of antidepressant.

These drugs fall roughly into two categories: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and everything else.

 

SSRIs help keep more serotonin - the 'feel good' neurotransmitter - floating around the brain and are the most commonly-taken drugs, and include Prozac, Lexapro and Paxil.

Drugs that fall into the 'other' category, such as older MAOIs, Norpramine and 'atypical' antidepressants like Wellbutrin.

Women who took any of these 'other' drugs were at far greater risk of losing a pregnancy were at far greater risks of losing a pregnancy than any other women were.

The study found that a man's depression was more predictive of infertility than any other factor.

When the man was depressed, a couple was a full 60 per cent less likely to successfully have a baby. 

Infertility's impact on one's psychology makes intuitive sense, but the effects of depression on fertility are not as well understood.