Blog written by Laboratory Staff JH

I recently finished reading a book titled “Stuck in the Middle” by Virginia Smith simply from the interest that I am a middle child myself, and have two sisters who are very different individuals than me. While feeling that I could finally relate to someone who feels that same pressure and overwhelming need to fight for attention as a middle child, I found that I could completely understand the thoughts falling upon the main character’s younger sister, Tori. She is a strong individual who doesn’t want to settle for a commitment with a man until she herself feels emotionally stable and ready to give up her luxurious lifestyle. She places heavy blame on her hesitant nature with relationships on the basis that their father left the family years before after marital issues with their mother. There is a part in the book where the sisters are discussing their future hopes for their own families as the younger two sisters consider their older sister’s current pregnancy:

Allie’s hand curled around her tummy, “But don’t you want to have kids someday?”

Tori shrugged, “If I do, I’ll just visit a sperm bank. That way, no one gets hurt.”

When I read this part of the book, I wasn’t shocked so much at the bluntness of the comment, but more so at the actual legitimacy of it. In all actuality, it is completely possible for a strong, single woman to make the decision to have children on her own, although that woman may have different reasons as to why she would choose to endeavor a sperm bank on her own. It can be understood that starting this process can entail a large financial obligation, but it is a whole different commitment to make as a solo individual. Nonetheless, it creates options for individuals, and certainly provides options to more individuals than just single women. My feeling is that the idea of sperm banks should not be expressed so simply and subtly as a “quick solution,” but that it gives hope for so many individuals, partners, and infertile couples. This option allows them to knowingly and happily answer the question Allie asked her sister before:

“But don’t you want to have kids someday?”

And each person can confidently say, “Yes, and I/we will!”

Blog written by Laboratory Staff Nisha

We have all heard about how cell phones may be linked to brain cancer. I recently came across a study which now links cell phones to a decrease in sperm quality. In a study done at an infertility clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, 371 men were put into groups based on daily cell phone usage. The study found that men who did not use cell phones daily had a much higher sperm count, motility, viability, and morphology than those who did. Further more, these sperm quality factors declined more as cell phone usage increased among the groups.

Of course this study has its flaws, as does every study. The researchers didn’t actually keep track of how much the men used their cell phones during the study. The grouping was done solely based on previous usage. They also didn’t consider where these men kept their phones when not in use. Cell phones that are on though inactive still transmit signals, and every guy that I know keeps his phone in his pocket or clipped to his belt. The study also stated that each cell phone – depending on the carrier company and type of phone – transmits electromagnetic waves of different lengths, but they did not look into how these varied wavelengths affect sperm quality. The researchers do address some likely reasons as to how cell phones interrupt spermatogenesis, but only through speculation and not actual research.

Because there are so many holes in this study it opens doors for new ones to occur. An article in the February 2011 issue of Scientific American points out that cell phone radiation’s effect on tissue temperatures should also be looked into. This makes sense because spermatogenesis uses enzymes that function at lower temperatures than enzymes found elsewhere in the body, which is why the male reproductive organs are located externally. We often see that in the summer, donors are more likely to produce sperm samples that do not meet our high standards, and this is probably why.

Not only would I like all of the aforementioned issues addressed, but I’d like to see how female fertility is affected as well. I don’t normally carry a purse, so my Blackberry stays in my front pocket all day. It seems unlikely to get everybody to stop using cell phones as much as we do, but even if that were possible what would we do about all of the wireless internet signals and other electromagnetic waves travelling through the air that we never think about?

The published study discussed in this post can be found at: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/reproductiveresearchcenter/docs/agradoc239.pdf