[gav223]

Hi.
I had sperm retreival surgery yesterday and the surgeon explained that he couldn't find any sperm, although he has sent off a couple of biopsies and we will have the results in a couple of weeks.
I'm completely confused because all of my tests have come back normal and before the surgery he gave me a 75% chance that he would find some.
He hasn't given me any reason to why I am not making any sperm.
I know this may sound stupid and I also feel it's impossible, but I was told by a chinese herbalist that he could give me something so that I will start making sperm, surely this can't be true.
Obviously both me and my wife are devestated, but we just want to get a final answer so we can move on.
Many thanks.

[justbreathe]

Hi....I am sorry to hear about your failed retrieval. What kind did you have? Have you had any bloodwork done to check your hormone levels and to rule out any genetic issues that may be causing your zero sperm count? There are many possibilities as to why you may not produce sperm in your ejaculate but it doesn't necessarily mean that your body isn't producing them in your testicles. I am wondering if your urologist specializes in male infertility? I always think it's wise to get a second opinion if you are not satisfied. Do you know what your FSH level was? High fsh is considered a sign of early testicular failure which is one symptom of azoospermia. My husband is scheduled for an mTESE surgery tomorrow to see if there are any sperm being produced. I would suggest checking out the azoospermia thread where you'll find lots of support and wisdom from people going through the same situation. I wish you the best of luck. Don't feel that any question is stupid---this is a huge blow and it's important to ask as many questions as you have. We're all here if you have any more or just need to vent!

Take care,
Katie

[gav223]

Thank you very much for your kind reply. I have had all the blood tests and they came back fine, my hormone levels were fine, but i'm not sure what the fsh levels were although he said they were fine. The main reason we are annoyed is that all the tests came back fine and he also gave us a 75% chance that he would be able to retreive some, and nothing. He said he would be doing a mixture of pesa and tese. He was going to see if he could find any in the epididymis and if not he would take a biopsy of the testicle. He could not find any in the epididymis, so he has taken some of the testicle and sent it away for analysis. We have to go back and see him in 10 days and he has said that it is unlikely that I am making it.
We are now concerned as we had intercourse the night before the surgery and think that this may be the problem, but someone told us that sperm starts to produce soon after you ejaculate and by the following morning if everything was working correctly there would be sperm there.
When we had to go for a sperm test they told me not to ejaculate for 3 days prior, but nothing was said about this before having the surgery.