AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Will the COVID-19 vaccine cause fertility issues for men and women looking to get pregnant?

It is a common concern that people are having.

“There’s been a rumor running around on social media for quite some time that the COVID vaccine, all of them, could cause infertility both in men and women. This has not been substantiated,” said Dr. Robert Kauffman, Texas Tech Physicians OB/GYN.

Dr. Kauffman said recent studies have shown that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe for men and women that are looking to get pregnant, to take.

“If we look at men for instance, social media rumor was that it decreased sperm count. There’s been one small study showing where semen analyses or sperm parameters were normal both before and well after the vaccine,” said Dr. Kauffman.

As for women, Dr. Kauffman said the issue becomes a little more complicated.

“There was a concern that the antibodies that the covid vaccine infers might also destroy the membrane around the fertilized egg. If that were true then there would be a greater number of miscarriages, that as well as infertility because these women would never know they were pregnant. So currently the American College of OBGYN and American Society of Reproductive Medicine is to recommend the covid vaccination for those women who are pregnant currently as well as those men and women who are thinking about starting a family,” said Dr. Kauffman.

Dr. Kauffman also says that a recent study regarding vaccinations for couples using invitro-fertilization revealed similar success rates for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.