Smoking and infertility Smoking is known to be a health hazard leading to cardiovascular and lung disease. Smoking clearly has many harmful effects on fertility that have not been taken seriously. Smoking has a negative impact on conception and delivery. Effects of smoking on female reproduction: Virtually all scientific studies support that smoking has adverse effects on fertility. Smoking is associated with a higher incidence of infertility and takes longer to conceive compared to non-smoking. Active smoking by any partner has adverse effects, and passive secondhand smoke has only slightly less effect than active smoking, which studies have shown to be harmful to women’s ovaries. The degree of harm varies depending on the number of cigarettes a woman smokes and her age. Smoking appears to accelerate egg loss and reproductive decline, with the result that menopause may occur years earlier. Components of tobacco have been shown to impair the ability of ovarian cells to produce estrogen and have a tendency to cause genetic abnormalities in eggs. Smoking is strongly associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy. Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to have low birth weight babies and to deliver prematurely. The incidence of sudden infant death syndrome is also increased when someone in the family smokes. Among women who want to have an IVF pregnancy, smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers. Studies of in vitro fertilization report that female smokers are given higher doses of gonadotropins to promote ovulation than non-smokers. There are lower peak estrogens, fewer egg harvests, more cancelled cycles, lower implantation rates, and more failed fertilization cycles. Miscarriage rates are also increased. The adverse effects of smoking are more pronounced in older women. In conclusion, assisted reproductive technologies may not curb the reduction in natural conception associated with smoking. Effects of smoking on male reproduction: Male smokers have lower sperm count and motility, more abnormal sperm morphology and function, and the effects of male smoking on fertility are more ambiguous because of the difficulty of designing problem-solving studies. Although the effects of male smoking on fertility remain uncertain, the deleterious effects of passive smoking on female partner fertility and the evidence that smoking affects sperm quality suggest that male smoking should be considered a risk factor for infertility. A major investigation showed a significant increase in the chances of conception after quitting smoking for more than 2 months prior to attempting in vitro fertilization. Long-term smoking can have irreversible effects on ovarian function, but the adverse effects on treatment outcomes can also be partially reversed if swallowing is abstained from prior to infertility treatment. In short: the best available scientific information indicates that smoking is strongly associated with infertility. Couples with a history of infertility and miscarriage should be discouraged from smoking. Quitting swallowing improves natural fertility and the success of infertility treatment.