My husband has no sperm

[brunettenole]

Hi Dr. Coffler,

My husband and I have recently discovered that we are having serious fertility problems. The problems are on his side. He has been diagnosed with azoospermia. He has submitted two semen samples that did not have any sperm. In addition to that, the urologist did detailed blood work. He found that my husband had normal hormone levels and with the detailed work, all genetic information looked normal. We just recently took the next step of a sperm retrieval/biopsy of his right testicle. They found absolutely no sperm after the procedure.

My husband and I desperately want a child of our own (with both of our traits) and our optimism is decreasing quickly. We thought for sure that if his hormone levels and genetics all looked normal, we would be fine, that there was only a blockage of some sort, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

We have decided to go on and do the sperm retrieval/biopsy on his left testicle so that we can be 100% sure that there is no sperm. I was wondering several things:

• If there was no sperm in one testicle, is there a chance for sperm to be in the other testicle?
• If he is a healthy 28 year old male with normal hormones and genetics, what is the cause of this problem?
• Is there anything else we can do to try and have a baby on our own? We have heard some things and found a little information on stem cells possibly being a solution for infertility - I'm wondering how far along is the research, is this anything we will see soon? Can we find treatments internationally that might work if they are not doing this in the U.S?
• Are there any specific specialty doctors in the U.S. that are focused on this type of problem and may be able to use cutting edge new medical technology to help us?

We are having a very difficult time with this. We are trying to be as optimistic as we can, but it has been difficult. Do you have any suggestions for us? We would appreciate any help you can provide.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Dr. Coffler]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Looks, though, that he has had an adequate evaluation. Stem cell research with germ cells is not yet at the clinical trials level. I would wait for the second biopsy result and go from there.

[brunettenole]

We figured the stem cell idea hadn't made it to clinical trial yet. We'll make sure to wait until the second biopsy. Thanks for your help.