Sperm Health Advice & Tips for International Men's Day

Step forward guys, it’s your time to shine! It’s International Men’s Day today!

Today is about celebrating men and raising awareness of the health and wellbeing issues that guys face. And that includes fertility!

So as well as saying a huge thank you to all our incredible sperm donors today for the life-changing gift they’re giving, we thought it’d be good to share some useful sperm health tips too.

Which might help if you’re worried about your fertility, are in need of fertility advice or just want to optimise your fertility health!

Here are our 6 easy top tips for better sperm health - which you can start right now, if any of these are your habits:

Stop smoking: Smoking has been linked to reduced quality sperm, so for better sperm health try to stop smoking or cut down. Head to NHS Smokefree for dedicated stop smoking help.

Cut down drinking: Excessive alcohol affects your sperm in all sorts of ways. It lowers your hormone levels and it affects sperm quality and quantity too. So be mindful of how much you’re drinking and cut back if you need to, because any effects on your sperm can be reversed. Check out Drinkaware for more advice.

Drugs: As for recreational or performance enhancing drugs, both of these affect your sperm as well. In particular performance enhancing drugs, because of how the drugs affect the hormones that control sperm production.

Start that diet: Need to lose weight? There’s no need to wait until the New Year to start a diet! Shed the pounds now and your sperm will benefit. Having a high BMI is a big factor in your fertility, making you more likely to have poorer quality and quantity of sperm.

Keep calm and sleep: Severe stress may affect sperm production so find ways to reduce your stress levels and switch off. And get plenty of sleep too – as sleep helps to moderate hormone levels. A new study has shown that men who got plenty of rest were four times more likely to have healthy sperm than men who stayed up late.

Keep cool: Excessive heat is bad news for sperm. The ideal temperature for sperm is just below body temperature – so make sure you keep testicle temperatures cool!

Sperm checks: Apply to be a sperm donor

We’ll check your sperm health when you apply to be a sperm donor – it’s all part of the process.

If you’d like to help someone to have a baby and also see what shape your sperm is in at the same time, complete our quick and easy online application form. You need to be aged 18-45 and in good health.

You can donate to the Semovo clinic that’s nearest to you – we have donation locations all around the UK in Manchester city centre, Manchester South, Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow.

You’ll also receive £45 per clinic visit to cover your time and expenses. And the reward that knowing your donations have made the biggest difference to someone who needs a sperm donor to have a family.

Apply today with no obligation or call us on 0345 266 1272 for more information.