What do you think? My husband’s best friend and his wife are both in their late 20’s. They have no children and are having difficulty getting pregnant. They have been trying for a little over a year now. So here’s the deal. He’s a parapalegic and has been for ten years. Does anyone know if spinal injuries have any effect on sperm count….or quality of sperm? Maybe because of all of the MRI’s, surgeries, etc that he has had? They are going to be seeing a fertility specialist shortly but I’m wondering if this might be the case?
Hi there,
In order for males to be fertile, they must be able to 1) produce and store large numbers of active sperm and 2) deliver the sperm to a receptive egg (ejaculation).
Males with spinal cord injuries do not appear to have any problem with the production of sperm of sufficient quality and quantity for fertilization, but there is a major problem with the ability to deliver the sperm. Because of the complexity of ejaculation, an injury to any level of the spinal cord (whether high or low, complete or incomplete) usually prevents ejaculation from occurring spontaneously. This is unrelated to whether or not the individual has erections or can have intercourse. It is possible to have ejaculation without erection, but more commonly seen is erection without ejaculation.
Spinal cord injury has no significant effect on male hormone levels (testosterone) or on the ability to produce and store sperm. However, since ejaculation rarely occurs, fertility is a major problem.
A fertility specialist is a good idea. They may have to extract his sperm directly from his testes and then do artificial insemination on his wife or in-Vitro fertilization.
Good luck.
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Hi there,
In order for males to be fertile, they must be able to 1) produce and store large numbers of active sperm and 2) deliver the sperm to a receptive egg (ejaculation).
Males with spinal cord injuries do not appear to have any problem with the production of sperm of sufficient quality and quantity for fertilization, but there is a major problem with the ability to deliver the sperm. Because of the complexity of ejaculation, an injury to any level of the spinal cord (whether high or low, complete or incomplete) usually prevents ejaculation from occurring spontaneously. This is unrelated to whether or not the individual has erections or can have intercourse. It is possible to have ejaculation without erection, but more commonly seen is erection without ejaculation.
Spinal cord injury has no significant effect on male hormone levels (testosterone) or on the ability to produce and store sperm. However, since ejaculation rarely occurs, fertility is a major problem.
A fertility specialist is a good idea. They may have to extract his sperm directly from his testes and then do artificial insemination on his wife or in-Vitro fertilization.
Good luck.
References :
Never heard of injuries that affect quality of sperms.. Many handicapped have healthy children too!
Encourage both of them to go fertility checkup. Woman may require HSG to check for tube blockage and Man to go for sperm analysis. Both will require blood test to find out their hormones level. Most impt, the women will need provide a chart of her monthly period so see if she is ovulating. Good Luck!
References :
If his genital area is well enough to have sex and he can ejaculate, then I don’t see any reason he would have a lowered sperm count
She can go out and get ovulation strips that will tell her when shes ovulating so that they have increased chances. Also, since he’s a parapalegic, more than likely she has to get on top in order to have sex, which can lower chances because gravity works 1 way… which is DOWN… so the sperm might just be escaping as soon as it gets there
Don’t worry though, if your friends go to a fertility specialist Im sure they’ll be pregnant in no time. Chances are she just needs an IUI or she isn’t timing things right
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