S2 E3: Future Dads, Listen Up: How Your Health Impacts Pregnancy, Mom, and Baby—Starting Before Conception (#38)
Summary
The episode covers a comprehensive discussion about preconception health for men, presented by Taylor Rae on her show 'On the Outside'. She shares detailed information about sperm health's impact on fertility and baby's development, including her personal experience with her husband's semen analysis. Taylor emphasizes the importance of male preconception health, discussing how semen quality affects both fertility and maternal health outcomes. She outlines key factors affecting sperm health, including nutrition, supplementation, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors. The video includes practical advice about timing these interventions, noting that sperm takes 42-76 days to mature, suggesting a minimum three-month preparation period. Taylor shares her husband's successful preconception protocol, which included therapy, lifestyle changes, and supplementation starting one year before conception.
KEY MOMENTS
Introduction to Male Preconception Health - 00:00:07: Taylor Rae Roman introduces the episode focusing on male preconception health, covering topics like sperm health's impact on fertility, semen quality's effect on maternal health, and various factors affecting male fertility.
Personal Experience with Semen Analysis - 00:01:00: Taylor shares her husband's experience getting a semen analysis, including the initial resistance from doctors and the detailed process of sample collection and submission.
Impact of Semen Quality on Pregnancy and Child Health - 00:04:5: Discussion of how semen quality affects fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and potential developmental issues, including links to miscarriage risk and preeclampsia.
Key Factors for Sperm Health - 00:13:19: Detailed examination of supplements, lifestyle factors, and environmental considerations affecting sperm health, including specific recommendations for supplements like CoQ10 and omega-3 fatty acids.
Timing and Implementation of Changes - 00:20:30: Explanation of the three-month timeline needed for sperm quality improvement and recommendations for implementing lifestyle changes.
Personal Preconception Protocol - 00:21:34: Taylor shares her husband's specific preconception protocol, including couples therapy, health improvements, and lifestyle modifications implemented over a one-year period.
TRANSCRIPTION
Welcome back, my name is Taylor Rae and this is another episode of On the Outside. In today's episode, I talk about preconception health for men. I'm so excited to get into it. On this episode, I discuss how sperm health impacts fertility and baby's long-term health, how semen quality impacts mom, such a good topic, key factors affecting sperm health and fertility like nutrition, supplementation,
sleep, stress, substance use, environmental toxins, and lifestyle factors, timing and planning to implement these changes, and sharing my husband's specific preconception protocol that worked really well for us.
When my husband went to get his semen analysis, which is something I talk more about on this episode and why you might want to get one also, we found that we had a little bit of pushback. A lot of doctors, and we just went to his like general everyday physician, a lot of doctors won't really order a semen analysis unless you've been trying to conceive for around six months and have not had success.
For us, we really wanted to know what was going on before starting our preconception planning before our TTC journey. We really wanted to just have more information and it did take a little bit of pushing, a little bit of kindly, nicely insisting that we really wanted this semen analysis.
I'm so proud of my husband, honestly, for advocating for himself because I wasn't at the appointment with him. So it wasn't like a team effort that he like had a support system there. He advocated for himself.
and he was able to get his semen analysis ordered. So, so proud of him because I think that that can be really hard when you're getting pushed back at the doctor, which you might've experienced before.
Once he did get his semen analysis, it was super simple. It's kind of a similar process to like ordering lab work, like blood work. So his doctor ordered it, then he was given the proper kind of containers that he needed for it.
He was able to do it at home, collect his sample, as one might say, and bring it in to the lab facility. So he didn't bring it back to his doctor's office. He brought it to a specific lab location that they told him to bring it to.
And when he was there, it was like so funny how he described it to me. He said the receptionist was just like, yeah, okay, where's your sample? And he was like, oh, I have it here. He actually had to keep it in his waistband of his pants to keep it body temperature.
That's what he was instructed to do. So he literally had this like, like little container, like in the waistband of his pants. And she's like, yeah, you can just put it on the counter. And he's like, just right now, just like take it out of my pants and put it on the counter.
And she's like, yes. So he like does that. And she's like, okay, bye. So it was a very seamless, easy process, probably a little bit embarrassing for him, but honestly funny for him to tell me, for him to recall that story.
But that's how a Steven analysis went. Then you got it back. And we kind of just Googled each of the different areas that it was measuring. Like I had no idea what these terms meant and what they meant, or I had no idea what these terms meant and what we should be looking for.
I didn't really know at the time, like what the standard was. And that is not something that I'm gonna go too deeply into today because it is very technical and realistically, I think it's actually easier if you just Google each term, see the kind of numbers that you're looking for and be able to compare it right in front of your own eyes versus me kind of just throwing out a bunch of numbers out there.
Again, y'all know I'm not a doctor and that this isn't necessarily my specific area of expertise or research or practice or anything like that. So I'm not gonna go too deep into those specific facets, but we will talk more about semen analysis and why you might want one later in the episode.
Now, before we dive in, I want to remind you as always that again, I'm not a doctor. I'm not a medical professional. Everything I share in this episode and all of the episodes is based on my personal experience and research.
Always check in with your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider before making any decisions about your health, pregnancy or preconception journey. Let's get into it. First, we're gonna talk about just kind of the basics, how sperm health impacts fertility and baby's long-term health.
So semen quality, particularly sperm count, motility or movement. and DNA integrity significantly impact fertility by affecting the likelihood of fertilization. So just the likelihood of even being able to get pregnant.
All of these things are impacted by semen quality. Research suggests it can also influence a baby's long-term health by potentially contributing to things like developmental issues, especially when sperm quality is poor due to factors like advanced paternal age or environmental exposures.
And as always, I'm sharing all of my sources on my website, so if you wanna read these studies, if you wanna get a little bit more into it, you can definitely read them there. But I feel like the value of this podcast that I hope to bring honestly is that a lot of people get very overwhelmed when they're reading a medical journal and they're like, I don't really know what this is saying.
So again, I'm always trying to bring that to you here. So low sperm count, let's go into a couple things. It makes it harder to conceive as there's just fewer sperm available to fertilize an egg. So that's lower sperm count.
Poor motility or movement. Sperm with poor movement struggle to reach the egg, reducing fertilization chances, so that's poor motility. Abnormal morphology is when an abnormally shaped sperm also can have difficulty fertilizing an egg, and these are some of the things that you're checking in on if you decide to get a semen analysis.
Studies suggest a link between poor semen quality and a higher risk of things like certain childhood diseases, baby's health later in life or other developmental issues. Now, I don't want to fear monger, I don't wanna freak you out, I don't wanna get too deep into this research because again, it's not something that I would be talking about as a medical professional, but I will say that it was pretty shocking some of the links that they've made to poor semen quality and developmental issues and other issues with baby's development.
I would really encourage you to look into that if you really wanna know more. I think it can be one of those things that can be really scary. It can be kind of scary to think about and talk about if it has no bearing on you and no impact.
If you do a semen analysis and you see, huh, we have some issues with the quality of the semen, how can we remedy this? How can we work towards it? Maybe you work with an expert, you work with your doctor, you work with a nutritionist, you work with a different, you know, maybe someone that works specifically with the endocrine system or with hormones, you might be able to find a really great expert that helps you remedy some of these issues.
Otherwise, you might have very healthy, great, amazing sperm, you or your partner, and you might not need to worry about this. So I feel like that's not worth going into too much every single childhood disease and developmental issues and all of those things that might happen with low semen quality, but it's definitely something that exists.
It's something that we have some really, really good research on, some really interesting studies have been done, and so if that is something that's in a specific area of concern, you can definitely look into it a little bit more, but I'm not trying to freak you out right now, babe.
Probably you have nothing to worry about. That's my wish for you at least. Again, research suggests a significant link between poor semen quality, particularly high levels of DNA fragmentation and an increased risk of miscarriage.
So we're not talking about a developmental disorder. We're not talking about childhood illnesses like I just mentioned. In this moment. We're really talking about that link between semen quality and risk of miscarriage.
There are more and more studies being done that are really finding this link super, super important and finding that a significant amount of miscarriages are actually being caused by semen quality. I think a lot of times, especially just in our culture, in our society, a lot of stress is being put on the woman, on the person with the uterus, on the person that is carrying the baby in their womb, as this is the only person that really needs to be worrying about this stuff.
But we're finding more and more that that is simply not true. That is the point of this episode. So really listen to this with your partner and really think about the ways in which you can make sure that that semen quality is as good as possible because we are finding more and more that link.
So that's why I find a semen analysis can be very useful. Again, it's not necessarily standard. It's not like a standard thing that your doctor is gonna say, oh, you're trying to conceive, do a semen analysis.
That's not necessarily what you're gonna get. This is something that you're gonna have to ask for. I am really happy that we did it. We found that my husband was in great shape and that was really reaffirming because we knew if we did have any issues, some of these things that you have to look into as a woman, as a person with a uterus, they can be a little bit more invasive.
They can be a little bit more intense. For him, it's very simple. He just collects a sample. So I was really happy that he went forward with doing that. So if we did have any issues trying to conceive, I could then say, okay, what's going on with me?
What's going on with my body? Maybe we're doing some of these more invasive procedures and testing, but we got the easiest thing out of the way first. Now let's talk about how semen quality impacts mom.
Research is still developing here. Like I said, a lot of these things are still developing. I think it really signifies a huge shift in our culture that we're really willing to have these conversations.
So I love it. But there are links between semen quality and the following. Miss Carridge, like I said. but also preeclampsia. Preterm birth or low birth weight, placenta formation, poor embryo development and inflammation throughout the reproductive tract.
Now, each of these things can be super, super important. Preeclampsia associated with high blood pressure can later turn into eclampsia, right? So it's preeclampsia, which is before eclampsia. This is something that is a very big concern when you are pregnant.
It is something that your doctor is talking to you about, that you're thinking about, that you're monitoring with your blood pressure, especially when it comes to women of color. Black women, Latina women, this is something that we really need to be thinking about.
Personally, I take my blood pressure several times a week to be really aware of this, but preeclampsia is a big concern during pregnancy. Placenta formation is also huge having an issue with the placenta all of the nutrients the life sustaining stuff is coming through from the placenta to the baby and having your placenta formation impacted by semen quality is something we should really be thinking about something that we should really be aware of and then lastly inflammation the entire reproductive tract of course something that we really want to be thinking about so all of these studies are still developing this is a pretty new conversation that a lot of people are starting to have i made a tiktok with some of this information and it got over a million views so quickly because people were shocked at this information but i also was getting so many encouraging comments from people that are looking into this research that their organizations are looking into this that they are you know really excited to start having more of these conversations most research around fertility and pregnancy no wonder is focused on women and places a lot of the responsibility on the woman so while these conversations are developing more every day i definitely encourage you to really think about the fact that there is you know this baby is 50 50 percent of each person and while the person with the uterus is the person responsible for carrying this baby and bringing them into the world we should absolutely be focusing on what 50 of that you know input looks like as well coming from the man okay key factors affecting sperm health and fertility of course when it comes to nutrition i'm going to say the same thing i've been saying in so many of these episodes i think y'all know what to do you need to just eat well we're going to talk about leafy greens we're going to talk about eating fish that's everything you're going to see as soon as you google what should i be eating for preconception health that's what you're going to see but you want to have a balanced diet of course all of of these things are pretty standard.
When it goes into supplements, now my husband didn't take all of these supplements, I actually didn't even learn about some of them and how they might impact male semen quality until after I was already pregnant.
But coenzyme Q10, I did use myself and that was part of my personal preconception protocol, but it's actually has very good evidence to be used by men also. It can improve sperm motility count and overall quality by reducing oxidative stress.
So that's COQ10, omega-3 fatty acids, supports sperm membrane support and improves motility. My husband did take omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oils. Zinc is essential for testosterone production, sperm count and motility.
And a lot of times if you're taking kind of a multivitamin, it's gonna have some of these things in it as well. Folate helps reduce sperm DNA damage. Folate is... absolutely so, so crucial for women to take, for that neural tube development, and it's also very useful for men to take, which we see here.
Ashwagandha, which my husband also took, supports testosterone production, reduces stress, which will impact fertility. Stress honestly impacts everything, let's be honest, and improves sperm count and motility, so that's ashwagandha.
There are also quite a few more that I've seen some books recommend, things like vitamin C, vitamin D, just so many different vitamins under the sun, and if you're taking a multivitamin, that's gonna cover kind of your bases so that you don't have any deficiencies.
It's really the deficiencies that we don't want. So taking a multivitamin, that's awesome, and then supplementing with some of these other things, fish oil, so you get those omega-3 fatty acids, folate, coenzyme Q10, zinc might even be in your multivitamin.
So a combination of these things. In terms of ashwagandha, for example, my husband took it in a greens powder. It had an adequate amount of ashwagandha in it, and that was how he was able to get that supplement in.
So there's a ton of different ways to get these supplements into your daily habit, but those are kind of the most important ones. When it comes to sleep and stress, again, I think I've talked about this in every episode at this point, it's pretty much what you expect.
Sleep and stress really impact our health in so many different ways, everything from physical to mental health. So all of the recommendations that you might assume, those are the same exact ones that I'm going to be recommending that I've seen in books and studies.
Nothing new, nothing crazy. Substance use. Limiting alcohol during preconception is something that I'm super passionate about because I have seen it discussed in so many different ways that really shows how impactful it can be.
A 2021 study found that paternal alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of birth defects. A study in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology found that paternal drinking three months before pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of congenital heart disease, and that was the first article that I ever actually read about the connection between alcohol consumption and preconception and the health of the baby.
and it freaked me out so hard. I will say that that is only one study, but that connection was seen and was evidenced in that study. Animal studies have shown that paternal alcohol consumption can increase the risk of adverse neurodevelopment, including anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment.
So again, we're seeing this research continue to develop more and more with a connection between alcohol consumption during those months leading up to starting to try and conceive. My husband didn't drink for six months.
I didn't drink for six months leading up to August, which is when we began trying to conceive and when we also got pregnant. I think that this is something that is very much worth discussing, thinking about, talking about, and I'm gonna give you a hot take right here.
If you are not willing to stop drinking for a few months for the health of your unborn child, then I'm really questioning what kind of decisions you're gonna be making when that child is born. I know it's a hot take.
I know it's a hot take, but if we can't sacrifice a couple months of alcohol, how are we gonna grapple with all the sacrifices required when it comes to being a parent? I'm sure that might make some people feel kind of spicy, some people might not love it, but I would really encourage you that if that is triggering you to feel some type of way, that we look inward and marinate and meditate on that because it's definitely something that is evidenced and that I would really consider doing more of a deep dive in if you're not fully believing it.
Let's get into environmental toxins. These are the exact same things that I shared when I talked about my preconception protocol last week. So I'm not gonna waste too much time on them. But in my first episode, I also shared kind of an overview when I discussed preconception health.
So you can listen to those episodes for more specifics. But again, we're talking about endocrine disruptors and cleaning products, cosmetics, microplastics, and toxins like pesticides. All of those things are still ringing true.
Lastly, for this section, I want to talk a little bit about lifestyle factors. All of these things, you can take it or leave it. There's some good research that indicates that these are things to consider, especially if you're having other issues with semen quality.
So the impacts might be pretty small, but if you're already having issues in other ways, then every little bit counts. So we have things like hot tubs, saunas, and heated seats. Excessive heat can reduce sperm count and by damaging sperm producing cells in the testes.
And I even quoted from one of my favorite books in that first episode where it was a recommendation to not be in these super hot environments. So there are definitely some doctors that take it very seriously.
Then there's others that say, It's, you know, it's negligible. It's very small. It's a very tiny impact that it's gonna make. Don't worry about it. So again, take it or leave it. Cycling puts pressure on the perineum, reducing blood flow to the testes, potentially leading to lower sperm count.
Same thing could be said about prolonged sitting, which can also increase scrotal temperature. So again, take it or leave it. And lastly, tight underwear. Tight clothing can increase testicular temperature, negatively affecting sperm production.
These things we see a little bit. They're not the hugest impact. It's definitely gonna mean a lot more if you are supplementing, living a healthy lifestyle, cutting out alcohol, than if you're sitting for a long period of time.
That's what the research is indicating. Now, let's get to timing and planning to implement these changes. Sperm quality can improve within three months of making lifestyle changes. This is because it takes about 42 to 76 days for sperm to mature.
So three months should be kind of that golden number that is in your mind. When you think about, okay, we're gonna start trying to conceive in this month, at least three months before, let me really get on my game.
Let me really get my life together. Let me really get my supplements together. Let me start playing around and eating a little bit more healthier. Let me get my semen analysis. Let me schedule that appointment.
All those things, really three months is when we wanna start considering it. I would say it's kind of nice to do six months out because then you have kind of three months to get your life together. You can do your semen analysis and then you can just keep on doing the same thing for three months or make some adjustments as needed for three months.
But again, it takes about 42 to 76 days for sperm to mature. Finally, friend, I'm gonna leave you with this. With my husband's specific preconception protocol, these are all the things that he did. A year before, we rocked a little bit of couples therapy, which I shared also in last week's episode.
We discussed how to support me and prepare for fatherhood. managing his expectations for things like that first trimester. I told him I might not be able to get out of bed. I might have morning sickness every single day.
I might be super fatigued and exhausted and I need you to believe me. I need you to support me. I need you to have my back a hundred percent. I need you to never question me and think, oh, are you just being lazy?
This is what I need from you. Having that conversation a year before was incredible because by the time I was already experiencing those symptoms, I didn't need to worry about it. It had been planted, that seed had been planted.
He knew what to expect and also the expectations around fatherhood. What kind of dad am I imagining my partner to be? What do I need? What does he need? How does he expect I show up in motherhood? Having these conversations a year in advance, I think took so much pressure and stress off of us because we kind of know what our expectations are.
Sure, things are going to pop up. Things would be unexpected. We've never had a child before. Who knows what unknowns are going to be there? But having those conversations, I think, is so, so key and really reassured me that I would have a partner by my side for my pregnancy.
A year before, he also focused on improving overall health with fitness, diet, exercise. He was also training for the New York City Marathon, so it was kind of perfect timing because he was super, super on his A-game during that time.
Eight months before, he did his semen analysis and luckily everything came back great so we didn't really have any lifestyle, environmental, supplementing things that we needed to change or that he needed to worry about.
Six months before, cut out alcohol. He never used any other substances, but if you're using any other substances, especially tobacco, you want to stop doing that. So six months before, and that's also when he started taking his supplements, his multi fish oil, which has those Omega 3's off.
He was taking a greens powder and removed all the environmental toxins, same as I shared in mine. And then three months before he did stop using hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, and just those hot environments.
It wasn't something that he did a ton, but we do have a sauna in our building and he stopped going. And honestly, it wasn't really a huge deal, but he did want to really just do every single thing that he could.
So that was his decision. Now, friend, I think it is so crucial that we really pay attention to this conversation. It is not only the woman's responsibility to bear this child, to grow this child, to put in all of the things necessary for him or her or them to come out healthy and amazing.
There are, of course, genetic factors which no one can really control. There are environmental factors that one also might not be able to control depending on where you live and the access to different things that you might have around you.
There are so many things once again I always want to note that we cannot control. There might be prescription medications that you take or that your partner takes. There might be so, so, so many different things that are impacting your fertility journey.
My goal is really just to synthesize the information the things that were helpful for me and share them with you. So again if these things don't apply if you got something else going on then I'm hoping and and wishing that you're working with a medical professional that can really get you where you need to go.
But I hope this is a solid foundation with what the current research is saying. On next week's episode I'll be discussing prenatal must-have vitamins and supplements including what they are, why they're important, how to find out what supplements are good and not so good, why they're all different, why there's like a million different kinds of prenatal supplements, and what we should be looking for.
You can of course follow me @taylorraeroman. As always a full transcription of the episode along with citations can be found on my website. All of those links are available in the show notes. See you out there!
REFERENCES
Arslan, Ruben C., Lars Penke, Wendy Johnson, William G. Iacono, and Matt McGue. 2014. “The Effect of Paternal Age on Offspring Intelligence and Personality When Controlling for Paternal Trait Level.” Scientific Reports 4: 7526. https://arxiv.org/abs/1309.4625.arXiv
Boston University School of Medicine. 2010. “Preliminary Study Suggests Frequent Cycling May Affect Male Fertility.” December 14, 2010. https://www.bumc.bu.edu/2010/12/14/preliminary-study-suggests-frequent-cycling-may-affect-male-fertility/.
CNY Fertility. n.d. “Male Fertility Supplements.” Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.cnyfertility.com/male-fertility-supplements/.
European Society of Cardiology. 2023. “Fathers-to-Be Should Avoid Alcohol Six Months Before Conception.” ESC Press Office. https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Fathers-to-be-should-avoid-alcohol-six-months-before-conception.
Lund University. 2023. “Defective Sperm Doubles Risk of Preeclampsia.” https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/defective-sperm-doubles-risk-preeclampsia.
Mayo Clinic. n.d. “Fertility: Sperm Health.” Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/fertility/art-20047584.
———. n.d. “Low Sperm Count: Symptoms & Causes.” Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/low-sperm-count/symptoms-causes/syc-20374585.
MDPI. 2024. “The Impact of Environmental Factors on Male Fertility.” Biology 13 (3): 165. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/13/3/165.
Nature. 2022. “Evidence from Animal Studies Has Shown That Paternal Alcohol Consumption Can Affect Offspring.” Scientific Reports 12: 5611. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05611-2.
Parents. 2023. “Best Fertility Supplements for Men.” Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.parents.com/best-fertility-supplements-for-men-8649582.
Shady Grove Fertility. n.d. “Sperm Quality Checklist: Simple Lifestyle Changes to Improve Sperm Count and Fertility.” Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/article/sperm-quality-checklist-simple-lifestyle-changes-to-improve-sperm-count-and-fertility/.
ScienceDirect. 2020. “Male Infertility: Lifestyle Factors and the Role of Oxidative Stress.” Fertility and Sterility 113 (4): 731–737. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028220300030.
———. 2020. “Paternal Age and Reproductive Outcomes.” Fertility and Sterility 113 (4): 728–730. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028219304303.
———. 2024. “Paternal Alcohol Consumption and Offspring Health.” Preventive Medicine 175: 107–113. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379724000710.
UCSF News. 2007. “Hot Tubs Hurt Fertility, UCSF Study Shows.” March 14, 2007. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2007/03/97970/hot-tubs-hurt-fertility-ucsf-study-shows.
UT Southwestern Medical Center. n.d. “Older Fathers and Fertility.” Accessed April 11, 2025. https://utswmed.org/medblog/older-fathers-fertility/.
Zhang, Y., et al. 2018. “Association between Paternal Age and Birth Defects.” Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 16: 14. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5975952/.
Disclaimer: The information shared on On the Outside is for informational and educational purposes only. I am not a doctor, medical professional, or licensed healthcare provider. The content of this podcast is based on my personal experiences and research, but it should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor or a qualified healthcare professional before making any decisions related to your pregnancy, health, or well-being. Every pregnancy is unique, and what works for one person may not be right for another.
