Most people would tell you that smoking causes cancer and affects the lungs. Doctors would insist you kick the habit during pregnancy. A five year old could tell you that smoking is bad for health. But did you know that it could determine your ability to conceive and become pregnant? Smoking and fertility are closely related.

For all the anti-smoking campaigns our world is bombarded with, little has been said on the negative effects of smoking on fertility.

Here are just some of the ways that the smoking habit interferes with your ability to conceive and enjoy a healthy pregnancy...

• Components of smoke, settle in the developing eggs of women and testicles of men, leading to the reduction in the amount of eggs and sperm available for fertilization.
• Smoking may lead to the destruction of eggs in ovaries before maturity.
• The quantity of oestrogen produced by a smoking woman’s body is expected to be lesser than those of non-smokers.
• Smoking causes vaginal dryness, among other sexual problems.
• Smoking affects and is known to cause disease in the fallopian tubes.
• Smoking may cause the woman’s eggs to be prone to genetic issues.
• Smoking may affect the embryo’s ability to implant itself in the uterus.

And that’s just the tip of the ice-berg. New researches and studies uncover more and more smoking-related, fertility-horror-stories every day, but hardly any of this, gets through to the public.

So who is at risk of smoking-related fertility problems?

The simple answer is anyone who smokes. While the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the number of years spent smoking make a significant difference to the nature of impact on fertility, it will be safe to assume that any amount of smoking has a lasting effect on one’s ability to conceive. Also, the older the woman, the higher the risk… Research further indicates that women who smoke require twice the number of attempts at in-vitro fertilization as non-smokers and require much higher doses of gonadotrophins for the stimulation of ovaries.

Other consequences include lower peak estradiol levels, more cancelled cycles and fewer eggs available for fertilization. Also, men who smoke have a lower sperm count and abnormalities of shape and function are a lot more commonplace.

While little can be done to counter the effects of long-term smoking, couples who kick the habit a couple of months prior to attempts at in-vitro fertilization are expected to have much better chances at conception.

So here’s the gist – Smoking destroys. Be it your lungs, general health or ability to conceive, this is the last habit you want to cling to if you’re even remotely considering babies any time in the distant future.

Kick the butt. You owe it to yourself and your unborn children.