Can a father’s drinking cause FASDs?
How alcohol affects the male sperm is currently being studied. Whatever the effects are found to be, they are not FASDs. FASDs are caused specifically by the mother’s alcohol use during pregnancy. However, the father’s role is important. He can help the woman avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy. He can encourage her abstinence from alcohol by avoiding social situations that involve drinking. He can also help her by avoiding alcohol himself.
• How alcohol affects the male sperm is currently being studied. Whatever the effects are found to be, they are not FASDs. FASDs are caused specifically by the mother’s alcohol use during pregnancy. However, the father’s role is important. He can help the woman avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy. He can encourage her abstinence from alcohol by avoiding social situations that involve drinking. He can also help her by avoiding alcohol himself. *Source: Lupton C, Burd L, Harwood R. Cost of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C (Seminars in Medical Genetics) 2004;127C:42–50.