The Effect of Mental Illness and Psychotropic Medication on Gametes and Fertility: A Systematic Review

Background: Psychiatric disorders during the reproductive years and their treatment with psychotropic medications are increasingly common, and their effect on the reproductive system is an important area of research.

Objective: To review the effect of mental illness and psychotropic medication on gametes and fertility.

Data Sources: Searches of the PubMed database were conducted for English-language articles containing the keywords gametes, fertility, psychotropic, oocyte, sperm, mental illness, depression, and/or anxiety, in the title or abstract. The searches yielded 3,603 citations.

Study Selection: Studies were evaluated for relevance. Those not pertinent to the clinical question, not written in English, and focusing on invertebrates were excluded. Full texts of 50 articles were obtained for further evaluation. Additional articles were identified from reference lists. Ultimately, a total of 37 studies were deemed suitable and reviewed.

Results: Clinical studies have not demonstrated a deleterious effect of psychotropic medication on oocytes in terms of retrieval and pregnancy rates. Clinical studies demonstrate inconclusive results regarding the effect on sperm, with several studies suggesting increased sperm motility and quantity with certain psychotropics. Decreased sperm quantity and motility are described in a number of studies, including in vitro and in vivo studies. Maternal psychiatric illness is associated with decreased reproductive success, including lower rates of oocyte retrieval, lower rates of ongoing pregnancy, and dysregulation of the stress system in a majority (n = 11) but not all (n = 3) studies reviewed. Male depression did not appear to affect sperm, but anxiety did have an effect (n = 1).

Conclusions: Given the detrimental effect of untreated mental illness, current literature is not robust enough to influence the use of psychotropics in males or females who are considering reproduction.