Baby boys born to infertile dads via IVF ‘are more likely to have low sperm counts’
Scientists looked at 54 men born through assisted conception, ICSI, because their dads were infertile – and found they too suffer with lower sperm quality and quantity
IVF is causing male infertility to be passed down the generations, a study reveals.
Experts found blokes conceived using a common fertility technique are up to three times more likely to have poor sperm counts.
It is the first research to look at whether fertility problems are being inherited thanks to IVF.
Scientists looked at 54 men born through assisted conception because their dads were infertile – and found they too suffer with lower sperm quality and quantity.
Now in their early 20s, they were conceived using ICSI – where a single sperm is injected straight into an egg.
In showing, as a group, that the ICSI sons have starkly abnormal semen quality compared with normal, the results suggest strongly that male fertility problems severe enough to require ICSI may be inheritable
Professor Richard Sharpe, University of Edinburgh
The technique is used by thousands of Brits each year in a bid to have a child.
The research was carried out by Professor André Van Steirteghem, who pioneered the method.
Prof Van Steirteghem, from Vrije University in Brussels, said: “These first results from the oldest group of ICSI-conceived adults worldwide indicate that a degree of ‘sub-fertility’ has, indeed, been passed on to sons of fathers who underwent ICSI because of impaired semen characteristics.”
The team found ICSI-born blokes had half the average sperm count as naturally-conceived fellas – and they also suffered with poor-moving sperm.
Experts said they were three times more likely to have sperm concentrations below normal guideline levels.
The study is published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Prof Van Steirteghem said even though the sons had lower sperm counts, the results did not exactly match those of their fathers.
It suggests that not everyone inherits the same level of infertility.
Allan Pacey, Professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, said the findings were “important”.
He said: “This means that it doesn’t automatically follow that ICSI-conceived males will always have the poor fertility seen by their fathers.”
Around half the 64,000 cycles of IVF done in the UK in 2013 involved ICSI.
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Professor Adam Balen, chair of the British Fertility Society, said over six million children have now been conceived worldwide using IVF.
He said: “ICSI, whereby sperm is injected into eggs as part of the IVF process, has revolutionised the treatment of male infertility.
“It is not surprising that some causes of infertility may be transmitted to children born by fertility treatments and whilst these young men may have lower sperm counts than the general population, they may still be able to father children without treatment and if they can not they will have the opportunity to use the IVF/ICSI themselves.
And Professor Richard Sharpe, Group Leader of Male Reproductive Health Research Team, University of Edinburgh, said it had been unclear until now if male Infertlity could be inherited.
He said: “The present study is the first to address this key question, by assessing sperm number and motility in ICSI-derived sons.
"In showing, as a group, that the ICSI sons have starkly abnormal semen quality (sperm count etc) compared with normal (non-ICSI derived sons), the results suggest strongly that male fertility problems severe enough to require ICSI may be inheritable.
“Importantly, the results are a reminder to us that ICSI is not a treatment for male infertility, but simply a way of bypassing a problem and leaving it for the next generation to deal with.”