I'm trying to find out some information and all I can find on the web is definitions and generic "it may or may not effect fertility".... well that's great! How about some averages? Percentages? What are the possibilities???

Ugh.... so frustrating.

[DreamChaser]

I would like to know too. My DH was born with undecended testicles and now only has one. I have ran into the same info as you.

I know.... frustrating, isn't it?

[swatmommy]

My best friend's brother had this. Unfortunately, it became twisted and they had to remove it (you only have a small window to save it). So he has only one testicle, and they say that his fertility should be fine. I can't say whether or not the one he has left is descended or not...

I know that the testicles descend so that they are away from the body, because the sperm need to be kept a little cooler than body temperature. Perhaps if he avoids hot showers, baths, etc he'll be fine? This is totally a shot in the dark, and I have no idea what I'm talking about, lol. Just an "educated" guess.

I have an appointment with a specialist the first week in Novemeber- I'll throw that question in, lol.

Cheers,

Tracy

Unfortunately for DH.... both of his testicles were undescended... they didn't catch it until he was 8 years old and then pulled them down via surgery... but most of what I have read says that every year past 2 years decreases your chance of being fertile.... but by how much?

Is it likely that he is completely infertile because they were up there so long? Or will he have like maybe a 50/50 chance?

I wish they would give some statistics, you know?

[swatmommy]

Statistics would be nice. I would think that if they corrected the problem at the age of 8 he would be fine- when do they start producing semen? I'd be willing to bet he's fine, but I'll take a look on the internet and see if I can find any stats for you. I have a way with google, lol!

Tracy

I would appreciate it..... everything I have read so far says that the testicles need to be pulled down by age 2 or they run the risk of being infertile.... so I just don't know....

[swatmommy]

Risk of infertility

Men who previously had bilateral cryptorchidism have greatly reduced fertility compared to those who had unilateral cryptorchidism and those of the general male population.

Lee et al showed a paternity rate of 62% (38% infertile) in those with bilateral cryptorchidism compared to a matched control group (rate of 94%, ie, 6% infertile), indicating a 6-times increased risk. In contrast, men with unilateral cryptorchidism had a paternity rate of 89.5%. Although this represents a 2-fold increase in infertility, this rate is similar to the level of infertility found in other studies of the general population.

Examination of subfertility, or time to pregnancy, shows that with bilateral cryptorchidism, men have greatly increased waiting times to pregnancy (33.9 mo vs 11.1 mo for those with unilateral cryptorchidism and controls). Lee, Coughlin, and Bellinger also examined the association of pretreatment testis location with fertility rates and various hormone levels (inhibin B, LH, FSH, testosterone) in adulthood. They concluded, "preoperative testis location in men with previous unilateral cryptorchidism is not a major determinant of fertility according to paternity, sperm count, or hormone levels."

Although semen quality may be impaired in men with a unilateral cryptorchid history, the correlation between semen analysis results that indicate impairment, decreased fertility index (number of spermatogonia per 50 tubules), and paternity has been poor. Thus, paternity may be a more useful indicator of fertility in these patients


Hope this helps... FYI- Not sure if you know, but cryptorchidism is an undescended teste, unilateral is one side and bilateral is both. You've probably read all about it. I found this info at http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2707.htm near the bottom of the page. I'll keep looking...

Tracy

[swatmommy]

Here are some more stats. I'm on a roll...
Later fertility
Many men who were born with undescended testes have reduced fertility, even after orchiopexy in infancy. The reduction with unilateral cryptorchidism is subtle, with a reported infertility rate of about 10%, compared with about 6% reported by the same study for the general population of adult men.

The fertility reduction after orchiopexy for bilateral cryptorchidism is more marked, about 38%, or 6 times that of the general population. The basis for the universal recommendation for early surgery is research showing degeneration of spermatogenic tissue and reduced spermatogonia counts after the second year of life in undescended testes. The degree to which this is prevented or improved by early orchiopexy is still uncertain.

At least one contributing mechanism for reduced spermatogenesis in cryptorchid testes has been thought to be temperature. The temperature of testes in the scrotum is at least a couple of degrees cooler than in the abdomen. Animal experiments in the middle of the 20th century suggested that raising the temperature could damage fertility. Some circumstantial evidence suggests tight underwear and other practices that raise testicular temperature for prolonged periods can be associated with lower sperm counts. Nevertheless, research in recent decades suggests that the issue of fertility is more complex than a simple matter of temperature. It seems likely that subtle or transient hormone deficiencies or other factors that lead to lack of descent also impair the development of spermatogenic tissue.

An additional factor is the high rate of anomalies of the epididymis in boys with cryptorchidism (over 90% in some studies). Even after orchiopexy, these may also affect sperm maturation and motility at an older age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptorchidism

[swatmommy]

Cryptorchidism: Cryptorchidism, both unilateral and bilateral, frequently is associated with oligospermia. Although approximately 30% of men with unilateral cryptorchidism and 50% of men with bilateral cryptorchidism have sperm densities below 20 million/mL, approximately 80% of men with a history of unilateral cryptorchidism are fertile. In contrast, the fertility rate is only 50% for couples in whom the male has a history of bilateral cryptorchidism. The data concerning the timing of repair of undescended testes are inconclusive, but it is known that testes remaining undescended until after puberty do not function well and that fertility rates are not improved with postpubertal orchidopexy.

http://www.bcm.edu/urol/fertility/pteval.htm

WOW! I don't know how you found all of that so fast.... I need to work on my searching skills

Thank you so much. That answers a lot of questions for me. I think DH and I are going to have a very rough road.... but at least now I know that it's not completely impossible!

[Meekas_Mommy]

My sister has 2 boys by a guy who had undecended testies as a child! only one dropped down, but they are here!

[Lilah]

Has your DH considered having a sperm analysis? I wish you the best of luck!