Czech birth rate is falling: a urologist names the causes and trends

There are many reasons why fewer children are born in Czechia and why couples struggle to conceive. In the podcast “MUDrování” with Marie Klášterecká, urologist Viktor Vik named the main ones: the rising age of parents and a noticeable drop in sexual activity. In his view, the fight over the country's birth rate has already been lost.

The father's age matters too

The average age of first-time parents has risen, for both women and men. According to the doctor, men's reproductive health also “breaks down”: if the critical age for women is around 38, for men it is after 40, when sperm quality drops sharply. That does not mean fatherhood is impossible, but the combined age of the couple is taken into account.

Modern men, Vik noted, are more affected by external factors, and their semen analyses are worse than a hundred years ago. By itself, however, that fact does not explain why fewer children are being born.

Less sex means lower chances

The doctor sees a lack of sexual activity as the main problem. By his impression, young men have sex less often than before and find a partner later, which he believes is a global trend. Couples with conception problems come to him who have intimacy, for example, twice a month: in that case the chances of spontaneous conception are low.

Both partners need to be examined

A couple should see a doctor when conceiving does not work; how long to keep trying beforehand depends on the case and is best discussed with a specialist. It is important to examine both partners. Women go for checkups more often and earlier, but it should be the other way round. According to Vik, it is logical to start with the man, since his examination is much simpler. If the semen analysis is normal, the problem can be ruled out there with fairly high confidence. Among infertile couples, he says, the cause lies with the man in 50% of cases, with the woman in 50%, and effectively with both in 25%.

The doctor rates prevention in Czechia as very good, but believes that birth rates in developed countries will not rise. The experiments carried out around the world, which the Czech government is now trying to copy, in his opinion do not solve the main issue: it comes down to society's values, and those are shifting in many directions.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz