Recently, I saw an article about marijuana use in men leading to an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, so I wanted to look more into the type and frequency of birth defects caused by men. In this episode we’ll be discussing the gendered basis of infertility, the assumption that the woman is always the “defective” one, and looking into a case study in Pakistan to understand how badly this can affect women worldwide. I also neededdd to talk about the hypocrisy with blaming women for waiting too long to have kids, when paternal age can actually be just as damaging. Hope you’ll learn something new!
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TikTok: tiktok.com/@intoodeepod
Resources ~
Auteri S, (2018) “People Always Assume Infertility Is the Woman’s Fault” Vice
Fang Y, et. al (2020) “Effect of paternal age on offspring birth defects: a systematic review and meta-analysis” Aging (Albany NY)
Harlow AF, et. al (2021) “Male Preconception Marijuana Use and Spontaneous Abortion: A Prospective Cohort Study” Epidemiology
Mothuk A, (2023) “The perils of putting off fatherhood: why it poses risks to children’s physical and mental health” The Guardian
Mumtaz Z, et. al (2013) “Understanding the impact of gendered roles on the experiences of infertility amongst men and women in Punjab” Reproductive Health
Skiadas C, (2022) “Did You Know? Infertility Affects Men and Women Equally” Penn Medicine, Lancaster General Health
Vignozzi L, (2024) “Why couple infertility is historically a female-driven problem?” Andrology
