men's health

When a woman becomes pregnant, her whole life gets turned upside down. She can't drink alcohol or use THC or, in some cases, even have caffeinated coffee anymore. Her body changes size and shape rapidly. She'll feel exhausted and nauseous much of the time. And she has to eat enough food to feed an extra person, take vitamins every day, and be poked and prodded by her OB around 20-some odd times over the span of her pregnancy. It's a lot to go through, all to make sure the baby is as healthy as possible.

Dads, by comparison, get off pretty easy. After the whole conception part, their main job is just to support mom and make sure she has everything she needs. It can be a lot of late night Taco Bell runs, but otherwise, it's a pretty chill job until the baby arrives.

One husband recently went viral when he advocated for a more hands-on, and some say extreme, approach from dads well before they even start trying for a baby with their partner.

"Men should have to spend nine months getting in the best physical shape of their lives before having a baby," Hunter Leppard tells his wife Maya in a TikTok video.

He goes on to note that several elements of pregnancy, and potential complications, are tied to the father's sperm health.The science backs him up on most of this. Pre-eclampsia, for example, may be tied to faulty sperm. The father's sperm also play a role in the development of a healthy placenta that can deliver oxygen and nutrients to the developing baby. Who knew!

"So if you're going to spend nine months following all of these rules while building a baby inside of you, then I can spend the nine months prior to that not drinking alcohol, limiting caffeine. I'll get blood work, I'll have three healthy meals a day. I will be in the best physical shape of my life prior to you getting pregnant, for the betterment of you and your pregnancy and our baby. It's common sense."

Watch Hunter's full passionate plea here:

I have two kids and I don't think anyone has ever talked to me once about sperm health and how it affects pregnancy.

Why are we not having a bigger conversation about this? Why is the onus of maintaining a "healthy" pregnancy completely laid at women's feet? They have enough to deal with!

Commenters on the now viral video had the same thought:

"Why aren’t we TAUGHT THIS! It’s so obvious I should know but never heard it said until Tik Tok of all things!" one user wrote.

"Why is nobody talking about this?" asked another.

Some women chimed in to say that their own partners did this already, and they were grateful for it:

"My husband quit smoking, limited caffeine, and drank more water then also abstained during the entirety of my pregnancy, it's empathy, and compassion."

"Yes! 👏 Some men actually do the work. My husband lost 30lbs, and prioritized eating healthy and specific fruits to ensure I’d have a healthy pregnancy after we had a miscarriage before our daughter."

"My husband stopped smoking, drinking, and started eating really healthy before we started trying. My pregnancy has been pretty dang smooth!"

"My husband actually cut out caffeine, beer, and ate healthier in order for us to get pregnant this last time.. I’m now 4 months pregnant with the boy we’ve been wanting and my pregnancy is much easier than the first two!"

It's truly amazing that sperm health can impact "embryo development and implantation, the risk of miscarriage, the likelihood of pregnancy complications, birth weight and overall fetal health, and the inheritance of certain genetic mutations," according to a Yahoo Life article. And all it took for us to learn about it was a viral TikTok.

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Knowing, as GI Joe says, is half the battle. The other half is actually getting guys to follow through on this knowledge. Sadly, it's not a given that they will. Men are notoriously cranky about wearing condoms and, as a group, prefer women to be the ones responsible for birth control. There might be a male birth control pill one day, and surveys show guys would be up for it, but... we'll see. Likewise, pregnancy has always been viewed as something that women do and go through, so adjusting that programming could take a little work.

Hopefully we can get to the point where men taking a proactive approach to pre-pregnancy is a standard practice. And no, you don't need to spend nine whole months becoming an ultra-marathoner with chiseled abs. But regular exercise, reducing caffeine and alcohol, and eating a diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, will go a long way toward healthier sperm and a healthier pregnancy. That's not so bad, am I right guys?