Helping out your man if you have tried for over a year or more and still can’t get a baby

Recently, at a  wellness event , a man stunned the audience with a somewhat unexpected question.

“How can a man in his 50 enhance his virility?” he asked.

As a young man, the question got me thinking: what if I hit 50 and I need a ‘Chacha mona’ (young Chacha) to continue my lineage?

With the fast-paced life we are leading today, this  is a pertinent question that both men and women should ponder.

Ageing men

This question betrays the concern of ageing men, and even women who have 50-year-old husbands who are no longer hitting the target.

There are men who are approaching 50 and despite sustained efforts, their seeds just can’t germinate to bring forth bubbly young ones.

“Infertility is the state of not being able to conceive after a year of unprotected sex,” says Dr Dorcas Muchiri, a resident gynaecologist studying at the University of Nairobi.

Menopause limitation

“Men, unlike women, don’t suffer the limitation of menopause. It has been however observed that a man’s ability to sire reduces with age. There is  potential no doubt, but the chances get slimmer with time,” says Dr Muchiri.

In a study reported in a 2004 issue of the American Journal of Gynecology, researchers concluded that a man’s chances of fathering a child decrease with each passing year. In the study, the odds of a successful pregnancy fell by 11 per cent every year. A separate team of German researchers carried out a research in the same year, concluding that the volume and motility (ability to swim towards an egg) of sperms decline with age.

The study, published in Human Reproduction Update journal, further disclosed that the sperm structure changes as a man ages.

That’s the bad news for ageing men.

The good news though, says Dr Muchiri, is that with a healthy lifestyle, a man can comfortably sire healthy children even at an advanced age.

Sperm count

“Healthy lifestyle includes regular exercises to keep fit. If you are growing old and you are obese, or grappling with weight problems, you are worse off as far as fertility is concerned. Eating healthy foods in right proportions (50 per cent of your plate should always be vegetables) is one way of staying healthy,” she adds.

Losing weight, advises Dr Muchiri, may lead to improved sperm count.

Medics also advise men to increase their intake of zinc (from naturally growing organic foods like watermelon and greens) to improve their fertility.

If you have tried for over a year or more and still can’t get a baby, Dr Muchiri recommends that you visit a fertility specialist to assess the situation and and come up with a solution.