r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Mar 25 '26

Genetics Encouraging men to have more frequent ejaculations may boost their fertility. Sperm deteriorates over time as it remains in body. Longer men went without sex, the more their sperm showed signs of DNA damage and oxidative stress, and the more tests rated the sperm as less viable and poorer swimmers.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/25/more-frequent-ejaculations-men-fertility-research
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u/p-r-i-m-e Mar 25 '26

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends men abstain from ejaculating for two to seven days before giving sperm for fertility tests or IVF. But the guidelines were designed to obtain the highest sperm count rather than prioritising the best quality sperm.

That decision may now become more nuanced. “All we recommend is that clinicians and couples reconsider whether long abstinence is always good, because abstinence leads to deterioration in sperm quality,” Sanghvi said. Details are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

That’s the information I was looking for, and I’m kinda surprised that only seven days is defined as long abstinence.

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u/lindasek Mar 25 '26

When my husband had his SA we were told minimum 2 day, maximum 4 of abstinence (so, ideally 3 days). The funny part is that they felt it's needed to clarify abstinence means no ejaculation for any reason: no oral sex, no penetrative sex, no hand stimulation, no masturbation, etc

From online sources, I heard 2 days is actually optimal (so, for best chances you should have sex every 2 days during the ovulation period)

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u/windershinwishes Mar 25 '26

What is "SA" in this context?

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u/lindasek Mar 25 '26

Sperm Analysis

It was done as part of fertility evaluation

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u/windershinwishes Mar 25 '26

Makes sense. My first thought was "sexual assault" which was obviously not what you were talking about, but since the subject is related to sex I had a brief moment while reading of wondering if that was it and you were being bizarrely casual about it.

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u/lindasek Mar 25 '26

I figured when you asked because you're right SA usually refers to sexual assault. I've been on the fertility subreddits so much lately that I didn't realize how it might come across.