Search Here

Timed intercourse is the most basic treatment for failure to achieve pregnancy. But rather than helping couples conceive, the pressure to do it could make men experience impotence, and erectile dysfunction or could even cause them to be unfaithful to their partners.

A study published in the Journal of Andrology revealed that the pressure to perform at a particular given time, i.e during the most fertile days for their partners, drives men away.

In the study where 439 men who had been trying to achieve pregnancy naturally for a year took part, four out of 10  admitted being impotent when put under the pressure of having sex to conceive while one in 10 said it made them stray away and have an extramarital affair.

Couples are advised by fertility experts to time intercourse with the ovulation period of the women, but it seems that it increases the stress level in male partners and brings down the performance in even those men who have never had sexual problems before.

The research carried out in South Korea further supports previous findings that revealed stress lowers testosterone production in men.

"It is clear that the greater instances of timed intercourse trials, the more incidences of erectile dysfunction and extramarital sex and the greater the desire to avoid sex with the intended partner," the authors wrote.

 "I'm glad someone has studied this, as the single biggest concern for men - usually when their partner is not in the room - is that they really find it a struggle when their partners are obsessed with timing," Professor Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said, according to Daily Mail.

"While it is useful for couples to be aware of the fertile window, obsessing about it is not helpful at all. Men are being phoned up at three in the afternoon and told that the green light is on and they have to come home immediately." He added.

The authors suggest that couples trying to conceive should be aware of the negative effects of timed intercourse and should do so with breaks for a few months in between.