17-18 year old needs semen analysis

[TeenMummy]

We have been on a very long road with my son who has initially stated with chronic testicular pain and now has an appointment in a few weeks for sperm analysis and is on a waiting list for surgical sperm extraction. Does anyone have any experience with this and how you have gotten on?
He is anxious about the sperm analysis as the doctor has said he needs to produced the sperm in the hospital which is one of the appointments. He also has Klinefelter Syndrome which is why we are on this journey.

If he has to provide a sample, can he do it at home? My husband had to do a sperm sample once, and the hospital said do it home and drop to hospital within 45 minutes. For a teenage boy, that might be slightly less awkward than having to do it at the actual hospital.

Oh bless him. Nothing to add to help I'm afraid, I just wanted to say, I hope the doctors and hospital treat home sensitivity and it's not too traumatic for him. I have teenage boys and I know they would find this really hard.

May I ask why he has to give a sample if they are going to do surgical extraction? Could it wait til then?

@Suzie81 He has had to do it once before and that came back to say it's not live sperm I can't remember the official word for it. Sadly he did it at home that time for the local hospital that is about 10 minutes from home. This hospital is in central London and we live in West Sussex so sadly the 45 minute time frame is not able to happen. The hospital also said if we did it locally they would never get the results so best to do it here with them. They said there's a room he goes into but that's about it. Bless him he's a good boy he's been through this a lot so he's normally good as gold with the exams and tests but this is a new level of tests in a hospital environment.

@minchinfin He's having it tested because the London hospital want to make sure he can't 100% produce any live sperm. He's had one sperm test a few months ago at the local hospital and that was negative for live sperm so before they do the surgery this is one of the tests they want to do. So next week we head to London for this test and a range of bloods and scans ready for the op post covid

Does he really want to try this? Or has it been suggested by dr's or family. There is no guarantee that they will be able to retrieve sperm and any partner would need ICSI to conceive which might not work. Infertility is hard, but please ensure he is realistic about the chances of this leading to a child as it's is a lot for him (as a child) to undergo with no guarantee of success.

Yeah we have had mutual conversations at local level with GP, Consultants and again senior team in London. The sperm test he did at home came back with nothing so it's not live. This ones a bit different and then they will go ahead with surgery. He wants this himself but it's all new ground for us. It's his only chance and we are open with him we haven't spoke of all the risks yet we don't know them ourselves but it's what he wants he wants to know one way or anther that all options have been exhausted. It's an emotional rollercoaster

I would probably try to make a bit of a joke about it somehow! Oh, you’re off to have the most enjoyable test in the NHS or something? Might not suit either his or your personality though...

I would just leave him to it and reassure him that if he can’t do it not to worry. Just try to relax and don’t mention it. Hopefully he will be ok on the day.