‘Spermageddon’: what’s going on with male fertility?

男性生育力究竟怎么了?

The Global Story

2026-08-14

28 分钟
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Wearing loose cotton boxer shorts. Icing your testicles. Doing blood transfusions to ‘clean’ your body of microplastics. Eating raw garlic. These are all unproven methods to boost sperm count being promoted by wellness influencers. On TikTok and Instagram, hashtags such as #malefertility, #semenanalysis and #sperm attract hundreds of millions of views, while, in the White House, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has claimed that men’s fertility is in drastic decline, partially due to unhealthy diets. What scientific evidence is there to claims that the average sperm count and quality is falling? And how do these claims play into men’s anxieties about their masculinity? On today’s show, the BBC’s global health reporter, Jacqui Wakefield, speaks to men across the world concerned about their fertility, and to reproductive experts who help explain what’s really going on. Read Jacqui’s article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8921982pgzo Producers: Hannah Moore and Mhairi MacKenzie Executive producer: Sam Bonham Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: Simon from Miami, who is trying to boost his sperm count by wearing ice packs in the sauna. Credit: BBC.
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  • So every morning Simon starts his day, he has a stretch in the Miami sun.

  • He's about 28 years old, he exercises regularly,

  • he drinks filtered water that takes out all of the microplastics.

  • Then he gets in the sauna, but before doing so,

  • he puts on his cotton boxer shorts with an ice pack attached to cover his testicles.

  • The BBC's Global Health Reporter, Jackie Wakefield, is telling us about Simon.

  • He's this guy that she's been interviewing for one of her recent stories.

  • He's actually doing this to boost his sperm count.

  • So Simon is one of the growing number of young men worried about their fertility.

  • So they're trying all these different hacks that are being promoted on TikTok, Instagram,

  • boosted by different influencers to up their sperm counts.

  • Maybe you've noticed influencers promoting activities to increase sperm count.

  • Many also claim the average man's sperm quantity and quality is dropping.

  • And there is some data to back this up.

  • One review found sperm quantity had dropped by 50% in the past 50 years.

  • But how solid is the actual evidence?

  • Does it do you any good to strap an ice pack to your bits?

  • And do doctors agree with any of this?

  • How does all this play into modern anxieties about what it is to be a man?

  • From the BBC, I'm Tristan Redman and I'm Asma Khalid.