Does Less Sex Lower Sperm Count?

Q I am a 28-year-old married man. I have successful sexual relations with my wife. Besides that, I enjoy masturbation daily. But of late, I feel I’m losing my stamina during sex. Is it because of my masturbation habit?

I am assuming that you have problems with your erection. The causes for erection problems range from physical to psychological and socio-cultural. Whatever it may be, masturbation is not the cause. But why are you masturbating daily if you are enjoying sexual life with your wife?

Q I am a 35-year-old male. I have some doubts regarding sperm. I have heard that sperms die when given for testing. Is it true? I usually have intercourse with an interval of a week or two. So, do my sperms die during the abstinence period? Also, if the intercourse frequency is decreased, does the sperm production decrease as well? Further, does low sperm count result in the birth of baby girl?

After a short period, the sperms will die outside the human body. The objective of semen analysis is to check the quality of semen and quantity & quality of sperms. It is not for storing and preserving them.

If you are having sex once a week then you need have no concerns. Sperm production does not depend on the frequency of sex. It depends on the health of the reproductive organs of the man. Prolonged abstinence will reduce the motility (movement) of the sperms. This may pose some difficulty in impregnating a woman.

The sperm count does not determine the gender of the foetus/child. The X and Y sex chromosomes present in the man’s sperms will determine the gender. If a sperm having a Y chromosome fertilizes the egg (all eggs contain only the X sex chromosome) then a male child is formed. If a sperm with an X chromosome fertilizes the egg, then there will be a baby girl.