Women are bombarded with messages about their reproductive health. Why not men?

We have a surprising knowledge gap about how men’s bodies and behaviors affect their children.

Perspective by Rene Almeling

Rene Almeling, an associate professor of sociology at Yale University, is the author of "GUYnecology: The Missing Science of Men’s Reproductive Health."

June 16, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

An illustration of sperm cells fertilizing an egg cell. (iStock)

Every few years, a new study appears sounding an alarm about dropping sperm counts, cuing sensational headlines about the end of men and scholarly concerns about the robustness of the data. Yet amid all the debate about the number of sperm, there has been much less attention on the emerging science of what’s happening inside these little cells, and how a man’s age and health can damage the genetic material in sperm.