Preconception health and fertility advice is mainly oriented towards women.

While a man may attend a preconception appointment with his partner in a supportive sense, there may be little expectation from the man (or his doctor) that male preconception health advice should be forthcoming.

Certainly, a young man turning up for an appointment for an issue unrelated to his immediate fertility, for example, an STI check, may be surprised when a GP queries his plans for fatherhood — despite contraception and family planning conversations being common with female patients.

However, increasing awareness of modifiable risk factors that can affect both a man’s and a woman’s preconception health is important.^1,2