By Dr. Michelle Perro, MD

There was a time when couples were actively seeking to prevent pregnancy, having too many kids and deliberately trying to slow down family growth explosions. However, there has been a marked shift in family planning and there is no doubt that we have entered the era of infertility. The desire to create families has become a stressful and expensive experience for many.

What is driving the change in fertility?
A quick look at rates of infertility will help us understand the scope of the problem. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services ( www.HHS.gov ), 12-13 couples out of 100 have trouble conceiving, with over 33% causally found issues in both men and women. The remaining one-third are due to “undetermined causes”. (1) Global rates of infertility are also scaling up affecting 15% of couples, however, this number is an amalgam and may not accurately reflect specific countries or regions. (2) Surrogacy has become mainstream and there are now health practitioners that specialize in evaluating the health of potential surrogates.

“Undetermined Causes”
While conventional medicine is well-versed in the analyses of causes of infertility such
as sperm numbers/movement/shape and ovulation/uterine disorders or egg number/quality, root causes for both sexes from an environmental perspective are often overlooked. Standard treatments are often invasive, hormonally-driven an expensive/out-of-pocket. The hidden causes may lie in open view in our pantries and in our environments.
A toxic culprit in the fertility crime scene is glyphosate, the ubiquitous herbicide that has permeated our internal and external environments since 1974. Its application has skyrocketed since the introduction of herbicide-tolerant GMO crops in 1996. The list of untoward effects from glyphosate continues to mount and an impartial list is noted below:

Blocks the shikimate pathway in plants and gut microbes, causing deficiencies in amino
acids, neurotransmitters and folate
Induces leaky and inflammatory gut and disrupts digestive enzymes
Causes clostridial species’ overgrowth leading to neurotoxins that create excess
dopamine
Chelator: It prefers and binds tightly to manganese (disrupting the liver’s distribution of
manganese to tissues)
Causes glutamate toxicity
Blocks cytochrome p450 detoxification pathways in the liver
Class IIa carcinogen (IARC)

In relation to the issue of infertility, prepubertal exposure to glyphosate altered testosterone levels and sperm morphology. (3) Due to increasing weed resistance to glyphosate, the reintroduction of even more toxic herbicides such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) has reemerged with potentially equally disastrous effects on fertility. (4) It is worth mentioning that when consuming a non-organic diet, not just glyphosate is consumed, but a who’s who list of bad actors in the pesticide cast with an average of six pesticides per food is also on the playbill.
Other sources of pesticides exposures, other than dietary, are under-recognized. A look at our hobbies/recreation may reveal other important origins of toxic overload, such as golf. From a classic article written in 1995, golf courses in Long Island, NY, for example, were using a total of 20 fungicides, 21 herbicides and 8 insecticides. (5) Although there is now the development of “organic golf courses”, toxic fairways are still an issue and a complete history for toxicants should be explored when assessing a couple for infertility via the Environmental Health Questionnaire (EHQ) developed by NAEM, published April
2020, included at the end of this article for the reader’s review.
This report shares just some of the available information and possible sources of infertility. Without a doubt, it would behoove both partners to engage in a prepregnancy clean up at least six months prior to conception. A prospective study looking at fertility data on couples that have taken on the detox challenge and then have their subsequent fertility rates monitored would be beneficial for abetting the end of the era of infertility.
Although the effects of GMOs on fertility were not addressed specifically, there is no available data since we do not consume GMOs without their associated pesticides. However, there is available information regarding GMOs and their effect on health. (7) For more information on pesticide assaults on prepregnancy from a patient case perspective, tune in to the webinar with free access to NAEM members.

Sample of the EHQ on Pesticides (PE):

References:
https://www.hhs.gov/opa/reproductive-health/fact-sheets/female-infertility/index.html .
Agarwal A., et al. A unique view on male infertility around the globe; Reprod Biol
Endocrinol. 2015; 13: 37. Published online 2015 Apr 26. doi:  10.1186/s12958-015-0032-
Romano RM, et al. Prepubertal exposure to commercial formulation of the herbicide
glyphosate alters testosterone levels and testicular morphology; Arch Toxicol; 2010
Apr;8(4);309-17. doi: 10.1007/s00204-009-0494-z. Pub 2009 Dec 12.
Tan Z, et al. Toxic effects of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on human sperm function in
vitro; PMID; 2016 Volume 41 Issue 4 Pages 543-549; https://doi.org/10.2131/jts.41.543
Toxic Fairways: Risking Groundwater Contamination From Pesticides on Long Island
Golf Courses;
https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/documents/toxic-fairways-
1995.pdf
https://www.gmoscience.org/gm-bt-corn-caused-organ-damage-and-altered-
blood-biochemistry-and-threatened-male-fertility/.