Are Vitamin D and Fertility Related?

Vitamin D has been getting a lot of press lately, with benefits that range from its role as a mood booster to helping prevent long COVID. What you may not know is that your reproductive health is also significantly impacted by vitamin D.

Vitamin D Plays an Important Role in Your Fertility

For men, vitamin D plays an important role in sperm production and quality, with some evidence that it functions in helping ensure the most high-quality sperm fertilize your partner’s eggs. Studies have shown that when men with low sperm count and deficiencies in vitamin D were treated with supplements, they were twice as likely as men who hadn’t taken vitamin D to father a child, even if their sperm counts hadn’t improved.

Vitamin D also plays an integral role in female fertility. It impacts the ability to regulate your hormones, helps your follicles mature, and helps your body regulate your menstrual cycle. Vitamin D also helps with embryo implantation, helps the placenta develop and function properly, and positively affects your baby’s development and long-term health.

Vitamin D Deficiency is Linked to Infertility

Without enough vitamin D, your body has trouble regulating your hormones, producing healthy sperm, ovulating properly, and sustaining a pregnancy.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a whole host of conditions that are known to cause infertility, including:

• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Autoimmune diseases
• Hormonal imbalances
• Cancer
• Menstrual irregularities
• Amenorrhea (not having your period)
• Ovulatory problems
• Type 2 diabetes
• Infections, including bacterial vaginosis
• Endometriosis

Many of these conditions improve through vitamin D supplementation and other dietary and lifestyle changes. 

Vitamin D is Necessary for a Healthy Pregnancy

Vitamin D helps prepare your endometrium for implantation, aids in the proper functioning of your placenta, and helps regulate your hormones throughout your pregnancy. 

Researchers estimate that around 70% of pregnant women are deficient in vitamin D, which plays a part in the following pregnancy complications: 

• Gestational diabetes
• Preeclampsia
• Miscarriage
• Chorioamnionitis (a serious life-threatening infection for both mothers and babies)
• Bacterial vaginosis
• Premature birth and low birth weight
• Intrauterine growth restriction
• Need for a cesarean section
• Pregnancy-related transient osteoporosis (bone density loss)

Inadequate vitamin D can also impact your baby’s long-term health and has been linked to such serious conditions as juvenile asthma, autism, schizophrenia, Type 1 and 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance. 

Vitamin D is Linked to Success Rates for IVF

Vitamin D helps your body with many of the functions necessary for in vitro fertilization (IVF) to succeed. 

The amount of vitamin D in your follicular fluid helps your preantral follicles to survive and your antral follicles to grow, which is crucial for egg retrieval. As your levels increase, (as long as you don’t get too much vitamin D), so do your chances of a successful pregnancy. Vitamin D also helps your body continue to produce anti-müllerian hormone (AMH), which is necessary to maintain your egg supply.

How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?

The recommended daily dose of vitamin D for most adults is 600 IU per day, though you may need a higher dose during pregnancy. Actual vitamin D needs may vary greatly from person to person based on the amount of time you spend in the sun, your ethnicity, the amount of vitamin D you consume in fortified foods, specific health conditions and medications you take–and even where you live. Given that your body naturally makes vitamin D from sunlight, it’s not surprising that vitamin D deficiency is common among people who live in northern latitudes.

Because your personal needs may differ from the standard guidelines, it’s important to talk to your doctor about how much vitamin D your body needs. At Reproductive Health and Wellness Center, Dr. Rosencrantz can do a simple blood test to tell whether you’re deficient in vitamin D, and how much you should supplement.

Boosting Your Fertility with Vitamin D

Multivitamins and prenatal vitamins typically contain vitamin D, and Dr. Rosencrantz recommends taking a multivitamin (for men) or prenatal vitamin (for women) when trying to conceive. Our team at Reproductive Health and Wellness Center also recommends spending time outdoors and eating fortified foods like full-fat dairy products, certain cereals, and fatty fish to boost your vitamin D levels. 

If you’re concerned about whether you’re getting enough vitamin D to support your fertility, Reproductive Health and Wellness Center provides nutrition counseling to ensure you’re getting all the necessary nutrients. Schedule a consult today with Dr. Rosencrantz to begin your comprehensive fertility care.