Ask Dr. Bill

Dear Dr. Bill,
My husband and I have been married for over five years. We want children but, no luck so far. We have been to our doctors for physicals but, except for a"low"sperm count found one time by my husband's doctor, everything was found to be normal.

One of our friends works in an alcohol rehab. He recently suggested to us that I might not be getting pregnant because we both drink too much. My husband was furious. I'm just confused, as neither of our doctors even asked us about our drinking habits.

Having two or three cocktails before and then some wine during dinner was routine in both of our families when we were growing up. We're no different, in fact, we often have a beer or two later in the evening. Do you agree with our friend?

Want to be a Mom- Demarest

Dear Want to be,
Like your friend, I am obviously biased....we both work in a world where, each day, we witness tragedies caused by excessive drinking. Although certainly important, the inability to reproduce is just one bad effect. As defined by the medical literature on addiction, you and your husband would be classified as heavy drinkers. Should you become pregnant, the direct toxic effects of alcohol on your husband's sperm plus, particularly if you should continue drinking, places your unborn child at very high risk for developing abnormalities... the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (F.A.S.) is but just one frightening example.

I am very disappointed (angry) that your doctors did not even attempt to get a history of your drinking behavior. Just consider these scientifically proven facts:

--In premenapausal women, chronic heavy drinking can contribute to many reproductive problems: cessation of menstruation, irregular cycles or cycles without ovulation. These effects can be the result of direct toxic action on the glands which produce the hormones which regulate the reproductive system ( e.g., the ovaries, the pituitary gland, the adrenals, etc.), or on the hormones themselves. There also are indirect effects through other disorders associated with alcohol abuse such as liver disease, pancreatic disease and malnutrition.

--Although most of the above findings were the result of studies of alcoholic women, other studies of women classified as "social drinkers" (three drinks a day) revealed a significant number with abnormal menstrual cycles and a delay or lack of ovulation.

--As for your husband, he is not off the hook of responsibility either. There are many studies indicating that heavy drinking can result in the inadequate functioning of the testes, resulting in hormonal deficiencies, sexual dysfunction and infertility. One study of normal, healthy men who received measured doses of alcohol for 4 weeks showed a drop in testosterone level (the masculinizing hormone) after only five days and continued to fall throughout the study period. Your husbands "low" sperm count certainly deserves rechecking, by the way. As I noted earlier, alcohol can directly effect the viability of sperm and its production. Alcohol interferes with the normal structure and movement of sperm by inhibiting the metabolism of vitamin A which is essential to their development..

I urge both of you to abstain from drinking any alcohol for the next three months. If either or both can't (or won't) agree to this simple step then, perhaps, you folks do have a drinking problem which needs to be addressed before you even think about bringing a child into this world!!

Second, get new doctors who, at the very least know what questions to ask and who, hopefully, will know what tell you to do once given the facts. Good luck!