male infertility - undecsended testicle

[middles809]

Hi ladies,

Wondering if anyone has any stories to share re undecsended testicle and ttc? My OH had an operation to correct one when he was 5. I've always known about this but only recently discovered it can lead to male infertility.

We've been ttc for 5 months, not long I know, and we're going to go to the docs this month (af arrived this morning) to get checked out.

Nothing I've read online gives me any hope that we'll be able to conceive naturally. I just wondered if anyone has any experience with this??

Thanks in advance x

[pjd]

A family member had this. Operation to sort it out didn't happen until adult life. Tried for kids naturally, nothing happened. Several rounds of IVF, nothing happened. Gave up try then within weeks they found out they had conceived naturally. Now they have 2 gorgeous kids. So a success story, though it took quite some time. Sorry not to be more detailed than this, but just in case anyone might recognise me or the story!

[DragonWithAGirlTattoo]

My oh had the operation to bring one down, and we have 2 lovely naturally conceived dcs

[gingerbreadmam]

no experience but bil had this and as it was complications from nhs op they were given ivf on the nhs and conceived that way. it could be worth speaking to your nhs trust.

[StaircaseAtTheUniversity]

Ex boyfriend has this and had been operated on as a child. He got a partner pregnant naturally.

[Lunawolf]

DH had this operation when he was 5. We had been TTC for over 2 years with absolutely no luck. After fertility investigations we were told the chances of conceiving naturally was extremely low. Just had his very small amount of sperm frozen whilst I decide whether to try IVF. His parents were told that the operation wouldn't effect his fertility but it clearly has.

[middles809]

Thanks everyone for the quick and positive responses.

ginger thank you for that info, it might be worth exploring.

Lunawolf, my OH had no idea when I told him about it and we know his parents would have said something if they were under the impression it would cause problems. I'm not actually angry about it; it's no one's fault. Hopefully we'll get some answers soon. Are you able to have IVF on the nhs if you decide to go that route?

[Lunawolf]

We don't qualify for IVF on the NHS because I have a DD9 who DH is in the process of adopting.

I'm the same as you, I don't feel angry about it, I just feel sad. IVF feels very scary and I'm really not sure whether I want to put myself through it. I'm lucky that I already have my DD, it's just sad that my DH may never experience having his own baby. We've just had to pay £1000 to have his sperm frozen (there was only 8 in each sample so he had to produce 6 samples instead of 3). We have enough now to go ahead with IVF if we decide to.

I hope you get answers soon, have you been referred for investigations?

[gingerbreadmam]

luna not sure if its different trusts but my bil married someone with 2 other dc and was still given one round of ivf im assuming as the other dc werent biologically his.

could be worth trying again. they were also offered a discounted second round with the left over frozen embryos.

[middles809]

We have an initial appointment with gp next week. Quite scary but I need to know either way. Hope all works out for you.

[Laura7883]

My DH was born prem and had an undescended testicle which was operated on when he was 4. We have been ttc for a year. He had few sperm. Ultrasound showed damaged testicle and blocked tubes to that testicle, other one was fine. However doc said not to bother having surgery on it cos the good testicle wasn't even making any decent sperm, turns out he's got low testosterone and very high fsh so something hormonal is going on anyway :( don't know if related to undescended testicle or not. Waiting for ivf now.

[middles809]

Hi. Just to give an update - we saw the GP last week where. I'm going for day 21 bloods next cycle (saw doc on day 20 so couldn't book me in) and DP is having SA done. Can't do this for another month due to DP's work commitments. GP did perform a physical exam and said that everything 'felt' normal and that they seemed to do a good job on the operation. Was quite pleased when he said that but I know he's no specialist and we need to get the sperm under the microscope.

Took a test this morning (AF due tomorrow) and BFN. Trying to stay positive today but it's always hard when getting a negative. Gotta keep trying...

[Blondeshavemorefun]

a friends dh had an descended testicle, he lived his life with only one, and had a fake one inserted in his 30's so he felt more normal/didnt look diff in showers, no one knew he only had one apart from his wife

after the op, he was more honest with people, all supportive, he had a chat with his mum a few yeas later, cant rem the outcome 100% but sure he was born and not decended and mum didnt do anything :( friends dh obv very upset at this

anyway, long story short, he went for sperm test and had very active good sperm from one remaining

so try and not worry

often the male can wank at home and you can take asap to clinic/hospital for testing if that helps with timescale -

[purplemeggie]

My DH had two undescended testicles, operated on when he was 7 and we have a naturally conceived ds, so it's not necessarily a deal-breaker. If you're worried, can your dh ask his gp to do a sperm analysis?

[middles809]

Yes we're having it done next week. Fingers crossed.

[purplemeggie]

(Sorry - just realised that you had said that earlier in the thread.) Good luck, Middles.