5 Ways To Protect Your Fertility

Age is an important factor when it comes to getting pregnant, especially for women, but everyone can help to protect their fertility.
Even if babies are the last thing on your mind at the moment, you can take steps to help maintain your fertility.
AGE AND FERTILITY – UNCONTROLLABLE FACTOR
When it comes to fertility, age matters.
Many people today wait until they're older to have children. But fertility declines over time, and you should consider this if you plan to have children later.
Both women and men are at their most fertile in their early twenties.
In women, fertility declines more quickly with age. This decline becomes rapid after the age of 35. This has a number of causes, but particularly the decline in the quality of the eggs released by the ovaries.
Around one-third of couples in which the woman is over 35 have fertility problems. This rises to two-thirds when the woman is over 40.
Women over 35 are also less likely to become pregnant as a result of fertility treatments, including IVF, and are more likely to have a miscarriage if they do become pregnant.
Men’s fertility gradually declines from around the age of 40, but most men are able to father children into their 50s and beyond.
CONTROLLABLE FACTORS
Other factors also affect fertility. But, in many cases, you can take action to help protect your fertility.

1. Avoid STIs: Sexually transmitted infections, such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea, can damage a woman's fallopian tubes, which may make it more difficult to become pregnant. If you think you might have contracted an STI, go to your doctor.
2. Don’t smoke: Research shows that women who smoke over 10 cigarettes a day experience the menopause on average two years earlier. Men who smoke risk damaging their sperm.
3. Be a healthy weight: Being underweight or overweight can lower your chances of conceiving. One cause of infertility is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is made worse by being overweight or obese.
4. Drink sensibly: Health organizations advice against drinking alcohol if you are trying to get pregnant. Women trying to get pregnant can reduce the risk of harming a developing baby by not drinking to excess and drinking no more than one or two units of alcohol once or twice a week.
   Men who exceed three to four units a day may damage their sperm.
5. Keep your testicles cool: A man's testicles should be one or two degrees cooler than the rest of his body. Tight underwear, hot showers and hot baths can all raise the temperature of the testicles and can cause low sperm count.
6. Avoid radiation and dangerous chemicals: Exposure to radiation and chemicals such as glycol ester, found in some paints, can damage fertility.