Testosterone therapy is becoming increasingly popular, especially among younger men looking to boost energy, improve mood, and enhance physical performance. Some sports clinics or even some health professionals may unwittingly prescribe testosterone to men. However, this can be a disaster for men who are wanting to try for a baby as it can lead to low or zero sperm.

This is because external testosterone through the form of gels, injections or patches can signal to the brain that there are already high levels of testosterone and cause your body’s natural testosterone production to shut down. It also lowers the testosterone levels inside the testes, where sperm is produced. This matters because healthy sperm production depends on high levels of testosterone within the testes and this can result in very low or even zero sperm counts in some men. It might take months or even up to two years for things to return to normal and for some men, it might not fully recover at all. A man’s age, duration of testosterone therapy and initial sperm count are all contributing factors.

If you are going to try to have a baby in the future the short answer is: stop or ideally avoid testosterone therapy. There are medications that can help increase the testosterone level in the testes in a safe way. These medications are off- label and should be taken with close monitoring by a fertility doctor.