Without referring you to the many, many, medical sites, books and journals I immediately consulted on the subject, there is some belief that a certain vein that traverses one or both testicles can, in one way or another, affect the quality of sperm production. Operating on it may, or may not, improve sperm quality. In my case, a double varocelectomy was recommended.
I suppose everyone remembers their first time. I certainly do. I put on some mood music, dimmed the lights and proceeded to romance myself. Eager to please the laboratory (and myself), I marshaled my forces to climax, and then promptly fumbled the collection. Most of my contribution missed the container.
It's been a while since Natasha Beddingfield told us to "feel the rain" on our skin, but if you were in the Northeast lately, you might have swore the song was written this past week. However, just like the ground in Central Park, YourTango was saturated with juicy tidbits. From Rachel Greenwald sharing why he didn't call you back to YourTango's top dad of the year, there truly was something for everyone. But in case you were too busy running between the rain drops, here is this week's best, in case you missed it.
Celebrity stories to juicy to miss. Here's what else went down today in celeb-love-land. Justin cheats, Morgan Freeman has sex with granddaughter, and Neil Patrick Harris wants a kid.
In honor of Father's Day, we've collected the top 8 famous fathers who we think deserve recognition this year. These fathers juggle busy careers, love lives and the lives of their children with ease and grace. And most of them don't look half bad while doing it! Here's our list of the top famous fathers of the year (so far).
After dating and getting dumped, something was different with this guy, and I think Daddy knew. When Corley the cowboy called, my father answered and made a joke. When they met in person, Corley was quick-witted and Daddy was able to speak with him easily. I hadn't realized it, but this connection between my father and my man was what I had been looking for.
Becoming a father and stay-at-home dad puts a strain on a couple's marriage. "Even though we split many of the chores involved in caring for our son, my best energy, both physically and mentally, was going to our baby; my wife was getting the leftovers. She was understandably frustrated, but we both assumed it was just the natural process for a newborn. After a while, though, the position became untenable."
A father imagines his daughter's future boyfriends. "My elder daughter, who's 12, is just beginning to show an interest in boys, and since it's every man's dream to have his little princess marry a guy just like her father, I'm trying to craft a personal ad to attract the ideal candidate. Though my daughter's dating debut is 10 years down the line (at least), I find that I have a problem: I am horrified by the man I envision her with. Because, in reality, who the heck would date me? Then again, the kid could do worse..."
"The childbirth books speak of diminished desire post-birth and suggest lubrication, but nobody talks about the other possibility. What if sex were better? What if all of the inhibitions and disparaging thoughts that once filled our heads fled? What if the very act of childbirth forced them out?" How one couple's sex life improved after they had a baby.
Studies say that the quality of a marriage drops when a couple has kids, and rises when the children leave the nest. But, says one woman, if would-be-parents plan in advance, they might be able to avoid ruining your marriage. In fact, mom and dad might both end up loving the baby more than they love each other—and that's OK.
According to a recent study by scientists at the University of Queensland, a Hugh Hefner-aged father may actually be detrimental to the child's cognitive abilities. Out of a pool of 33, 000 children it was found that those with the oldest fathers consistently scored lower on intelligence tests. Unfortunately, no exact age was pinpointed as too old. Rather, the scientists just witnessed a general decline with more mature dads—66 being the oldest father in the study. While, yes, the reasons behind a low IQ score could most certainly be blamed on a myriad of factors, researcher Professor John McGrath said the results were "startling" and goes so far as to say the age of the father is as important as the age of the mother. While we always thought of sperm as evergreen, new research proves that older men "accumulate more mutations" in their swimmers as they age.
In a classic, made for Maury tale, Alfie (just 12 at the time) impregnated Chantelle, then helped her hide the pregnancy until her mom noticed her bump. The parents of these two baby-having babies came together to support the scenario, and are allowing the pair to have sleepovers as they struggle to raise their infant. Alfie's dad notes that the kid still seems completely confused by the situation, which makes total sense BECAUSE HE IS ONLY THIRTEEN. Dad says, "I will talk to him again and it will be the birds and the bees talk. Some may say it's too late but he needs to understand so there is not another baby."
A former three-sport athlete becomes a full-time father when he loses his job and becomes a stay-at-home dad. At first he doesn't know what he's doing and feels isolated from his friends, but it gets better. Spending time with his kids helps him communicate with his wife, he meets a new set of men who are also dads and he becomes and expert diaper-changer. "Being a househusband put this ex-sports jock in his place and showed me what it truly means to be someone's hero."
Liz Tuccillo talks to an Italian professor at Vatican University about keeping love alive through forgiveness and change.
When my shrink told me I seek out men like my father, I thought she just meant men who are psychologically similar! But it turns out scientists have discovered both men and women are physically attracted to partners who resemble their opposite-sex parent. The "sexual imprinting" study performed by the University of Pecs in Hungary examined 52 families of married couples and notes similar facial characteristics among wives and mothers-in-law, as well as husbands and fathers-in-law; the men had similar noses and eyes, whereas the women had similar lips and jaws. Score one for the Oedipus complex theory.
What do you call the in-laws? Mr. Smith? Bill's Mother? "Hey you?" Learn all the linguistic techniques for addressing your in-laws in this episode of "Love U".