Video shows fertility issues in male who vaped

If you were looking for motivation to kick this habit then this shocking video might give you that one last push to do it.

Video shows just how badly male fertility seems to be affected by vaping.

If you needed another reason to quit vaping then this video might be that extra push to help you do it.

It’s a microscopic view of a semen sample taken at an IVF clinic in Australia.

And the man who it came from vaped.

His addiction was so severe he even took his vape with him into the collection room to puff on while he was giving his sample.

Independent embryologist and IVF patient advocate Lucy Lines said that when she saw his sample and compared it to one from a non-vaper there was a stark difference.

“In the vaping video we see fewer sperm and less of them are swimming,” she said.

“We can only see three sperm moving, possibly four, and there are lots of dead sperm.

“If you compare that to the other picture there are hundreds of sperm and there are lots of them moving and swimming.

“We know vaping and the use of e-cigarettes has an impact on sperm health and given this man needed to take his vape with him into the room, it suggests he doesn’t go many places without it.

Vaping is believed to have a negative impact on male fertility.

“I’m not surprised by the results.”

Ms Lines said like smoking, vaping was “really quite dangerous” for long-term reproductive health, because of all the chemicals.

“The research shows vaping leads to lower sperm counts, lower motility (movement) of the sperm and sperm fragmentation (which makes it harder to fertilise the egg),” she said, citing a 2023 study from Canada that looked at the impact of e-cigarettes on animal reproductive health.

“If I see a couple who are having IVF and they are struggling to get embryos to grow beyond day three of development, I will always ask questions about male preconception health and about vaping as I’ve seen many situations where their embryo development and chances of implantation have increased after he stops vaping.”

Fertility specialist and gynaecologist at IVF Australia Dr Cheryl Phua said people often wrongly thought vaping was a safer alternative to smoking.

“A lot of people are vaping thinking it is safer than smoking but there’s some new studies published in Europe that demonstrate it’s actually quite harmful for eggs and sperm,” she said.

“Vaping has actually been shown to reduce men’s sperm count and movement and morphology of what the sperm looks like.

“And there’s studies that suggest that it might also lead to poorer outcomes in pregnant women who are vaping, so smaller babies, increased early delivery and so on.”

Melbourne IVF fertility specialist Yousif Alyousif said it was still early with research to know the true effects of vaping.

“With vaping it’s still early, but I think over time we’ll have more evidence (it’s harmful),” he said.

The good news is that sperm health could improve once a would-be dad quits vaping.

Sperm take about 90 days to develop, so three months is the best amount of time to give yourself to ditch the addictive habit.

Originally published as Video shows fertility issues in male who vaped