South-West men expose capital's gym blindspot: region leads UK in steroid fertility awareness while London lags behind

Men across the South West are leading England in reproductive health awareness, outperforming London and the South East when it comes to understanding the hidden biological dangers of gym culture, hormone therapies, and daily lifestyle vices

According to new nationwide research1 released today by leading regional fertility clinic BCRM (Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine), in partnership with male fertility diagnostic specialist Examen, six in 10 men (58.8%) in the South West know that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and anabolic steroids directly harm fertility. This places the region at the top of national awareness tables alongside the North West (58.2%), leaving London lagging far behind as England’s primary reproductive blind spot at just 41.3%.

Men in the South West also demonstrated a sharper biological awareness across everyday lifestyle threats. Over half (51.6%) understand that vaping impairs sperm parameters, compared to just 37.5% in London. In addition, South West leads the UK in knowing poor sleep damages sperm (49.7% vs 33.7% in London and national average of 41.4%) while also recording the country’s highest awareness that smoking (75.2%) and drinking (74.5%) harm fertility.

However, even though they are aware of the dangers of poor sleep, half of those questioned (52%) are actively damaging their sperm as they admit to suffering with sleep deprivation or chronic lack of sleep.

Timed to mark the launch of Men’s Health Awareness Month and National Fertility Awareness Week (2–6 November), the study of 2,000 UK males aged 18 to 40 reveals that an estimated 600,000 British men are currently2 taking hormone medication that shuts down natural sperm production. While illegal steroid use runs high in metropolitan areas like London (5.5%), South West usage is lower at 3.3%. Crucially, while nearly one in ten London and West Midlands males (9.6%) engage in extreme social media 'health-maxxing' trends, South West males prove far more sceptical, recording England’s lowest uptake at just 1.3%.

Yet, despite higher regional knowledge, the research exposes a critical nationwide blind spot among active hormone users. Across the UK, one in three men taking TRT or steroids (33.3%) had zero awareness that these medications can reduce their sperm count to zero. Worse still, knowing the risks doesn’t seem to deter everyone: more than a quarter (27.8%) of men who knew the dangers admitted they just don’t care, bringing total indifference among active users to 33.3%.

Beyond biological damage, the survey has also highlighted how an infertility diagnosis would cause a severe psychological and personal crisis for many men. Male factor issues account for roughly half of all conception struggles, yet receiving an abnormal sperm test continues to carry deep personal shame. Among men who want or are trying for children, 38.6% anticipate low mood, 36.1% anxiety, 33.1% reduced self-esteem, and 14.6% outright emasculation if told they were infertile.

Fear of their peer group only deepens the silence: more than a third of men (35.9%) can’t count on their mates for support, with one in nine (11.0%) expect outright mockery or banter. As a result, men continue to suffer in silence, with nearly half of men in the South West (45.4%) hiding an infertility diagnosis from the partner they are trying to conceive with. And over a quarter (26.1%) warn it would cause severe relationship strain, with 7.2% admitting they would think about walking away from their relationship entirely out of shame.

Nationally, the psychological toll is especially severe among younger generations. One in 11 men aged 18 to 25 (9.1%) say discovering a fertility problem would trigger suicidal thoughts, compared to 5.8% of men aged 36 to 40 (note: Anyone affected by these issues can contact Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.)

Too embarrassed to see a GP, men across the South West are also turning to ‘Dr ChatGPT’ in secret. More than a third of men across the UK (36.6%) search Google for fertility advice and nearly one in four (22.6%) ask AI bots – a figure which rises to 37% among those actively trying to conceive who risk unverified internet algorithms over proven medical facts.

The report highlights a simple fix to give men more information to make changes. Three quarters of men (75.5%) say they would happily take a sperm test if it was treated like a standard gym stat like body fat percentage, rather than an emergency doctor’s appointment.

Despite six in 10 men in the South West (60.1%) understanding that sperm degrades with age, four in 10 remain in the dark, helping drive an appetite for proactive family planning, with 43% of local men considering freezing their sperm as biological insurance against ageing and modern lifestyle damage.

Mrs Amanda Jefferys, Medical Director at BCRM, said:

"If you walk into any gym in Bristol, Exeter, Bath or Plymouth, you will see people tracking their workouts, logging macros, and pursuing peak fitness. While men in the South West clearly have a better grasp of reproductive risks than their peers in London, the broader gym culture is causing long term silent damage to their reproductive health.

"Whether it is an unmonitored private TRT prescription for low energy or gym-floor black market medication, introducing external testosterone tricks the brain into switching off the body's natural hormone production, which may cause sperm production to completely stop. You think you’re optimising your health, but from a reproductive perspective you are causing significant harm.

"The heartbreak is that most men only find out after twelve to eighteen months of painful conception delays, watching their partner go through invasive tests, or waiting months on an NHS referral list. A semen analysis takes ten minutes and gives you objective answers.

Fertility is not just a woman's responsibility, and getting checked shouldn’t carry any shame, it’s just another important stat to measure your reproductive health."

Tristan Taylor, head of commercial and partnerships at Examen, said:

“Men have never been more switched on about their health. They know their resting heart rate, their sleep score and their body fat to the decimal point. But almost none of us know a single number about our sperm, even though it’s one of the most sensitive signals we have of what’s going on inside the body.

“This research doesn’t show that men don’t care. It shows they don’t have the information. Three in four said they’d test if it felt like any other health metric, and that’s how it should feel. Sperm health responds to how you train, sleep and eat, and to what you put into your body. A lot of it can improve once you change course, but only if you know where you’re starting from.

“The answer isn’t to put men off the gym. It’s to give them a baseline, so they can see what their choices are actually doing and make decisions based on real data rather than whatever their feed is telling them. Testing should be something you do at 25 because you care about your health, not something you get sent for at 35 when you are in crisis.”

Notes to Editors

About the research

The omnibus research was commissioned by BCRM in partnership with Examen and conducted by independent market research agency, OnePoll. The survey polled a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK males aged 18 to 40 between 2 October and 8 October 2026. Data was weighted across age, region, and relationship status to reflect national census profiles. All statistics and sub-sample analyses are derived directly from the primary dataset.

Media contacts & patient stories:

For clinical interviews with Mrs Amanda Jefferys from BCRM or Tristan Taylor from Examen, spokespeople access, broadcast assets, or patient case studies, contact: Michelle Ivins at CJM PR: 07930 743990 – michelle@cjmpr.co.uk or Natalie Merrix at CJM PR: 07817 146333 – natalie@cjmpr.co.uk

BCRM (Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine)

Established originally in 1983 as a pioneering joint research project between the University of Bristol and Southmead Hospital, BCRM has been a cornerstone of fertility services in the West Country for over 40 years.

Operating out of its state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility in Aztec West, Bristol - alongside satellite clinics in Bath and Cardiff - BCRM treats over 1,000 NHS and private patients annually. The clinic specialises in a comprehensive range of fertility treatments, including IVF, ICSI, IUI, egg and embryo freezing, pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT), and dedicated donor programmes.

In October 2024, BCRM became part of the FutureLife Group, a leading pan-European provider of fertility, IVF, and genetics services.

BCRM consistently ranks as the top IVF clinic in the South West for success rates through the HFEA.

Examen

Examen’s core commitment is to help people become parents by providing accurate, reliable, and advanced diagnostic tests to support their fertility journey.

It is a world leader in male fertility testing, specialising in measuring Sperm DNA Fragmentation (SDF) damage to provide crucial insights into the likelihood of conception, miscarriage, and the success of fertility treatments.

It delivers all fertility testing from our laboratory in Belfast under the highest international standards, ensuring integrity and accuracy for both patients and clinicians. We hold dual ISO certification:

· ISO 13485 for Test Design & Development

· ISO 15189 for Laboratory Service Delivery

Its tests are also registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).