Male Reproduction

Overview

Unlike women who are born with a limited number of eggs, men produce new sperm every day of their life. Sperm take 72 days to be produced then a further 12 days to travel through the epididymis to the ejaculate.

Essentially, there are four key components necessary to achieve satisfactory sperm production:

normal hormonal stimulation from the pituitary gland
normal sperm production in the tubules of the testis
an unobstructed sperm pathway, and
effective natural sperm delivery

Men’s reproductive health is also affected by age. The ‘amber’ light for men is 40 years of age. After 40, a greater number of DNA abnormalities occur in sperm.

There are often many lifestyle factors that can affect the quality of a man's sperm. Smoking and recreational drugs traditionally upset sperm quality but more often the cause of low sperm counts is unknown.