Looking to the Future: The Importance of Pre-conception Care Now, Not Later

Waiting Later

In recent years, more couples in North America have been choosing to delay parenthood, waiting longer to start or expand their families compared to previous generations. Many prioritize education, career growth, and financial or emotional stability before taking the next step into parenthood. Advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART), such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF), have also made later-life conception more feasible, reducing the urgency to have children at a younger age.

However, while the intention to have children remains, many couples may not realize the impact of their current lifestyle and environment on future fertility. The belief that fertility is something to address only when actively trying to conceive—perhaps five or ten years down the road—can lead to missed opportunities for optimizing reproductive health and minimizing potential challenges.

The Pros and Cons of Delaying Childbearing 

Waiting later to have children and focusing on building stability has many benefits including being better prepared to manage the costs associated with child-rearing and general family life, mental and emotional growth and maturity that comes with life experience, and perhaps feeling a bit more prepared for parenthood. Waiting later has the possible drawbacks of greater difficulty conceiving and carrying a pregnancy, increased risk of birth defects, and increased risk of post-partum depression. Sperm quality in males has also been shown to decline with age, which also can affect the pregnancy and health of the child.  

The Impact of Environmental Chemicals on Fertility

One often-overlooked aspect of reproductive health is long-term exposure to environmental toxins. Over time, our bodies accumulate toxicants from the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the personal care and household products we use. These chemicals can interfere with both male and female fertility, pregnancy success, and even the long-term health of future children.

Genetics also play a role in how well the body processes and eliminates toxins. Some individuals are more resilient, while others may be more sensitive and experience hormonal imbalances, reduced fertility, or other health issues due to toxic exposure.

Managing Environmental Toxins for Better Reproductive Health

Fortunately, many of these toxicant exposures are avoidable or manageable. With certain lifestyle practices, health-supportive habits, nutritional and other therapies, the negative effect of unavoidable toxicant exposures can be reduced. 

Different toxicants will have different effects on the body, all of them disruptive. Some compounds are easily neutralized and eliminated from the body and are less likely to cause long-term effects. Some compounds are less easily neutralized and eliminated or may take longer to do so and will exert more of an effect on health and fertility. Then there are other compounds that are either eliminated very slowly, or possibly not at all- leading to them being referred to as “persistent” pollutants. So as you can see, the more you can avoid, the better it will be for your health. 

Luckily, the body has many safeguards in place to protect itself and it will do its best to keep you healthy and functional. One way to support this process is to know where toxicant exposures exist and do what you can to avoid them. This includes reducing exposures to pesticides by consuming organic produce as much as possible, avoiding hormone disruptors such as those found in air fresheners and perfumes, and switching over to “cleaner” personal care products and cosmetics. In addition to the avoidance of toxicant exposures, adopting health-supporting habits such as maintaining a sleep routine in support of your circadian rhythm, getting regular activity, and consuming a nutrient-dense diet (being mindful of antioxidant, fibre, and protein content, etc.) will also have a protective impact on health and fertility. 

How Your Clinician Can Help

Beyond the basics of avoidance of chemicals where possible and maintaining health-supporting habits, your clinician can provide further guidance around lifestyle factors as well as specific nutritional and botanical supplementation to support general health and detoxification processes and help in the management of current health concerns such as menstrual and hormonal issues, insomnia, etc. 

If starting a family is part of your future plan, it is important to take some time to consider what can be done to reduce toxic chemical exposure now and moving forward, what sort of lifestyle habits may need to be modified, and what additional support may be required in order to improve your current health, reduce your toxicant burden, and support fertility.