Azoospermia – The Total Lack Of Sperm

The lack of sperm present in the seminal fluid is a condition known as Azoospermia. But even a total lack of sperm can be overcome according to Male Fertility Success author Shola Oslo.

The lack of sperm may be due to either obstructive or non-obstructive reasons:

Obstructive azoospermia means that the sperm are actually being produced by the testes but that there is a physical reason that the they are not reaching the seminal fluid. The obstruction may be because of a vasectomy, congenital absence of vas or badly performed hernia surgery or epididymal scarring from a previous infection. Vasectomies may be able to be reversed – there is a 90% success rate.

Up until recently, if there was a  physical blockage that could not be successfully repaired there would be no way a man with azoospermia could become a father. Now, however the sperm can be removed from the testes via a procedure known as MESA – microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration. The sperm are removed and inserted into the eggs of the female in an in vitro fertilisation procedure.

The most common cause of non-obstructive azoospermia is a genetic disorder known as Klinefelter’s Syndrome. Characteristics of this syndrome include infertility, small firm testes and abnormal male breast development. Klinefelter’s Syndrome occurs because there is an extra chromosome present – instead of the normal X and Y chromosomes, there is an extra X chromosome.

At one time it was thought that men with Klinefelter’s Syndrome would be unable to father a child but recently it has been found that they have a small number of sperm present in the testes. These sperm too, as in the case of obstructive azoospermia can be retrieved using microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration meaning men with Klinefelter’s Syndrome can go on to become fathers of healthy, normal children.