Any woman trying to conceive should avoid unnecessary drugs, both for the sake of her fertility and because some drugs have a devastating effect on the developing embryo in early pregnancy. Excessive use of recreational drugs, including more than one drink of alcohol a day, can also harm fertility in both men and women.

Some medications, such as cimetidine, nitrofurantoin, sulfasalazine, spironolactine and nifedipine are known to harm sperm quality as do anabolic steroids including testosterone.