In May, the government set up a committee to find the reason for the low birth rates. The background was what Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) characterized as a puzzle: Why do Norwegian women and men have fewer children than they want – when we have the most generous support schemes in the world? So far, the hypotheses have revolved around structural and societal conditions (see below). In the new book “Permen om spermen”, the authors Anette Heggemsnes and Camilla Keim turn their attention to a factor that has been less discussed: the sperm quality of Norwegian men. – We are deeply concerned about the decline in sperm quality, says Heggemsnes, who works daily at the Frøyaklinikken. – If the sperm cells are to be able to take the long journey through the vagina, uterus and out to the fallopian tubes, they must be fit for the fight, say Anette Heggemsnes and Camilla Keim. Photo: Calidris forlag Theories about the low birth rates Various hypotheses have been launched to explain the low birth rates: It is a question of a ruined housing market, which banishes young people in the establishment phase to small flats with no room to romp. It is about a ruined and tinderified sex market, where the algorithms stimulate the opposite of fidelity and nest building. It is about the education revolution, which extends youth well into their 30s. It is about the financial incentives in the welfare schemes, which reward those who make a career before they become parents. The result is first-time mothers who are pushing 40. The point is that starting a family has become a “lifestyle choice” instead of fate and spontaneity – something young couples just did without thinking about it. This spring, another explanation emerged: It is about young couples being frightened by all the laments about how tiring it is to have children. For example: Is it a real holiday if you are forced to drag the children with you on a trip, with all the sacrifices that entails? – Can’t bear to have sex so often Last year, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) sounded the alarm when a Danish study said that one in five young men “shot with loose powder”. – We see a good number of men who have no sperm at all, said director of the FHI, Per Magnus, when he saw the study. If the sperm quality wasn’t bad enough, it is also a sign that there is something wrong with the sex drive. – More and more younger men say that they cannot bear to have sex that often, says Heggemsnes. She blames pesticides and hormone inhibitors in environmental toxins, which go beyond testosterone levels. In an essay in Morgenbladet, the “sex reaction” among youth and young adults (“generation z”) is explained as a cultural counter-reaction to the sexual revolution of the 1960s: Desire disappeared when the language of contracts and demystification took over. 20 men come here every day to deliver sperm samples. Most of them because they have not been able to fulfill their dream of having children. In 2017, Niels Jørgensen was co-author of an international study which stated that the number of sperm among men in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand had decreased by 59 per cent in the period 1973–2011. Like the “Permen om spermen” authors, Jørgensen believes that the biological trace has been under-communicated in the conversation about falling fertility rates. – Demographers say that it is socially based. Economists say that it is financially sound. The reality is that all factors come into play, he says. – Just think of the large number who need fertility treatment. For them, it is quite obvious that biology is the obstacle. Niels Jørgensen is a daily senior physician at the Danish National Hospital. – The Norwegian fertility studies are 20 years old, but there is no reason to assume that the number has improved, he says. Photo: Helge Carlsen / news – Men should be better at taking care of their health The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has claimed that there are mainly “social reasons, not biological” why the birth rate has fallen. Jon Wegner Hausken, who is manager at Klinikk Hausken, says the same. – Men should be better at taking care of their health, but fewer births come from the fact that we have moved this process of starting a family up into our 30s, he says. Trine B. Haugen is professor of biomedicine and head of the research group Reproductive Health in Men. She emphasizes that the research is not clear-cut, symbolized by a new Danish study which says that sperm quality has not gotten worse in the last 20 years. In 2002 she published a study that Norwegian (and Danish) men have poorer sperm quality than our Nordic neighbors in Sweden, Finland and the Baltics. As long as there are no follow-up studies that follow Norwegian men’s sperm quality over time, she does not want to advance how things are today, beyond being “a little concerned”. She adds: – But there should be more attention around male reproduction. Aleris Fertility Sarah Bastienne Spallek-Halvorsen, gynecologist and andrologist at Aleris Fertility – When women on average are able to have children later in life and the man’s sperm quality has decreased, the biological factor becomes no less important. Fortunately, there is a lot we can do to improve the man’s sperm quality and increase women’s chances of having children – both by themselves and with the help of a fertility expert. This is where the focus should be. Amalie Huth Hovland Peter Fedorcsak, head of department at the Department of Reproductive Medicine, Oslo University Hospital – We need to talk more about sperm quality, but not because fewer children are born. We need to talk about sperm quality because the research is unclear and without concrete proof that it is actually getting worse. For the same reason, it is too early to conclude on any connection between sperm quality and the number of child births. Another nuance is that fewer and fewer people smoke, which affects sperm quality. Veronica Turnage Guri Grimnes, head of the Tromsø Endocrinological Research Group – It is well documented that there has been a large reduction in sperm count in recent decades. This is of course very worrying. Some of the explanation may lie in lifestyle factors such as obesity, but there is also reason to believe that many of the chemicals we surround ourselves with play a significant role. Research into this, which can phase out and ban substances with harmful effects, is very important, and it is urgent. Sonja Balci Trine B. Haugen, professor of biomedicine – The age of the woman and socioeconomics are what matter most for the low birth rates. But still – and in line with the precautionary principle – attention should be paid to other conditions, such as medical ones. After all, there is also a large offer of assisted fertilization that can compensate for and camouflage the status of sperm quality. Published 14.06.2024, at 18.01
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An overlooked factor in the discussion about low birth rates – news Vestland
