If you and your partner have been trying for a year or more to have a child, you might be experiencing male infertility.
Male infertility can often be treated with medication or surgery.
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Doctors define male infertility as the inability to conceive a child after one year of unprotected sex, or six months if you and your partner are over 35.
Studies have shown that in this one-year window, about 12% to 15% of couples under age 35 are unsuccessful in conceiving a child. Another 10% will remain unsuccessful after two years of unprotected sex.
In these situations, both partners must see their health care providers to diagnose infertility.
Infertility in men isn't uncommon. It affects about 9% of men in the U.S. and is the issue for a third of infertile couples.
Many things can cause male infertility, including:
Like with their partners, age can also be a factor in male infertility. Couples having difficulty conceiving often include a male partner over age 40.
Since infertility in men can have several causes, you should speak to your doctor if you've experienced:
Male infertility can lead to emotional and psychological issues, which can also affect sperm quality.
How can you tell if you're infertile? Unfortunately, infertility requires couples to make a consistent effort in trying to conceive over time.
In general:
If you and your partner are finding it difficult to conceive, you should both consult your doctors. Male infertility can often be corrected with proper diagnosis.
Male infertility can be diagnosed by your primary care provider at a routine check-up. But if infertility has been an ongoing issue, you might want to see a urologist.
Your doctor might ask you if you’ve had a high fever recently and ask questions about your family and medical history, as well as about your sex drive.
They may also do a physical exam to look at your:
All of these conditions might affect your body’s testicular or ejaculatory functions.
If your doctor can't diagnose your infertility through a physical exam, they might ask for a sperm sample for semen analysis.
Semen analysis is one of the most important tools in determining male infertility and sperm abnormalities.
Once sperm enters the vagina, it must travel through cervical mucus and the cervix to reach the uterus to fertilize an egg. Conditions that impede this process may be attributed to male infertility.
A trained urologist will perform the analysis and look for these factors:
A unique aspect of sperm production is that ejaculated sperm is developed in the testicles three months before they're released. So, the determining factors may or may not still be present in the sperm sample you provide.
Male infertility is sometimes caused by a genetic disorder, such as Klinefelter’s syndrome. In these cases, doctors must do genetic testing to determine the cause.
Doctors have several options for treating male infertility, depending on the cause of your infertility.
In certain cases, your doctor may simply recommend that you refrain from heavy alcohol consumption or drug use.
Your doctor might prescribe an oral hormone treatment to balance your hormones or a medication to treat erectile dysfunction. They also refer you to an endocrinologist, who may recommend drug therapies that affect the hypothalamus or thyroid.
If you have abnormally formed tubes in the testicles that are blocking the transport of sperm from the testicles to the penis, you may need surgery to repair them. Likewise, if you have a varicocele.
Testicular surgery can be done as outpatient surgery, and recovery takes about one to two weeks. These surgeries are typically performed by a urologist.
Couples who need assistance to get pregnant can find assisted reproductive technology (ART) to be very effective in producing a fertilized egg.
These therapies include:
ART procedures may require the use of donor eggs or sperm for couples who can't produce their own healthy sperm or eggs, or for same-sex couples. Donor eggs or sperm may also be used as a preventive measure should the mother or father carry a genetic disorder that's likely to be passed down to the baby.
Last reviewed by a UPMC medical professional on 2024-09-05.
