Most couples will seek their GP's advice after a year or so of trying for a baby, but it's possible for couples to seek advice at an earlier stage - before embarking on 'starting a family'. GPs will provide pre-pregnancy counselling, giving advice on strategies to maximise your chances of becoming pregnant, and ways to ensure the best possible health of both parents prior to conception.

The medical definition of infertility is not conceiving after a year of trying at least three times a week. One in seven couples suffer infertility and nearly a fifth of this is caused by male infertility.

Men

Sperm production occurs in cycles of 74 days and sperm develops best at 34 degrees. Interestingly, it has been observed that, generally, the average sperm count has been dropping over the years - although we don't know definitively know why!

There's a number of variables which can affect your chances of conceiving. Some of these are:

• Ejaculate volume (the average is 3-5ml per ejaculation);

• Sperm count ('normal' is greater than 20 million per millilitre);

• Sperm motility at 1 and 3 hours after ejaculation ('normal' is greater than 50%);

• Sperm morphology ('normal' is greater than 60%)

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