Does a Small Penis = Infertility?

Many men with a small penis (or what they believe is a small penis) worry about their penis size. Society places an absurd emphasis on a big penis, and this can make a man with a more modest endowment feel like “less of a man” – even though it is well established that factors like penis health and skill are ultimately more important to sexual satisfaction than penis size. Recent articles linking small penis size to infertility have now added to the discomfort of many men with shorter members. But should they really be concerned about this?

The background

In October of 2018, the internet was flooded with articles and postings that shouted that a man with a small penis is more likely to have infertility issues than a man with a big piece of equipment. What was the basis of this conclusion?

All the noise was generated by a study presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Conducted by scientists from the University of Utah, the study was a poster presentation (as opposed to a paper or oral presentation, which are generally longer and more detailed). For this study, the researchers looked at data from 815 men who were between the ages of 18 and 59 and who had visited a clinic between 2014 and 2017.

All of the subjects volunteered to be part of a Stretched Penile Length test, which estimates penile length when erect, and so penis length was part of the available data for this population. Of these men, 219 of them reported fertility issues as a reason for their visit to the clinic.

By scouring the data, the scientists were able to determine that the men with infertility problems had, on average, a smaller penis than the men who did not have infertility problems. Thus, a small penis was equated with infertility in the stories that circulated around the internet.

Not quite right

But that’s not quite right. For one thing, the average penis size of the “fertile” males in the study was 5.27 inches; among the “infertile” group, the size was 4.92 inches, which while smaller than the other group, still falls in the average range of penis sizes rather than in the small range.

There are other variables that also must be considered. For example, the study makes assumptions about the actual fertility of the fertile group. And among those men seeking reproductive help, the data doesn’t indicate if the fertility issue may lie with the female partner instead of the male.

The lead author of the paper also makes it clear that this is an early study which raises more questions than it answers and that its conclusions shouldn’t be considered definitive. He states that looking at a much larger population might bring about different results, and that there are many men with shorter penises who are equally or more fertile than men with longer penises.

So the long and short of it is that this is a study which indicates a possible correlation between penis length and fertility – but it only lays the groundwork for more studies to look at this possibility and to determine if this result holds up. In the meantime, a man with a small penis needn’t worry that his size is going to result in infertility. There are too many other factors at work.

Infertility is not a proven result of a small penis, but penises of all size benefit from attention to their health. Regular application of an excellent penis health creme (health professionals recommend Man 1 Man Oil, which is clinically proven mild and safe for skin) helps maintain penis care. A crème with vitamin A, which has antibacterial properties, can help banish persistent and unwanted penis odor. And if the crème also contains pantothenic acid (aka vitamin B5), it gets an added boost in maintaining cell metabolism and tissue health.