THE number of European couples who struggle to have children will double in a decade, an IVF expert said yesterday.

Four threats to fertility will increase the proportion of couples who need help to start a family, according to Bill Ledger, of the University of Sheffield and Jessop Hospital.

The rising age at which couples first try for a baby, the increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and obesity are all triggering infertility, especially among women, he told the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Copenhagen. There were also indications that male sperm counts and quality are in decline.

One in three couples could suffer infertility in ten years’ time, compared with about one in seven today, he predicted.

“You have an ageing population who are trying to have children later,” he said. “There is a major increase in STDs, which can reduce female fertility with a ten-year time lag. You have a huge increase in obesity, which can interfere with ovulation, and there is also the possible decline in male fertility, though this is heavily debated.

“About one in seven couples is infertile now, and put these together and it could be as many as one in three or four. It is going to become a major political issue.”

Professor Ledger said Britain was clearly going to be affected, though the situation in this country may not be as bad as elsewhere in Europe. Action to tackle obesity and sexually transmitted infections was already being taken, he said.

Family-friendly policies were also needed to ensure that young women could take career breaks to have children while at their most fertile.

“I love IVF,” Professor Ledger said, “and perform it every day. But if you could avoid it, it is worth doing so.”

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