"We, as men, are all about half as fertile as our dads or granddads were at our age. And that is just a function of the chemicals around us, the fertilizers in our food, and the changes in our lifestyles."
Khaled Kteily
EFR 489: Why Male Fertility is Radically Declining, Sperm Testing, and How to Preserve Your Legacy with Khaled Kteily
“I don’t know any guy who grew up dreaming of starting a male fertility company,” says today’s guest, Khaled Kteily, before proceeding to share the story of why he, in fact, decided to do just that. “There are moments in your life that sometimes take you down unexpected paths.”
Khaled’s own unexpected path began with a freak accident in Tulsa, Oklahoma during his time as a health and life sciences consultant. One day, after a coffee run during a road trip with colleagues, the car was forced to do a sudden break, causing the scalding hot beverages to spill all over Khaled’s lap. His skin was ripped clean off and he suffered second-degree burns that took a month-and-a-half to heal.
Months later, a close friend of Khaled’s found out he had cancer, and so he froze his sperm before beginning a chemotherapy process that would likely leave him infertile. Inspired, Khaled visited a sperm bank to do the same.
Frustrated by the awkward and clinical process involved in sperm freezing, alongside the alarming lack of conversations around declining male fertility rates, Khaled sought to make a change.
This was the spark that led to the founding of Legacy in 2018 and its release of the first product which allows men to test and freeze their sperm in the comfort of their own home, and obtain personalized recommendations based on their results.
Follow Legacy @givelegacyinc
Follow Chase @chase_chewning
Key Highlights
Male fertility has declined by 50% in the last 40 years and continues to go down at a drastic rate year after year. Khaled explains the factors behind this phenomenon.
Driven by these dire facts regarding declining male fertility rates, Khaled shares his process for conceptualizing and then building a business based on prevention.
What can men do to enhance, or even just maintain, their fertility today?
Khaled dives deep into Legacy’s simple and future-proof way of doing business.
Chase and Khaled speak on their optimism for the continued destigmatization of conversations around sex and male fertility.
Powerful Quotes by Khaled Kteily
If you create a product that is affordable, that is private, that is well-branded, that is normalized, why wouldn’t every guy want to do this?
Even today, our biggest competitors are actually traditional fertility clinics because men think about healthcare solutions to healthcare problems. It is a rare type of man that is thinking for the future—who wants to be the best version of himself; and who wants to watch what he eats, how he exercises, and preserve his youngest and healthiest sperm so that, no matter what happens, he is able to use it in the future.
Your sperm is a great biomarker of your overall health.
Episode resources:
Get the book Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race by Shanna H. Swan, PhD or get the audio book for free from Audible here
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