Why summer is the best time to conceive

Ready to start a family? Now is the time to get moving, according to scientists; summer is the best time to conceive. Researchers believe that changes in hormones such as testosterone during the months of July and August makes sperm more active (and conception more likely) during these months. Doctors at the Centre for Reproductive Incapacity of the University Hospital of Parma, in northern Italy studied data from 5,188 men. Despite there being a higher volume of sperm in winter, the study, published in the journal Chronobiology International, found that the number of men with sperm motility greater than 40 per cent was 65.3 per cent in summer, dropping to 50 per cent in winter. "We have shown the existence of a seasonal variation in some functional aspects of human semen," said study author Dr Alfredo De Giorgi.