[WantOurBabyBoo]

Hi. My Husband and I are trying to conceive our first child. He was on testosterone injections for 3 months because he was feeling terrible and found out that his testosterone level was very low. Now, he had a sperm analysis done and it came back ZERO!
We are hoping that it is a temporary problem caused by those injections.
His doctor just did and MRI today to rule out a pituitary tumor (which may be causing the low levels and zero sperm)
He has since stopped the testosterone injections and will be starting HCG injections. Does this work?
Does anyone have any advice for us or is/was going through similar problems?


Me = Fertile, 29 years old
My DH = Was on testosterone injections (June 2009-late August 2009), recent zero sperm count, starting HCG in a few days, 30 years old

Married October 2008
Together 11 years

[Dreamer16]

Hi Wantourbabyboo,
First, I am sorry you had to post here and are having these issues. Second, what your husband has now is called azoospermia. There is entire board of us women (myself included) whose husbands have it and are going through all these questions together. If you want to join us go to (Causes of Infertility) then (Male Factor Infertility) then (Azoospermia) and you will find us. It is a great support system and alot of women there are very knowledgeable.

I dont know if the injections would be the cause of the zero sperm but I do recommend going to a urologist that specializes in male infertility. That is your first step. From there, they will order a series of things like blood tests and sonorgrams and possible biopsy...all things that I have been through with my husband. There are a lot of causes for this so try not to worry too much yet as a lot of them are fixable. I also have a pituitary tumor if you have any questions regarding that just ask.

If you have trouble finding our board/support group just private message me and I will try and link u to it. It will really help you through your journey. Hope to see you there.

[SFBaygirl]

BabyBoo: Welcome and so sorry you have to be here. I can't agree enough with Dreamer about coming on over to the azoo thread in the male factor section.

However, I feel that your stay there may be a temporary one (and that is a wonderful thing). There are several women there whose DHs had azoo due to testosterone supplementation and it is most likely temporary. Testosterone supplements are even considered male birth control! So you can see why there can be a 0 sperm count while on them. There is much information if you google T supplements and azoo ( I bet you already have). Crob in the earlier parts of the azoo thread and on the azoo veteran's thread is one example of this. Her DH's count eventually went back to normal!!

Even if your DH's count becomes low instead of 0 there are still so many options. Heck, even with a 0 count there are still options. Azoo is a terrifying diagnosis but not a death knell for having a biological child. If it isn't temprorary, there are still many options.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope your DH is doing OK, this can be very hard on them.

[honey15390]

Hello,
My husband and i have the same exact problem which is our reason for doing IVF. My husband indeed has been taking hormone injections for over 3yrs now. And we have been trying to get pregnant for years now. and finally decided to do ivf.If you ever need anyone to talk to please feel free.

[WantOurBabyBoo]

Thank you all for your replies. I didn't know there were so many people in my situation.
Here is an update:
My DH's doc thought his low testosterone levels were caused by a pituitary tumor. His MRI came back today: negative. We are happy for this BUT what else could be causing the low testosterone? I hope that his azoo is only temporary from the injections he was on since he was only on them for 3 months but we will see.
He is still trying to get the HCG injections from the pharmacy (insurance issues) Then we are off to Aruba to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary and stick to our original plan of TTC while we are there.
Please wish us luck.
I hope everything works out for you girls too *baby dust to all* you are very helpful to me!!!

[SFBaygirl]

Babyboo: How long do you have to wait after your DH stops the testosterone supplement to retest the SA? I am very hopeful that they will find some swimmers for you.

I think vacation is a wonderful idea. There is nothing that any IF'er needs more. Have fun TTC'ing the old fashioned way.

[WantOurBabyBoo]

SFBaygirl:
My DH stopped the testosterone injections about a month ago. He had a problem with his insurance so he ended up starting Clomid instead of HCG.
His endo said he should do another SA in a month.
We leave Friday for Aruba. Wish us luck and good luck to you!

[SFBaygirl]

BabyBoo: Have a great time on your vacay!! I am quite jealous. SA beautiful warm beach and some fruity mixed drinks sounds about perfect.

I was talking to the RE nurse at Kaiser about the T supplements and retesting an SA and she said it normally takes about 3 months before they test again. I like the 2 month idea much better. Are they doing a centrifuged sample? Only certain labs do that test.

My DH has been off of the Androgel for a bit over a month now so we will see. I am not too hopeful because he was azoospermic before being on the T but you never know. He never had an SA with centrifugation so something could have been missed.

[WantOurBabyBoo]

Thanks for the great vacay wishes!

I have never heard of centrifuged SA. I will have my DH ask his doc. I like the idea of it. We need to know exactly whats in there!
I just read that the sample should be delivered for testing no later than a half hour. The lab told my DH that an hour was okay since thats how long it took him to travel to the lab! Wow, I hope that their testing was inaccurate. Semen Analysis

My DH was also on Androgel for a very short while (i think a few weeks) before he switched over to the T injections. We do not know what his Sperm count was before any T therapy because we just recently wanted to TTC.

From everything I have read, we shouldn't give up hope! I read about this couple who were TTC for ten years and her DH had azoo. They finally conceived. So.. anything can happen. Lets have hope!

[SFBaygirl]

There is definately hope!

With modern fertility techiques there are so many options even for those of us dealing with azoo to have biological children. Even if the child can't be biologically related to our DH's due to genetics etc. there are still so many ways to have a pregnancy.

I am so encouraged since I have found this forum and realize that we aren't alone. Azoo can be a very isolating condition esp. for our poor DHs. This helps so much.