Conference quark::mennotes-v1

    For those of you who enjoy the sticom "Roc", I found the episode on
    infertility very interesting. But a subsequent conversation with
    someone who had also dealt with infertility said that the treatment Roc
    received from his doctor was very humiliating.
    
    This is my own naivete, but I guess it is embarrassing to be escorted
    to a room, handed a skin magazine and expected to come back out with a
    sample in a cup.
    
    I've heard that a far more humane method is to tell the man where the
    lab is, and how soon after ejaculation the sample has to get there, and
    let him produce a sample when HE wants to.
    
    I'm also starting to learn that there can be several reasons for
    infertility. The most common is when the temperature of the scrotum is
    too warm; that's correctable. Another is "lazy sperm" which simply
    won't swim toward the target. I've also heard of low sperm count being
    a problem.
    
    Please note: infertility is NOT the same as impotence, which could have
    a note of its own.

>    This is my own naivete, but I guess it is embarrassing to be escorted
>    to a room, handed a skin magazine and expected to come back out with a
>    sample in a cup.

 What if the nurse opens the door as I'm "obtaining" a sample and everyone in
the waiting room can see? :-) What if the sample isn't big enough? What if
I can't get the sample into the container? "Um, nurse, I've got the um, specimen
all over my shirt..."

 I'm not really being as insensitive as it sounds. It's a sort of gallows
humor as I may have to go through this "experience" myself one of these
days...

 The Doctah

    
    re. Doctah,
    
    The worst may be when you try and try and nothing happens.  Then
    you can turn to the nurse in a panic and exclaim, 
    
    
    
    "I'm flacid and I can't get up!"
    
    Couldn't resist.
    
    Kris
    

    I've done the specimen-in-the-cup routine without discomfort, but then
    I was apparently born without an embarrassment gene. The urologist was
    pretty funny: he did not hand me a pornographic magazine, but rathe
    gestured at the abstract painting in the examination room and intoned
    "You'll no doubt find this inspiring."
    
    I know little about men's infertility. Motility and sperm count are the
    big parameters. It's possible for sperm to be allergic to the vaginal
    environment and expire. Boxer shorts and no baths or hot tubs are the
    usual advice for would-be Dads. Sexual intercourse every other day
    during the relevant period is optimal; more often presents to few of
    the little squirmers.
    
    If I remember correctly, normal men produce sperm at the rate of
    
    10,000 sperm per ...  guess what unit of time:
    
    second! That's 10000/second.
    
    Just imagine all those Woody Allen characters shouting "We're gonna
    make babiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeessssssss!"

>>        second! That's 10000/second.
    
    I would love to have a modem with this kind of throughput.
    
    Kris 

    In most infertility clinics, there are rooms set aside for the man to
    produce the sample.  Some clinics have rooms that only serve that
    purpose and have various magazines and such in the room to assist.  The
    clinic that we used let the men either use an examining room or go to
    the men's room.  The examining rooms all had signs that said "Do Not
    Disturb" in large letters, and there was no fear that someone would
    walk in if the sign was up, and I believe that the door also had a
    lock. And, although my husband found it embarrassing that everyone 
    'knew what he was doing', I reminded him that so were all the other 
    men there who were heading for the back rooms.  And it is acceptable 
    for the wife to go with the husband and assist if that is preferable.  
    My husband found it easier if I was with him to help.
    
    I think the hardest part for him was having the doctor say "We need the
    sample at 9:00."  Talk about pressure.  
    
    And not all samples have to be that fresh.  A sample can be as old as 1
    hour, so sometimes you can provide the sample at home and bring it to
    the clinic.  We lived an hour from our clinic, but chose this route for
    all the IUI attempts.  It was not acceptable for the GIFT attempts
    since that had to be as fresh as possible.
    
    From the woman's point of view, I could not understand why my husband put 
    up such a fuss.  I was the one having daily appointments for ultrasounds,
    getting 3 shots plus bloodwork daily and having all the surgery.  I
    couldn't understand why he couldn't stand for a little embarrassment. 
    I think I am probably not the only woman who feels like this, and I'm
    sure that his embarrassment was every bit as miserable to him as my
    physical discomfort and feelings of failure were to me.  But we both
    think it was well worth it since we had twins last April thanks to
    GIFT.
    
    Cathy

    We have been going through this problem very recently.  My husband had 
    3 specimens come out abnormal (and BTW he was able to do them all in
    the privacy of his own home and bring them directly to the lab).  In
    all cases count was low and motility was pretty much non-existent.  It
    was also found that he has a small varicosele (varicose vein) on the
    left side which is common in most male infertility cases.  This problem
    is also the most correctable.  My husband will be undergoing outpatient
    surgery in which they make a small incision in the lower abdomen and
    tie off the vein.  In 2-3 months there should be an 80-90% improvement
    in his specimin and should not have a fertility problem at that point. 
    This particular problem is a big factor in motility.  In the meantime
    my basal body temp is still being charted and at the beginning of
    February I may still go through my own series of testing as the above
    problem could be coupled with one of my own.  I have however talked to
    someone who got pregnant 2 months after her husband had the same 
    surgery.  Im hoping!
    
    M.

    BTW,  my doctor stated that treating men for infertility was much more
    difficult than treating women as men tend to let their ego's get in the
    way.  My own husband assumed for the longest time that I was the one
    with the problem and even once made the incredible mistake of asking me
    "what do you want to do if we find out YOU cant have children"!!!!
    
    Well 3 sperm analysis later his tune has changed and he himself has
    been battling the same feelings Ive had for almost a year now.  As I
    said before I may stll have a problem and may still need extensive 
    testing in February - but at least now I dont feel 100% responsible for 
    our difficulties.  Not too long ago my husband was making jokes about
    'shooting blanks' - now he keeps his mouth shut and he's more apt to
    be dejected and look at the negative side of things when in reality his
    problem is very correctable.  Its not so humourous when it happens to
    you though......
    
    M.

There are lots of notes about infertility in PARENTING.  Both medical and
emotional aspects are discussed.

As regards production of sperm specimens, there have been studies that
indicate that masturbation doesn't produce as good a sample as intercourse.
There are special condoms available that are used to collect semen for
tests and so on.  Unlike ordinary condoms, these (obviously) don't have
a spermicide and are chemically inert.

re .7:

I don't want to burst your bubble, but a varicocelectomy is not guaranteed
to improve sperm quality.  I don't remember what the statistics are, but
a sizable number of varicocelectomies don't result in any improvement.
Unfortunately, there are really no other treatments available.