What to Know About FertilAid for Men, Including 4 Side Effects

Infertility affects many people and can be a difficult condition to address. Enter FertilAid for Men, a supplement that claims to support fertility and reproductive wellness.

The supplement, which is manufactured by Fairhaven Health, aims to increase the sperm health (like sperm count and how well sperm moves) of people assigned male at birth (AMAB), according to the FertilAid website.

There's also FertilAid for Women, a supplement for people assigned female at birth (AFAB) that claims to enhance fertility and balance hormones, per the website.

Here's what you need to know about the supplement, including FertilAid's ingredients, side effects and symptoms, and whether it works.

FertilAid for Men contains vitamins, minerals, herbs and antioxidants. Per the company website, the supplement includes the following amounts and daily value percentages of these nutrients:

• ​Vitamin A:​ 1,500 mcg, 167%
• ​Vitamin C:​ 250 mg, 278%
• ​Vitamin D:​ 10 mcg, 50%
• ​Vitamin E:​ 100.5 mg, 670%
• ​Vitamin K:​ 80 mcg, 67%
• ​Thiamin:​ 1.5 mg, 125%
• ​Riboflavin:​ 1.7 mg, 131%
• ​Niacin:​ 20 mg, 125%
• ​Vitamin B6:​ 2 mg, 118%
• ​Folate:​ 850 mcg, 213%
• ​Vitamin B12:​ 25 mcg, 1,042%
• ​Pantothenic acid:​ 10 mg, 200%
• ​Iodine:​ 150 mcg, 100%
• ​Magnesium:​ 120 mg, 29%
• ​Zinc:​ 30 mg, 273%
• ​Selenium:​ 100 mcg, 182%
• ​Copper:​ 2 mg, 222%
• ​Manganese:​ 2 mg, 87%
• ​Chromium:​ 120 mcg, 343%

FertilAid for Men also includes a proprietary blend of herbs that contains L-carnitine, a compound derived from amino acids that your body naturally creates to help you burn fuel for energy, per the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS).

L-carnitine may also help improve the quality and quantity of sperm, according to the ODS. However, the research is inconsistent, so more studies are needed to support these claims.

FertilAid for Men's herbal blend also includes an antioxidant called CoQ10, which fuels cell growth and maintenance, per the Mayo Clinic.

This ingredient may also be linked to sperm health: An August 2013 review in the ​Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics​ found that CoQ10 was associated with increased sperm concentration and movement (though it's important to note that this doesn't necessarily translate to more pregnancies or live births).

There is no good research outlining the side effects of FertilAid for Men (or FertilAid for Women).

That said, this supplement contains high amounts of vitamins and minerals. And while those nutrients support your overall health when taken in the right doses, getting them in excess from FertilAid for Men might result in the following side effects.

Taking high doses of zinc can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the ODS. These side effects can include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Stomach cramps
• Diarrhea

Getting too much vitamin C and vitamin D from your diet and a supplement like FertilAid for Men can put you at increased risk for developing kidney stones, per the Cleveland Clinic.

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of a kidney stone include:

• Severe, sharp pain in your lower side and back
• Pain that radiates or comes in waves
• Pain or burning when urinating
• Pink, red, brown or cloudy urine
• Urinating or feeling the need to urinate more often
• Nausea and vomiting

FertilAid for Men contains a high dose of vitamin B6. And too much of the nutrient can lead to possible nerve dysfunction or damage called neuropathy.

Per the Linus Pauling Institute, symptoms of neuropathy include:

• Pain or numbness in your arms and legs
• Difficulty walking

While antioxidants found in fertility supplements like FertilAid for Men may help support sperm health, taking them too much or for too long may actually contribute to fertility problems, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

That's because they can contribute to reductive stress, a condition where an overload of antioxidants in your body throws off your homeostasis, which can mess with sperm health. It's the counterpart to oxidative stress, a cell-damaging process that antioxidants help combat.

In general, there's not much scientific evidence to support the supposed health benefits of male fertility supplements, per a February 2020 review in ​Urology.​

However, the same study — which analyzed 90 different ingredients in 17 common male fertility supplements — found that five ingredients may be linked to better sperm health and live birth rates:

• L-carnitine
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin C
• CoQ10
• Zinc

FertilAid for Men contains all of these ingredients.

But it's important to remember that the FDA does not require supplements like this to be proven safe or effective before they are sold, so there's no guarantee that any supplement you take is safe, contains the ingredients it says it does or produces the effects it claims.