"Men who feel stressed are more likely to have lower concentrations of sperm in their ejaculate, and the sperm they have are more likely to be misshapen or have impaired motility," said researcher Pam Factor-Litvak, an epidemiologist at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, in a statement. "These deficits could be associated with fertility problems."

A man's ability to produce sperm may depend on his ability to handle stress, according to a study from Italy that looked at the impact of short- and longer-term stress. The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Fertility & Sterility, found that men with higher levels of both short- and long- term stress ejaculated less semen and had lower sperm counts. Men with the highest anxiety also more likely to have sperm that were deformed.

High stress levels can affect a woman's chances of getting pregnant, researchers warn.

Modern life is having a devastating impact on men's fertility.
Its stresses and conveniences could be damaging the health of boys while still in the womb, making it harder for them to become parents.
The combination of stress and a gender-bending chemical found in plastics ranging from children's toys to credit cards increased the chances of reproductive defects, a study has found.

This study evaluated associations between work-related stress, stressful life events, and perceived stress and semen quality. We found an inverse association between perceived stress score and sperm concentration, motility, and morphology in covariate-adjusted linear regression analyses. Men who experienced two or more stressful life events in the past year compared with no stressful events had a lower percentage of motile sperm (b¼ 8.22; 95% CI, 14.31, 2.13) and a lower percentage of morphologically normal sperm (b ¼ 1.66; 95% CI, 3.35, 0.03) but a similar sperm concentration. Job strain was not associated with semen parameters.

This paper provides the first evidence that high levels of maternal subjective depressive, anxious, and stress symptoms experienced in early pregnancy may predict internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and depressive symptoms in young adults.

High levels of pre-conception stress more than double the chances of a woman failing to get pregnant after 12 months of trying, scientists found. A year of not conceiving despite regular unprotected intercourse is the clinical definition of infertility.

Psychological stress may degrade sperm quality and sperm fertility, according to a study published today in the journal Fertility and Sterility. “Men who feel stressed are more likely to have lower concentrations of sperm in their ejaculate, and the sperm they have are more likely to be misshapen or have impaired motility,” said researcher Pam Factor-Litvak, an epidemiologist at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, in a statement. “These deficits could be associated with fertility problems.”

Past research has associated stress with a number of health problems, including heart disease, asthma, obesity and depression. Now, a new study suggests stress can reduce sperm and semen quality, which could have implications for male fertility.

Researchers have data that suggests preconception stress might play a role in infertility. Extending and corroborating their earlier study conducted in the UK that demonstrated an association between high levels of stress and a reduced probability of pregnancy, this work adds new insight by suggesting that stress is associated with an increased risk of infertility. The study findings appear online in the journal Human Reproduction.

Researchers at Oxford University and the U.S. National Institutes of Health say the work provides evidence for the first time of an association between high levels of a biological marker for stress and reduced chances of a woman conceiving during the fertile days of her monthly cycle.

Stress is known to decrease fertility and sexual behavior, but researchers thought this was because stress hormones lower levels of a brain hormone called gonadotropin releasing hormone, or GnRH. Biologists now show that stress hormones also boost levels of a hormone that suppresses GnRH -- a double whammy. The scientists hope it will be possible to block this hormone, called gonadotropin inhibiting hormone, or GnIH, and restore fertility.