Infertility and Obesity
Obesity can disrupt hormonal balance and ovulation in both men and women, but weight loss can significantly improve fertility.
Plain English
Patient-Friendly Explanation
Carrying excess weight can affect your ability to conceive because body fat influences hormone levels. In women, obesity can disrupt ovulation and menstrual cycles; in men, it can reduce sperm quality and testosterone levels. The encouraging news is that losing even 5–10% of your body weight can improve fertility and increase the chances of a healthy pregnancy.
Medical
Clinical Definition
Obesity impairs reproductive function through multiple endocrine pathways. In women, excess adipose tissue increases peripheral aromatisation of androgens to oestrogens, disrupting the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis and leading to anovulation. Obesity is the primary driver of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine cause of female infertility. In men, obesity is associated with reduced total and free testosterone, elevated oestradiol, impaired spermatogenesis, and increased sperm DNA fragmentation. Weight loss of 5–10% has been shown to restore ovulation in over 60% of anovulatory women with obesity and to improve both spontaneous and assisted reproduction outcomes.
Key Insight
Why It Matters
For couples struggling to conceive, weight management may be one of the most effective and least invasive first-line interventions. Dr. Joseph Wang and the Accord Medical team provide medically supervised weight loss programmes that can help improve your fertility and set the foundation for a healthy pregnancy and child.
Sources
Reviewed against standard medical references.
Medically reviewed by
Family Physician & Registered Acupuncturist, Accord Medical Clinic. MBBS (NUS), Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine (NUS), Graduate Diploma in Acupuncture (Singapore College of TCM).
Last reviewed: August 2026
This page is general health education, not medical advice. Whether any treatment is appropriate for you is a decision made in consultation after assessment.
