The impact of male factor on recurrent pregnancy loss.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The present paper reviews the current literature on the impact of male factor on recurrent pregnancy loss.

RECENT FINDINGS

Most clinicians focus their evaluation of recurrent pregnancy loss on the female, without much, if any, consideration of the other half of the couple - the male. Yet, the male contributes one-half of the genes for the embryo. Recent literature demonstrates that the male contributes to recurrent pregnancy loss due to genetic factors, semen factors or due to other factors such as age.

SUMMARY

Recurrent pregnancy loss results as a factor of a couple. This paper emphasizes the contribution of the male to implantation failure, miscarriage, and congenital anomalies suggested by recent literature. The current data are preliminary. With further investigation, evaluation of the male may be considered a routine part of the evaluation in the near future.