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Does anxiety affect fertility in men and women
Does anxiety affect fertility in men and women? Doctor explains link with egg and sperm health
Does anxiety affect fertility in men and women? Doctor explains link with egg and sperm health
Trying for pregnancy? Know how to manage your stress levels for better fertility outcomes.
Published on: Jun 28, 2026 4:38 PM IST By Adrija Dey Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Anxiety and stress are widely discussed in health-related conversations, mostly because of their extensive ramifications. Stress shows up in immediate pressures, such as tracking ovulation, undergoing fertility tests and intercourse timing, while anxiety, on the other hand, is more future-focused, what-if scenarios with fears around whether they will be able to conceive, and how long the journey may take.ALSO READ: Feeling stressed? 5 types of calming music you need to put on your playlist Couples who are trying to conceive experience a lot of stress. (Picture credit: Freepik) They are not solely emotional states, as they can affect physiological health as well, including reproductive health. Couples trying to conceive are often already riddled with anxiety and stress, so it is important to manage their turbulent emotional state for successful fertility outcomes. So, does anxiety directly affect fertility or is the connection more nuanced? For better clairty, Dr Manika Khanna, chairperson and managing director at Gaudium IVF, helped to break down how anxiety and stress may influence reproductive health in both men and women.
She first admitted seeing many cases where patients worry about whether stress will affect their ability to conceive. “The majority of couples who come to my clinic are concerned about whether stress is impacting their ability to conceive," she said, implying how common mental health distress is during this stage among couples.
How does anxiety affect fertility?
For both men and women, anxiety affects their sperm and eggs. And it all begins with cortisol, as per the expert, because with chronic anxiety, the body is in a state where it produces too much cortisol. How? She described “High cortisol in women may disrupt the gland in charge of ovulation, the hypothalamus. A stress biomarker is associated with slower natural conception time in women. Cortisol may also interfere with egg maturation by influencing the levels of two hormones that enable egg development, namely follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Similarly, chronic stress in men results in a decrease in their testosterone levels, which directly affects their sperm count and motility.”Can it cause infertility?
Since a negative emotional state may already interfere with fertility outcomes by affecting egg and sperm health, another question arises: can anxiety directly cause infertility? To this, she believed the connection is more complex. “Stress by itself does not usually lead to infertility. What it does is it causes hormonal abnormalities and behavioural changes,” she said. In other words, the impact of anxiety on fertility is not limited to cortisol or hormonal changes. It can also affect the daily behaviours that matter during the conception journey, from sleep and nutrition to intimacy and medical compliance. These repeated disruptions may gradually lower fertility outcomes. Dr Khanna further added, “I have witnessed a lot of couples who have had trouble sleeping, eating, being intimate, and even ignoring medical recommendations because of anxiety. In the background, those recurring habits are quietly responsible for a decline in fertility more than the stress hormone itself.”How to manage anxiety?
Do yoga to manage your stress better. (Adobe Stock) The expert stated that anxiety can be managed, and she observed that by adding small mental health practices, one can see big differences. She recommended small but consistent mental health practices to manage anxiety, such as doing 10 minutes of mindful breathing every day, engaging in moderate physical activity like brisk walking or yoga, maintaining open communication between partners to reduce performance pressure, and seeking professional counselling when anxiety begins to feel overwhelming. However, since zero stress is not entirely possible, Dr Khanna reminded that if you manage it well, the impact on fertility chances will be less. Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adrija Dey Adrija Dey’s proclivity for observation fuels her storytelling instinct. As a lifestyle journalist, she crafts compelling, relatable narratives across diverse touchpoints of the human experience, including wellness, mental health, relationships, interior design, home decor, food, travel, and fashion that gently nudge readers toward living a little better. For her, stories exist in flesh and bones, carried by human vessels and shaped through everyday endeavours. It is the small stories we live and share that make us human. After all, humans and their lores are the most natural and raw repositories of stories, and uncovering them, for her, is akin to peeling an orange under a winter afternoon sun. Always up for a chat, she believes the best stories come from unfiltered yapping, where "too much information" is kind of the point. A graduate of Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and an alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, Adrija spends her idle hours cocooned with herbal tea and a gripping thriller, scribbling inner monologues she loosely calls poetic pieces, often with her succulents in attendance. On lazier days, she can be found binge-watching, for the nth time, one from her comfort-show holy trinity: The Office (US), Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or Modern Family. Dancing by herself to her peppy playlists, however, is an everyday ritual she swears by religiously.Read More Fertility Mental Health Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crick-it, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Quizzes, Polls & much more. Explore now!.Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs. Home/Lifestyle/Health/Does Anxiety Affect Fertility In Men And Women? Doctor Explains Link With Egg And Sperm Health See Less
Anxiety and stress are widely discussed in health-related conversations, mostly because of their extensive ramifications. Stress shows up in immediate pressures, such as tracking ovulation, undergoing fertility tests and intercourse timing, while anxiety, on the other hand, is more future-focused, what-if scenarios with fears around whether they will be able to conceive, and how long the journey may take.
ALSO READ: Feeling stressed? 5 types of calming music you need to put on your playlist
They are not solely emotional states, as they can affect physiological health as well, including reproductive health.
Couples trying to conceive are often already riddled with anxiety and stress, so it is important to manage their turbulent emotional state for successful fertility outcomes. So, does anxiety directly affect fertility or is the connection more nuanced?
For better clairty, Dr Manika Khanna, chairperson and managing director at Gaudium IVF, helped to break down how anxiety and stress may influence reproductive health in both men and women.
She first admitted seeing many cases where patients worry about whether stress will affect their ability to conceive.
“The majority of couples who come to my clinic are concerned about whether stress is impacting their ability to conceive," she said, implying how common mental health distress is during this stage among couples.
How? She described “High cortisol in women may disrupt the gland in charge of ovulation, the hypothalamus. A stress biomarker is associated with slower natural conception time in women. Cortisol may also interfere with egg maturation by influencing the levels of two hormones that enable egg development, namely follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Similarly, chronic stress in men results in a decrease in their testosterone levels, which directly affects their sperm count and motility.”
“Stress by itself does not usually lead to infertility. What it does is it causes hormonal abnormalities and behavioural changes,” she said.
In other words, the impact of anxiety on fertility is not limited to cortisol or hormonal changes. It can also affect the daily behaviours that matter during the conception journey, from sleep and nutrition to intimacy and medical compliance. These repeated disruptions may gradually lower fertility outcomes.
Dr Khanna further added, “I have witnessed a lot of couples who have had trouble sleeping, eating, being intimate, and even ignoring medical recommendations because of anxiety. In the background, those recurring habits are quietly responsible for a decline in fertility more than the stress hormone itself.”
The expert stated that anxiety can be managed, and she observed that by adding small mental health practices, one can see big differences.
She recommended small but consistent mental health practices to manage anxiety, such as doing 10 minutes of mindful breathing every day, engaging in moderate physical activity like brisk walking or yoga, maintaining open communication between partners to reduce performance pressure, and seeking professional counselling when anxiety begins to feel overwhelming.
However, since zero stress is not entirely possible, Dr Khanna reminded that if you manage it well, the impact on fertility chances will be less.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
Source: HindustanTimes
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