Infertility Caused By Gluten In Sperm?

[klaya]

I'm not sure if this topic has come up here - if it has please direct me to that thread - but has anyone read or heard of any findings on if sperm from a man that eats gluten can effect the fertility of a woman with celiac?

We have been TTC for 3 years - I have had ALL the tests and so has he. The cause of the our infertility is basically unknown and it just occurred to us that maybe the gluten in his body is effecting me somehow?

If anyone has any thoughts on this subject please let me know.

Thank you!

[Guhlia]

I don't have any insight. I just wanted to wish you luck.

[alamaz]

i don't have any scientific evidence to back this up but i was dx'ed in february, we continued TTC with no luck. Hubby was dx'ed in June and went 100% gluten-free (before that he would eat gluten outside of the house). We conceived in August and I'm now 25 weeks pregnant. It could have had something to do with it or it could have been just our time to get it right. Have you tried searching for something like "male infertility" or "gluten related male infertility"? something might pull up. We just happened to test hubby for celiac because we mainly wanted to see if he had the genes and not only did he have the genes but he also was positive for celiac disease!

Good luck TTC! I know how frustrating it can be but it will happen for you soon.

[klaya]

i don't have any scientific evidence to back this up but i was dx'ed in february, we continued TTC with no luck. Hubby was dx'ed in June and went 100% gluten-free (before that he would eat gluten outside of the house). We conceived in August and I'm now 25 weeks pregnant. It could have had something to do with it or it could have been just our time to get it right. Have you tried searching for something like "male infertility" or "gluten related male infertility"? something might pull up. We just happened to test hubby for celiac because we mainly wanted to see if he had the genes and not only did he have the genes but he also was positive for celiac disease!

Good luck TTC! I know how frustrating it can be but it will happen for you soon.

Thanks for sharing that - I really don't see how it can't be part of the reason we're not conceiving.

My husband shows no signs of having celiac or any kind of food intolerances (lucky) But I think that he's going to try a gluten-free diet for a while and see how it goes. I appreciate your good wishes, it is very frustrating - especially since we can't pin down the reason for the infertility - I fear that we are getting close to giving up.

[Ursa Major]

I have read (on a medical site, don't remember which) that gluten can cause infertility in both men and women. So, while I very much doubt that there will be gluten in sperm, causing YOU to be infertile as a result, gluten could cause HIM to be infertile!

Putting hubby on a gluten-free diet to see if it works is much easier (not to mention thousands of dollars cheaper) than other methods of trying to conceive. What have you got to lose?

Just don't make the mistake of having your husband use soy products, because they are known to decrease a man's fertility, too.