Surprise! There is a group of men called "abortion men"!

When it comes to abortion, people tend to instinctively think that it is a woman's matter and seems to have nothing to do with men. Zhao Guixin, deputy director of the Infertility Department of Foshan Zhongshan Hospital, pointed out that this is not the case. In medicine, there is a group of men called "abortion men" - "abnormal chromosome karyotype, abnormal sperm, and even age factors of 'abortion men' are important reasons for the embryo to stop developing and cause miscarriage after the couple conceives."

Wife's miscarriage, husband is the culprit

Mr. Li is 37 years old this year. As he is the only son in the family, the elders in his family hope that he can "carry on the family line" as soon as possible. However, for more than ten years, he has had a worry: he has been married twice but has no children. Five years ago, Mr. Li’s first wife, Ms. Zeng, became pregnant as she wished after marriage. However, not long after, she miscarried.

What Mr. Li didn't expect was that the second and third children could not be saved. Family members blamed Ms. Zeng for being too pampered and unable to keep the baby, saying she must have habitual miscarriage. Because they had no children, the couple often blamed each other and finally got divorced. Afterwards, Mr. Li got married again, but he didn't expect that his second wife also got pregnant twice, but both ended in miscarriage due to embryo arrest.

Mr. Li took his wife to the hospital for a check-up, but no results were found. At the doctor's suggestion, Mr. Li also underwent a full-body examination. The results surprised him. It turned out that he was the culprit that caused his wife's miscarriage.

Chromosome and sperm abnormalities create "abortion men"

"Habitual miscarriage may be caused by male factors because the genetic content of male gametes accounts for half of the embryo." Director Zhao Guixin analyzed that the abnormal chromosome karyotype of Mr. Li's sperm was the root cause of his wife's repeated miscarriages. "The sperm chromosomal abnormalities of 'miscarriage men', such as abnormal quantity or structure, or gene mutations, or reduced semen quality can all lead to abnormal embryo development and cause miscarriage in their wives."

Director Zhao Guixin emphasized that sperm motility and quality may affect conception and abortion rates. "Foreign scholars have investigated sperm quality in detail and found that weak sperm quality is related to recurrent early miscarriage. It has been reported that the incidence of recurrent miscarriage in oligospermia and polyspermia is 37.6% and 20.0%, respectively. An increase in abnormal sperm can also cause recurrent miscarriage."

It is reported that sperm provides 50% of the genes for the embryo. In addition to the function of conception, the role of sperm genes runs through the entire process of embryonic development. The conception function is an early effect of sperm, while the role it plays in embryonic development, which is the process of female pregnancy, is a late effect of sperm. "If the sperm's genetic material DNA is damaged, it may not affect the sperm's ability to conceive. The sperm can meet and combine with the egg, and the woman will still get pregnant normally. However, in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, the sperm DNA late effects are abnormal, which can cause the embryo to stagnate and lead to miscarriage."

Director Zhao Guixin said that the commonly used indicator for judging sperm DNA damage is the DNA fragmentation index (DFI for short). The DFI of excellent sperm should be below 15%, 15%-25% means that the sperm is still good, and more than 30% means that the sperm DNA is severely damaged. The sperm DFI of "men who have had miscarriages" is often above 25%. She reminded that it is difficult to detect abnormalities in the male's semen routine, sperm morphology and sperm chromosomes, so they are easily missed and ignored.

The immune system and age cannot be ignored

Director Zhao Guixin introduced that the fetus' genes come from half each of the parents. The half from the father is a "foreign body" to the mother's body, and the human immune system has a self-protection function. When faced with a "foreign body" in the body, the human immune system can easily reject or even kill it, leading to spontaneous abortion. Immunity aspects include human leukocyte antigen (HLA-G), anti-sperm antibodies (ASAb), ABO/RH blood type antigen system, etc. Therefore, couples with habitual miscarriage should undergo systematic examinations in clinical practice.

"Another factor that may be overlooked in 'men who have abortions' is the man's age." Director Zhao Guixin pointed out that as adult men age, their fertility gradually declines. In aging men, testicular tissue may gradually atrophy, daily sperm production may decrease, the morphology of testicular reproductive tissue may change, and cell mutations or aneuploidy may increase, resulting in decreased sperm quality (especially motility), decreased pregnancy rate, increased miscarriage rate, increased autosomal dominant genetic diseases in offspring, and increased fetal mortality. "Age-related miscarriage is related to the decline in sperm quality, especially sperm motility and deformity rate."