Last week Dr. Alfred Koerner, Manhattan gynecologist, gloomily predicted that two out of every ten servicemen will return from World War II sterile. He prophesied that the postwar ratio of fertile men to women (normally 106-to-100, now reduced by wartime absences to 89-to-100) will be just 100-to-100.
In past wars the commonest causes of sterility in soldiers have been mumps, fevers, gastric poisoning, gland disorders, dietary deficiencies and severe exposure. In World War II shock and wounds from mines, torpedoes and bombs may also increase the sterility rate.
Dr. Koerner also proposed that every serviceman's...