Prevention

Some fertility problems are related to lifestyle or other health conditions. To help protect your fertility:

• Avoid using tobacco (cigarettes) and marijuana. They reduce fertility, especially by reducing sperm counts.
• Avoid exposure to harmful chemicals.
• Avoid excessive alcohol use. It may damage eggs or sperm.
• Limit sex partners and use condoms to reduce the risk of getting a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Untreated STIs can damage the reproductive system and cause infertility. If you think you may have an STI, get treatment promptly to reduce the risk of damage to your reproductive system. Make sure you know how to use a male condom and/or how to use a female condom.
• Stay at a body weight that is close to the ideal for your height. It will reduce the possibility of hormone imbalances. This is very important for men as well as for women.

If you have been diagnosed with cancer and hope to have children in the future, talk to your doctor about preventing cancer treatment–related infertility.

Home Treatment

To decrease your risk of fertility problems and increase your chances of becoming pregnant, use the following guidelines.

Track ovulation at home

• Estimate when you are ovulating by practicing fertility awareness. This means:
  • Tracking your cervical mucus changes.
  • Tracking your basal body temperature on a monthly Fahrenheit temperature chart(What is a PDF document?) or Celsius temperature chart(What is a PDF document?).
  • Tracking your luteinizing hormone (LH) levels with a home ovulation predictor test. Many doctors now recommend these home tests as the best way to track ovulation at home.
• Try this interactive tool to calculate your peak fertility.
• Try having sex every day or every other day during a woman's fertile period. This can improve the chance of pregnancy.
• If you exercise strenuously most days of the week, reduce your level of activity. Very strenuous exercise can cause women to ovulate less often.

Protect sperm count and quality

• If you use a vaginal lubricant during sex, select one that doesn't kill or damage sperm.
• If you exercise strenuously most days of the week, reduce your level of activity. Very strenuous exercise may be a cause of lower sperm counts in some men.
• Avoid hot tubs and saunas. High scrotal temperatures may decrease sperm count and quality.³
• Try to control fever when you are ill. High fever has been known to have a harmful effect on sperm for 2 to 3 months afterward. (Sperm take this long to grow from germ cells to mature sperm.)

General measures

Women who are trying to get pregnant should avoid using alcohol and medicines, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin.