Question
Does taking steroids affect my chances to have a baby? I have been taking steroids for a couple of years and am concerned it might impact my sperm.
Answer
Androgenic steroids are used legitimately to restore normal health to men whose bodies do not make adequate amounts of testosterone due to testicular or hormonal disorders. Use by men trying to improve their physical function or their perceived appearance represents misuse. The misuse of androgenic steroids carries significant health risks.
Such androgen misuse turns off the brain’s normal drive to stimulate the testicles to make sperm and testosterone. As a result, sperm production falls markedly and the testes reduce in size. When these drugs are stopped, recovery usually takes six to 12 months for sperm production to get back to normal.
Robert McLachlan
Healthy Male Medical Director
Prof Robert McLachlan is a consultant andrologist and has been integral to Healthy Male from its inception as Andrology Australia in 2000. He has been Medical Director since 2006. In November 2020, Rob was awarded Life Membership of the Endocrine Society of Australia. Over his 30-year career, he has been passionate about educating doctors and the community about male reproductive health, particularly to normalise discussion of sensitive topics and to encourage men to seek help from their GPs. A past president of the Fertility Society of Australia, he has a strong connection in fertility practice and has raised the profile of infertile men involved in IVF. Rob has received several awards for his clinical research and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2016 for services to medicine in the field of endocrinology.
