13 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJacqui WakefieldGlobal health reporter
BBCEvery morning, Simon starts his day in a sauna, with an ice pack strapped to his groin.
“I place it on the testicles in order to preserve high sperm count,” he says.
He believes the heat helps him sweat out toxins, improving his sperm function – but says he must take care to protect his testicles from the excessive heat.
The 28-year-old from Miami gets daily sunlight exposure, exercises regularly, only drinks filtered water and wears cotton boxer shorts – all part of a fertility-focused health regime which he follows despite any medical evidence to prove it works.
There is an element of truth behind these claims – environmental pollutants and heating the testes can impact sperm quality.
But it’s unlikely these steps Simon takes will make a massive difference to his fertility, although exercising will improve general health.
He is part of a growing number of men paying close attention to their fertility. On TikTok and Instagram, hashtags such as #malefertility, #semenanalysis and #sperm attract hundreds of millions of views, while online communities dedicated to improving sperm health have grown rapidly.
Simon is not planning to have children any time soon and doesn’t have a partner – he is more concerned with whether a low sperm count could affect his health.
He worries if he has low fertility it could affect something called the endocrine system, a network of glands and organs in charge of releasing hormones in the body.
But there isn’t evidence this is the case.
A low sperm count won’t trigger endocrine problems, although they may happen together in some people.
Male fertility experts around the world say they have seen an increase in the number of men requesting semen analysis and expressing concerns about their future fertility.
The experts believe this is partly due to concerns about the impact of testosterone replacement therapies (TRT), steroids and certain environmental toxins all of which can adversely impact hormones responsible for sperm count.
UK-based fertility expert Prof Suks Minhas says that there are pros and cons to the increased discussion around declining sperm and male fertility.
“It is important to raise the profile of male infertility. But are we fuelling that worry unnecessarily?”
Meanwhile, an industry of influencers and products are emerging in response, capitalising on this anxiety, he adds.
Like many others, Simon first became interested in fertility through social media, where influencers speaking about declining sperm counts sparked his concern. Yet he has never had a semen analysis and has no specific reason to think he has a fertility problem.
“It’s something that I’m generally scared of, so I choose to protect my fertility,” he says.
Getty ImagesIt was content from influencer Bryan Johnson that led to Simon “really caring” about his fertility.
Johnson, an ex-Silicon Valley billionaire, gained fame for wanting to live forever. He has been self-experimenting using controversial methods in an attempt to extend his lifespan for the last five years.
He claims he has four times the average sperm count according to five lab tests over the space of three months.
He promotes the unproven sauna and ice pack protocols to increase testosterone and sperm count, which Simon follows.
Johnson’s content – followed by more than six million people – drives his followers back to his website, Blueprint, where he sells supplements.
He is far from the only voice. Other protocols promoted by influencers without medical evidence have included certain supplements, red light therapy, and donating blood to “filter out” microplastics.
This kind of influencer content comes in the wake of wider discussions about declining birth rates.
Globally, birth rates have dropped from 4.9 babies per woman in 1950 to 2.2 in 2025, with 106 countries now below the replacement rate of 2.1, according to the UN World Population Prospects in 2025.
The US Secretary for Health, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has promoted some unproven health claims, recently spoke of a “fertility crisis”, arguing that in 1970, “men had twice the sperm count as our teenagers do today”.
Large-scale analyses have suggested a significant global drop in sperm count and quality since the 1970s, but it isn’t easy to make a direct comparison between young men today and the older men in the 1970s, age was not a focus of the study.
Overall, there is consensus that sperm count and quality is in decline, but some data suggests the decline may not be as drastic as feared.
According to a 2023 meta-review of falling sperm counts, the area is under-researched with the causes of sperm count decline and the impacts on birth rates remaining unclear.
Studies from 2024 and 2025 which looked at more localised populations in the USA and Denmark found no such drop in sperm count, and called for further research.
Meanwhile, manosphere-adjacent influencers like Andrew Huberman have discussed declining male sperm counts on their podcasts, with Joe Rogan warning of an impending “population collapse”.
But there are many non-biological reasons for the birth rate decline. According to the UN’s 2025 state of the world population report, 39% of people cited financial reasons for not having the number of kids they wanted, while one in five cited environmental and political instability.
Prof Channa Jayasena, a reproductive endocrinologist at Imperial College, London, believes there is room for valid concern around falling sperm counts, but says claims about male fertility problems are overblown on social media.
“There are certain challenges out there, but it’s far from clear what those causes are,” he says.
Despite the unclear picture when it comes to the causes of male infertility, unproven solutions are being sold across social media.
Naturopath Lucas is one of the health influencers whose content includes warnings about fertility rates.
“We’re seeing a worldwide epidemic, a decrease in fertility across the board,” he tells the BBC.
But Lucas’s concern comes with some misleading claims – for example, he told his YouTube audience that men would be infertile in 33 years, which is unsupported by scientific evidence.
He sells online courses, provides 1:1 coaching, and sells supplements for men looking to increase testosterone and fertility.
His social media content, which promotes some unproven fertility protocols, has gone viral.
“I recommend to guys to apply an ice pack up against his underwear, two to three times a day for about 10 to 15 minutes,” he says, claiming clients have told him their partners have fallen pregnant after trying this.
“This is more preliminary. I do think that it’s a viable enough strategy to give it a shot,” he claims.
When questioned about the unproven nature of his advice, Lucas said he believed icing the testes was a “promising intervention” but added that he would like to see more research.
NHS guidance on low sperm count does say tight underwear can increase the temperature of your testicles which may affect the quality of your sperm.
Lucas also advises followers and clients about healthy eating, sleep and exercise – steps which do have a strong evidence base.
Prof Jayasena recommends lifestyle changes to improve fertility.
“If there are any reversible things such as [quitting] smoking, such as [losing] weight and increasing physical activity,” he says, “that’s by far the best thing you can do.”
This increase in fertility advice from influencers comes alongside a rise in the number of men taking testosterone-boosting drugs.
But taking steroids and testosterone can damage male fertility.
To try to reverse this damage, influencers promote “stacks” of different medications – which they often sell on their websites.
These include fertility medications HCG and HMG. While these drugs are sometimes given for specific medical reasons, they are not designed for other people to use to “switch on” fertility.”
They can have dangerous side effects and can cause permanent harm when taken without medical guidance.
“It’s incredibly dangerous,” Jayasena says. “[Some] can cause blood clots, it can actually cause breast growth, which can be disfiguring if not treated promptly.”
We spoke to seven different men around the world who were all consuming fertility “stacks” to get their fertility back after taking TRT. Because it is illegal to buy drugs like steroids online, they requested anonymity.
One man told me he thought he would father “many children” once he “blasted HMG and HCG”.
ContributorJamal, not his real name, took high doses of testosterone and steroids for bodybuilding, which lowered his fertility markers. He stopped late last year when he and his partner started to think about having kids.
He found fertility advice from men who were having the same experience on online forums and YouTube, with many suggesting “fool-proof fertility stacks”.
After these did not help, he sought professional help and met reproductive endocrinologist Jayasena. Until then, he was not aware that taking these fertility “stacks” unmonitored could be dangerous.
Jamal has ceased all medication, including the fertility stack, under Jayasena’s advice. Six months later, his natural testosterone levels are improving, however, the hormone which stimulates sperm production is still low. He and his specialist are hopeful it will improve.
While increased awareness of male fertility is positive, it’s created a vacuum of information, Jayasena warns – meaning men like Jamal take advice from influencers because experts are not always accessible.
“It could, at the very best, actually distract them from doing the things that might actually help, but at worst it could actually get them to do things that are harmful,” he adds.
HealthFertilityMen’s healthSocial media influencersRobert F Kennedy JrSocial media
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