Fertility: Abstain from intercourse 48 hours before IVF, men told

By Sola Ogundipe

For couples looking to 2026 as the year to start a family, a landmark study has identified a simple change that could significantly boost the odds of conception. Researchers have pinpointed that a man should abstain from ejaculation for 48 hours before providing a semen sample for IVF. The results rubbish traditional medical advice.

For decades, men were instructed to wait between two and seven days before providing sperm to ensure a high “count.” However, a new randomised controlled trial published in The Lancet suggests that just 48-hour of abstinence leads to higher pregnancy rates.

A team from the First Hospital of Jilin University in China studied nearly 500 men undergoing conventional IVF (c-IVF). Half the group followed the traditional multi-day wait, while the other half ejaculated exactly 48 hours before providing their sample on the day of egg retrieval.

The results were striking. The group with the shorter 48-hour abstinence period saw a clinical pregnancy rate of 54.4 percent, compared to just 44.9 percent in the group that waited longer. Ongoing pregnancy rates—those lasting past the 12-to-20-week milestone—were also significantly higher in the short-abstinence group, sitting at 46% versus 36%.

The researchers said: “To our knowledge, this is the first investigator-initiated prospective randomised controlled trial on the impact of abstinence duration on pregnancy outcomes in c-IVF.  Using the trigger-day as the last ejaculation time point, compared to the conventional timing, can improve the pregnancy rate in c-IVF. The CPR and ongoing pregnancy rate were higher in the trigger-day group.”

This shift in thinking comes amid a global “sperm quality crisis,” with research showing that sperm health has plummeted by nearly 50 percent over the last 70 years. Experts believe that while longer abstinence increases the volume of sperm, shorter abstinence may provide fresher sperm with less DNA damage caused by environmental factors and oxidative stress.

Despite the promising data, some experts urge cautious optimism. Dr. David Miller, a male fertility specialist at the University of Leeds, noted that while the 10 percent bump in pregnancy rates is “encouraging,” the ultimate metric of success remains the live birth rate—the number of babies successfully carried to term and delivered.

The study arrives at a time when male infertility is increasingly recognized not just as a barrier to parenthood, but as a “canary in the coal mine” for general health. Declining sperm quality has been linked to exposure to industrial chemicals and pesticides, which can lead to testicular dysgenesis.

Medical professionals warn that male infertility is frequently associated with shorter life expectancy and increased risks of heart disease and testicular cancer. While treatments like ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) boast a 70 percent success rate after three cycles, the underlying health of the father remains a critical piece of the puzzle.

The “48-hour rule” offers a rare, cost-free intervention for couples desperate to increase their chances in an increasingly challenging fertility landscape.

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