Alcohol also affects a man’s fertility by changing his hormone levels because it can alter the way testosterone is produced and then released. Because alcohol affects the liver (the organ which normally clears out any excess hormones), a man who drinks alcohol may accumulate small amounts of female hormones (men produce ‘female’ hormones, just as women produce testosterone). These female hormones can lower sperm production and potency.

In addition, alcohol stops absorption of nutrients like zinc which is one of the most important minerals for male fertility. Zinc is found in high concentrations in the sperm. Adequate levels of zinc are needed to make the outer layer and tail and are therefore essential for healthy sperm. If you reduce the amount of zinc in a man’s diet, his sperm count goes down.

Finally, alcohol reduces fertility in mammals, and studies show that women who drink heavily may stop ovulating and menstruating, and take longer to conceive.

How Much is Too Much?

A study of 430 women demonstrated that drinking more than 5 units of alcohol (equal to five glasses of wine) a week could stop women conceiving. Researchers discovered that the women in the survey who drank less than 5 units a week were twice as likely to get pregnant within six months compared with those who drank more. A study published in the British Medical Journal concluded that women should be ‘warned to avoid alcohol when trying to conceive’.

The fact is that drinking any alcohol can reduce your fertility by half- and the more you drink, the worse the impact on your chances of conception.

Studies have also shown a strong relationship between alcohol and miscarriages. Women who have a drink every day have a much higher risk of miscarriage (2.5 times more) than non-drinkers. The same study found that if the woman was a drinker and a smoker her chance of a miscarriage was four times higher.

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Reproductive drives are the most powerful instincts that influence our behaviour, followed by those of parenting and then of self-preservation. Of course this is putting it very broadly and simply when seen in the light of our system of social organisation, with all its complexities, that has developed over the course of human history (and also exists for other species such as birds, ants and animal herds). But it could be said that everything that happens during life (such as breathing, nourishment, childhood development, even education and social activities) fits into nature’s plan to prepare each one of us, female and male, for the possibility of reproduction and parenting. We have reproductive systems specialised for this purpose, and all other systems serve to develop and maintain healthy bodies that are able to reproduce. It is our genes that decide the anatomy and function of our reproductive organs.

It’s a real advantage to know the anatomy of your reproductive system. You don’t have to become an anatomy expert, but if you know the names of the parts and what they look like, you can speak more accurately to your doctor, and understand better what she or he tells you and what is happening as you’re being examined. This takes away a lot of the fear and embarrassment that many women feel about having a gynaecological examination. Knowing your reproductive organs (both internal and external) also allows you to understand better many of the things that happen and that you feel during menstruation, sex, pregnancy and childbirth.

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