With so much in the news about all the high-tech ways to conceive, we’ve almost forgotten about the old fashioned way to get pregnant: having sex. But for many couples—especially men—this can be the most stressful fertility treatment of all. Fertility specialists routinely suggest that couples have sex during the most opportune window of the woman’s cycle. But according to new research, having to perform on a schedule has some pretty significant negative consequences for men, their partners, and their ability to conceive.
The study, just published in the Journal of Andrology, found that after six months of “timed intercourse” more than 40 percent of men suffered erectile dysfunction (ED) or impotence (none of the men in the study had a history of ED). The longer the timed intercourse went on, the more the guys would try to avoid having sex when the schedule called for it. Now for the most interesting—and disturbing—part of all: besides causing erection problems, the stress of having to perform like trained seals lead to 10 percent of the men in the study having extramarital affairs.
In a twisted way, this actually makes some sense. ED can be psychologically devastating to men. Being able to perform can restore lost confidence. Unfortunately, it can destroy a marriage.
The researchers conducting the study suggest that, in order to reduce the risk of both ED and affairs, that couples trying to conceive naturally limit their timed intercourse schedule to three months, then take a month or two break.
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