Tag: sperm

Fertility Clock Blog, My Future Baby Blog

Pregnancy Myths

brigitte

Getting pregnant is not easy for every couple. There are some steps women can take to promote optimal fertility through better health. However, there are also many myths about how pregnancy and fertility work. Knowing what works and what doesn’t can keep couples from wasting time and money on unproven and unscientific remedies.

Here are several myths about pregnancy that many people believe:

Myth: Some sexual positions boost your chances of getting pregnant.

Fact: No sexual position increases the likelihood of pregnancy. Neither does having the female partner stand on her head or lie with her legs up in the air after intercourse. The natural angle of the vagina promotes pooling of semen right where it is supposed to be. Changes in cervical mucus leading up to ovulation help sperm move efficiently into the uterus.

Myth: There are techniques you can use to make sure you conceive a baby that is the gender you want.

Fact: It is not possible to consistently select the sex of a baby through any means when conceiving naturally. It is possible to increase the likelihood of having a baby of the desired gender through sperm sorting prior to artificial insemination. The only way to be certain of selecting the desired gender is by screening embryos prior to transfer during IVF treatment.

Myth: Guys need to rest up for a day or more between sexual encounters to increase the potency of their sperm.

Fact: Men with normal sperm can have sexual intercourse daily. This doesn’t decrease the likelihood of a couple achieving a pregnancy.

Myth: There are pills and supplements you can take to increase male or female fertility.

Fact: There is no magic supplement that enhances fertility. No herb, vitamin, dietary supplement, or wonder food will increase your chances of getting pregnant or help you get conceive sooner.

Myth: Infertility is a problem for women but not for men.

Fact: Actually, in 25% or more of infertility cases, it’s the male factor that is the underlying cause. This is why both partners are tested during fertility treatment.

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Ed Houben, Sperm Donor, Has Fathered 82 Children

ASRM News and Research

Ed Houben was a virgin until the age of 34. Now he’s the biological father of 82 children.  Der Spiegel reports that the 42-year-old Dutchman performs his services for free, offering women and couples a chance to conceive a child without the expense of using a sperm bank.

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Who Is a Parent? Surrogate Technology Outpaces Law

ASRM News and Research

Technology means someone who never thought they’d be able to conceive can use a sperm donor, an egg donor and a surrogate — a woman who bears a child for someone else. But the law has not kept pace with technology, and with so many people involved, a key question remains: Who is a legal parent?

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Fertility Treatment Bans in Europe Draw Criticism

ASRM News and Research

France and Italy forbid single women and lesbian couples from using artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to conceive. Austria and Italy are among those banning all egg and sperm donations for IVF. Germany and Norway ban donating eggs, but not sperm.

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

One for the Guys: That Azoospermic Feeling

Paul J. Turek, M.D.

At the beginning of the office visit, I like to ask men with no sperm in the ejaculate who are unable to conceive a simple question: “What crossed your mind when you first heard that you were azoospermic?” The answers varying greatly but are very telling:

  • “It must be a mistake.”
  • “I shouldn’t have joined that fraternity in college…”
  • “It wasn’t the best sample I’ve ever done.”
  • “I was simply and utterly devastated.”
  • “I was in shock and then got really depressed.”
  • “It changed my life…I always thought that I would be a father.”

The Meaning of Azoospermia

Azoospermia is the lack of sperm in the ejaculate. It can be due to a blockage in the system (obstruction) or failure of the testicles to make sperm (nonobstructive). The most common reason for blockage is a vasectomy. Other causes include infections, prior surgery, injury or congenital absence of certain reproductive tract organs. Failure to make sperm can be due to exposures (hot tubs), medications, varicocele, a history of undescended testicles, cancer and cancer treatment. However the largest chunk of men with poor sperm production have none of these issues. Instead, they have a subtle genetic cause: either they are missing genes on the Y chromosome or have other chromosomes harboring subtle alterations that do not otherwise affect their health or lives.

So, like Captain Renault in the movie “Casablanca,” most men with azoospermia are “shocked, shocked!” because they feel so normal in every other way. And the vast majority are normal (as normal as men can get) in every other way. Most of the things they worry about, like college indiscretions, are exposures that are entirely reversible with time. My response is usually to allay fear and guilt by saying: “This is not something that you have done to yourself; let’s see if we can do something about it at this point.”

Treating Azoospermia

In fact there is a whole lot that we can do with azoospermia. Men with blockages can often be unblocked with microsurgery, one of my favorite things to do. This gives them the chance to conceive naturally again. And most men with poor production as a cause of azoospermia will have pockets of sperm in the testicles that can be identified by techniques like sperm mapping and that can be used for high-technology pregnancies.

What I have learned after caring for hundreds of azoospermic men over two decades is that they really don’t care what their sperm counts are as long as they can be fathers. And once they are fathers, it is clear that that “azoospermic feeling” goes away, as it should.

 

Dr. Paul Turek is founder of The Turek Clinic in San Francisco, a former professor and Endowed Chair at the University of California San Francisco, and a pioneer in innovative techniques for treating male infertilty. He was recently the recipient of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for research designed to help infertile men become fathers. Check out Dr. Turek’s weekly blog on about common medical issues, solutions, and innovations at TurekOnMensHealth.com, where this blog post originally appeared.


Author:
Paul J. Turek, M.D.
Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Texas Sperm Donor doesn’t Owe Child Support Court Rules

ASRM News and Research

National bodybuilding champion Ronnie Coleman of Arlington thought he had an ironclad arrangement. Coleman agreed several years ago to donate sperm at a California sperm bank for a friend who used to live in Arlington, but he made clear that he had no interest in being a father to any child who was eventually born.

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Would you use a home sperm-banking kit?

Lorie A. Parch
Last week MSNBC.com reported that the prestigious clinic has launched a sperm banking kit — except that you won’t actually be doing any  “banking” (no need to make room in the freezer). The kit really only handles the “collection” part of the process. According to the MSNBC report, customers get the kit, “collect the sample ‘in the comfort of their own home,'” and send it back to the Cleveland Clinic Andrology Laboratory and Reproductive Tissue Bank for storage and safe-keeping.

The thinking is that the new kit — called the NextGen Home Sperm Banking Service — will allow any guy who may be worried about his ability to conceive a child later to store his sperm in case he needs it at a future date — for example, if he is undergoing cancer treatment. The NextGen site notes that you need a referral from a physician to use the service, which costs $689 for the first bank, plus $140 annually to store the sperm, after the first year. Withdrawal and shipping fees also apply.

MSNBC writer Brian Alexander notes that the University of Illinois at Chicago offers much the same DIY sperm-banking kit, which they call “Overnite Male.”

There’s some debate about how well the sperm will fare when collected outside of a medical facility, then being flown hundreds or thousands of miles via overnight express to get to the bank for storage. The article notes that men in rural areas may find the service the most useful, since major cities already have sperm banks.

Author:
Lorie A. Parch