On November 2, 2026, a survey from the London fertility clinic Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health (CRGH) and Examen estimated that about 600,000 men in the UK are taking steroids that can lower sperm counts, and that about a third of users don't know the drugs can affect fertility. Metro and Brit Brief both reported it the same morning. The figure covers prescribed steroids as well as black-market supply. Both outlets say unregulated use is growing because private clinics can prescribe for "fatigue" and gym-goers often buy from inside their own gyms. Neither the coverage nor the release includes the survey's methodology or sample size, so treat the 600,000 as an estimate from people with an interest in fertility services, not a national prevalence figure.

Why It Matters

Male fertility is where the testosterone boom catches up with men. Afterglow has tracked US testosterone prescribing [hitting new highs](/stories/testosterone-prescribing-resurgence-2026), Hims [adding injectable and oral TRT](/stories/hims-injectable-oral-trt-launch), and The Lancet [describing the manosphere as a commercial health harm](/stories/lancet-mens-health-manosphere-series). It is well established that exogenous testosterone and anabolic steroids suppress sperm production. The new numbers suggest that a large group of UK men, prescribed or not, are making that trade-off without knowing it. That creates commercial openings and a duty of care. Male-fertility diagnostics ([Path Fertility's NIH-funded test](/stories/path-fertility-nih-male-infertility-test), at-home semen kits) gain a clear screening audience. TRT platforms face a disclosure question: how prominently do they warn men who want children? UK regulators may face pressure over private clinics prescribing steroids for vague complaints like "fatigue." Watch for whether CRGH/Examen publish the methodology, and whether the MHRA or GMC respond on private hormone prescribing.

The release comes with a patient story. Brett Cole, 43, from Chatham, Kent, was told in 2019 that he had a zero sperm count after years of trying for a baby with his wife Ali. He says he had used steroids sourced through his martial-arts gym, where they were treated as the normal way to get fit. "Like most men, I thought I was invincible," he said. "I didn't even know male infertility was a thing until it happened to me." Because Cole already had a son from an earlier relationship, the couple didn't qualify for NHS-funded IVF. They paid for private treatment, including surgical sperm retrieval from the testicle, and eventually had a daughter. CRGH fertility consultant Dr Elpiniki Chronopoulou said male fertility problems "can often be overlooked, potentially delaying diagnosis and access to appropriate support."

The legal position is part of the problem. In the UK, anabolic steroids are Class C: legal to possess for personal use, illegal to supply, with supply carrying up to 14 years in prison. Possession isn't policed, so demand is met by gym dealers and, increasingly, by private "optimisation" prescribers.

The survey landed a day after The Guardian published a long interview with Manchester Metropolitan University reproductive biologist Michael Carroll, author of Your Nuts, about manosphere misinformation on testosterone and the "spermageddon" story. Carroll says the evidence for a long-term fall in sperm counts is real but uneven. He cites the Danish Young Men Study, which found no drop between 1996 and 2022, and an Irish dataset of 15,000 men (2008–2023) that showed a 23% rise in sperm concentration. He also notes that count alone tells you little about whether sperm work.

Sources

Update — 2026-11-02

Initial entry — story first created.