Undescended testicles as a child and testicular cancer as an adult

Hello,
My DH and I have been TTC for 3 years, he finally had a SA done and the results came back with 0 sperm. Discouraged, we made an appointment with a RE doctor to see options from there. He had corrective surgery for both undescended testicles when he was 9. Doing a lot of reading, the later it is done, the slimmer the chances of becoming a biological father. When he was 21 he had testicular cancer and had his left testis removed. Thankfully he is cancer free, but our hope in one day becoming parents how we had hoped is gone. He hasn’t had any testing done yet, but with all of his circumstances, should we even expect to hear something good? Are there any success stories or situations just like this?

Dear astro,

As regards undescended testicles, they should not affect the man’s fertility as an adult if they were corrected (brought into the scrotum) at a young age. However, it depends on each case. Even with surgical correction, infertility may show up during adulthood.

As for cancer, some chemotherapy drugs can affect male fertility. Usually, cancer patients are recommended to store sperm for the future. Not all chemotherapy drugs affect a man’s ability to father a child, though. Depending on the drug or drugs taken, a man may have temporary or permanent infertility.

If we did a semen analysis and it came back with 0 sperm, I’m afraid that you should use donor sperm to have a child. Visit a fertility specialist to see your options. The following cost estimator may be helpful to find a clinic: Cost Calculator for IVF.

I hope this helps,

Best wishes