In 2022, more than ever, infertility comes out of the shadows and emerges in the public debate.
3.3 million people would be affected in France, indicated a report submitted to the Ministry of Solidarity and Health at the end of February.
Professor Samir Hamamah, head of the reproductive biology department at Montpellier University Hospital is the co-author.
In an interview published Tuesday, March 22 in the columns of
Point
, the rapporteur of the first national plan to fight against infertility does not hide his concern for the future of humanity.
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A threat to humanity
"I already knew that our reproductive health was threatened, but it's more than that: the entire human species is in danger of extinction," laments the health professional to our colleagues.
And to add: “The most pessimistic scenarios foresee the extinction of the species in a century and a half.
Two centuries for the most optimistic”.
To reach this conclusion, Professor Samir Hamamah mentions a declining fertility rate.
To sustain a society, the latter must be 2.6 children per family.
However, “in France, the number of children per woman has fallen to 1.83.
In Portugal, Spain or Italy, it is 1.3”, notes the specialist.
And the finding is all the more alarming for China which "could lose 50% of its population" in the next 40 to 50 years, according to Samir Hamamah.
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Sperm impacted, late pregnancy desire
If infertility remains unexplained in 10 to 15% of cases, certain causes have been brought to light for the rest of those concerned.
Over the past thirty years, there has been a worrying decline in the quantity (over 50%) and quality of spermatozoa.
The age of the woman, increasingly late at the time of the parental project, is also singled out.
“Today, a 30-year-old woman has a one in four risk of encountering infertility problems.
At 40, it's one in two women, ”underlines Professor Samir Hamamah.
The track of an unhealthy lifestyle should not be ruled out either.
"Excess weight, stress, consumption of tobacco, alcohol or coffee in excess, or even lack of sleep: all of this is harmful to reproductive health", underlines the doctor.
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Prevent from college
To remedy this health problem, Samir Hamamah and Salomé Berlioux, president of the association Chemins d'Avenir, have formulated 21 recommendations in a national action plan.
Among them, the proposal for a "reprotoxic" logo on everyday products, intended to identify endocrine disruptors, these chemical molecules which interfere with the hormonal regulation system.
The creation of a national fertility institute, like the one for cancer, is also requested.
In terms of prevention, the preservation of gametes in the bank is strongly recommended for men aged 29 to 45 and women aged 29 to 37.
And this, without medical reason, as required by the implementing decree of the bioethics law.
However, for those who would then like to resort to PMA, the specialist reminds us that it is not “a miracle solution to all kinds of infertility”.
“In two out of three cases of infertility, it is ineffective,” he summarizes.
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According to the professor, it would be necessary to act well before the decision of the parental project, by informing adolescents from college about their fertility and giving them “keys to preserve their reproductive health.”
It is not “a pronatalist policy, he assures.
(…) It is no more and no less a matter of preserving the human species.
We have a collective responsibility.”