Caffeine Affects Fertility, Study Shows

For those of us who rely on coffee to get through the morning, you may want to rethink that second cup if you’re trying to get pregnant. New research shows that caffeine may have an effect on fertility.

A study conducted on mice (which are known to have similar reproductive systems to humans) out of the University of Nevada School of Medicine showed that caffeine has a relaxing effect on fallopian tube muscle, which decreases its ability to contract. Without contractions, eggs can’t be passed into the womb, which could lead to greater risk of unsuccessful pregnancy or ectopic pregnancy.

Results of the study suggest that the amount of caffeine that caused infertility in the mice was roughly the equivalent of a human drinking two cups of coffee. Other sources of caffeine would be expected to have the same effect, as the study did not focus on coffee specifically.

This is not the first study that has made a connection between caffeine and infertility. A study conducted in 1993 and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology concluded that consuming three cups of coffee per day could lower fertility by 27 percent.

And according to study researcher Sean Ward, his research is far from conclusive and can’t really dictate an exact amount of caffeine that could inhibit a woman from becoming pregnant. “It depends on the person – how long caffeine affects you, and then the downstream of the effects as well,” he said.

He explained that caffeine affects people in different ways and would therefore have a different effect on each person’s fertility.

Ward next hopes to conduct research on caffeine and fertility on humans.