Ask the Doc: Can low testosterone make you less fertile?

Question

Can low testosterone make you less fertile?

Answer

Testosterone is a male hormone that is needed to support the production and maturation of sperm (spermatogenesis). If levels are too low, infertility can be a consequence.

It’s the levels of testosterone within the testes that affect the production of sperm, not the levels in the blood. This means that if you have low testosterone diagnosed from a blood test, you may still be able to produce functional sperm.

Testosterone affects some of the biological processes that work to cause erections but low testosterone levels alone are probably not the cause of erectile dysfunction. Testosterone also regulates sex drive (libido) so low levels might result in a lack of sexual desire.

A/Prof Tim Moss

Associate Professor Tim Moss has PhD in physiology and more than 20 years’ experience as a biomedical research scientist. Tim stepped away from his successful academic career at the end of 2019, to apply his skills in turning complicated scientific and medical knowledge into information that all people can use to improve their health and wellbeing. Tim has written for crikey.com and Scientific American’s Observations blog, which is far more interesting than his authorship of over 150 academic publications. He has studied science communication at the Alan Alda Centre for Communicating Science in New York, and at the Department of Biological Engineering Communication Lab at MIT in Boston.

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