Why Coast men’s sperm is suffering
A bloke’s quest to look buff is creating problems later in life when couples try to start a family. In short, the junk they consume today is affecting their junk tomorrow
TO all the men parading around Burleigh with bulging biceps and puffed-up pecs, Dr Tina Fleming is waiting to see you.
The obstetrician and gynaecologist might be a specialist in women’s health, but when it comes to fertility, Gold Coast men are all too often the problem.
In fact, it seems our boys’ fixation with physical perfection is in fact killing off their own “boys”.
“Steroid use is really prevalent on the Gold Coast – and steroids kill sperm,” says Dr Fleming, co-founder and director of Grace Private for Women in Southport.
“We see a lot of couples come in who are struggling to get pregnant and steroid use is the reason.
“It can also affect their ability to even get an erection. Most of the time if they quit the drugs we can get the sperm count back up, but sometimes you have to use a sperm donor instead. It’s a big issue, especially in this city.”
But even with this dip in fertility for some of our young men, the business of babies is booming for Dr Fleming.
She says the Covid baby boom is alive and kicking for the Coast, with the city delivering 30 per cent more newborns than before the pandemic.
It follows a statewide trend with more than 64 ,000 n e w
Queenslanders born last year, the highest number of births in five years.
Dr Fleming says the Gold Coast’s bounce in baby numbers is due both to couples deciding to fast-track their family plans during lockdown and travel restrictions, as well as the simple fact that the city’s population is booming due to interstate migration.
“The more people we have living here, the more babies we’re going to have being born here,” she says.
“But the Covid baby boom is a real thing too – and it’s more than just people being bored during lockdown and without big holidays and having sex instead.
“I think it was a time that people really reflected on their lives and thought about what matters. It was also a time of a lot of fear and uncertainty and birth is all about hope and joy.
“We all felt like we needed something to look forward to and pregnancy is the ultimate when it comes to that.”
While birth is a big part of their business, the success of Grace Private parallels the boom in women’s health services in general.
Established in 2015 by Dr Fleming, Dr Tania Widmer and Dr Adriana Olog, Grace Private’s team offers obstetrics, gynaecology, fertility and ultrasound supported by physiotherapy, psychology, dietetics and a women’s health GP service.
Dr Fleming says since opening their doors, there has been a revolution in the way women’s health issues are viewed … although there is still a long way to go.
“It’s amazing that we opened with just the three of us and now we have a staff of 45 across two sites. It really speaks to how not just women’s health but the Gold Coast itself has changed. Women’s health is more and more at the forefront of conversation, we saw that in the federal election when Scott Morrison promised more funding for endometrio
sis. “That is such a victory, although really that is the result of some very heavy campaigning by our endo
warriors. It was women who had to make it happen.
“But even in general, it’s not quite as taboo anymore to speak out about women’s health, to talk about periods and menopause and perimenopause. And the more we talk about it, the more women who realise that it’s not okay to be buckled over in pain every month. We don’t want our daughters to live like that and they don’t need to.
“That’s part of the reason we’ve been so successful, women are realising there are options and they feel empowered to go seek them out. The other thing that’s really changed since 2015 is the city itself.
“Just look at our restaurants and hospitality scene, we are world-class now and our residents are sophisticated. I think that’s translated through to health care as well, women want that luxe, high-end boutique feel.”
Dr Fleming says founding a women’s health service was the next step in a career that she didn’t quite plan.
While the mother of two says she always wanted to be a doctor, she was determined to be an ear, nose and throat specialist … until she caught her first baby.
“That was it, it was totally addictive and it changed my whole course,” she says.
“Since then I’ve caught thousands of babies, but it never gets boring.
“Any mother knows that feeling when you give birth – your whole life is altered by that joy, you’ve never experienced such love and gratitude. It really is miraculous. Well, we steal a bit of that every time we catch a baby.
“But it’s also an honour to help women and couples through some of their lower times, especially with fertility care.
“The aim is to always bring them back to the heights.
“Just in the last few weeks I watched as a couple who had been with me for years, trying for their baby, finally succeeded. And they named their little girl after me. What other job gives you such a high?”
Dr Fleming says with the average age of first-time mothers increasing, along with fertility issues, she has crucial advice for the next generation of parents.
She strongly recommends that young women freeze their eggs in their 20s to save themselves heartache in their 40s.
“The average age for firsttime mothers is in our 30s now, but many are not ready until their 40s – whether that’s by choice or just how life works out.
“It is a battle if your eggs are the same age as you. That’s why I’ll be treating my own daughter to frozen eggs for her 21st birthday.
“It’s the ultimate gesture of female empowerment, it’s leaving every option open to you for the future. There’s no ethical dilemma, if that egg doesn’t become a baby it was only ever going to be a period.
“But it really is a golden egg for your future self. So that is my biggest advice to young women today, freeze those eggs.”
And for men, Dr Fleming’s advice is simple.
Stay off the steroids and save your sperm.
Since then I’ve caught thousands of babies, but it never gets boring