Undescended testicles / fertility issues

[countrylass]

Is anyone going through this with a partner who has had surgery for undescended testicles?
Last night OH finally told me that he had surgery as kid because his testicles didn't descend. We've been together for 4 years and ttc for most of those. We've not gone down the route of Doctors and fertility experts because we were living on a hope and prayer that we'd catch... one day.
OH has no idea of the impact that this has on his fertility - he just thinks that he had surgery and that's that. He is so sensitive and ashamed about going through this procedure that I havent got the heart to discuss the impact it has.

I always thought that I was the one with the fertility problem. I am a larger girl and just assumed it was me.... Hey, it may still be.
But this changes the way we approach this, and I guess it's the end of an era because as of today I have to accept that there won't be a happy little accident... And if we want this, then we've got to get a doctor involved.

Just needed to get this off my chest, because there's no one I can talk to about this right now .

 

[xxshellsxx]

Hi, I can't give you a specific answer and i don't want to worry you as everything may be fine, and my previous situation was slightly different in that my Ex never had is undecended testicle brought down and had to have it removed as it wasn't til we met that i pointed out our dangerous it was at the risk of testicular cancer and not being ale to check it!

We had started trying before he had it removed and the specialist said it wouldn't affect fertility, once we started having tests done it turned out he was almost sterile- but i'll never know if it was down to the undecended testicle the surgery or weather he had always been.

Getting a SA will be the only way to give a definite answer sorry x

 

[star25]

Hi, my DH had this but we werent sure if it was 1 or both or how old he was when he had the op,we found out it was one corrected when he was 4, hes had two SA's and both were slightly low but not low enough that it should stop us getting a bfp, im now having tests as have long cycles up to 75 days so don't ovulate and have never had a bfp
I spent a long time worrying about this, I was sure the results would be really low, so my advice would be to ask for a SA before you worry and start thinking the worst like I did when I didn't need to it could turn out fine, i'm now on to worrying about myself again!
Good luck, hope you get some answers soon xx

 

[CanadianMaple]

I would highly advise he get a SA done. My husband has azoo and that was the very first question they had for him. Do you know how old he was before having the surgery. They usually want it done within the first year.

 

[Tinker1]

Hi Countrylass - your story is very similar to ours!!! DH had an undescended testicles and had an operation when he was 9 years old. That was too late, unfortunately. Our first SA a year ago was 7 million . But I also know of another man who had undescended testicles as a kid and have 2 beautiful children!

Our Doctor confirmed that the cause of low sperm count is the undescended testicles and the fact that he had his surgery a little too late. This may not be your case!

It's best to take the SA for your peace of mind. Good luck ... keep us posted.

 

[Tinker1]

And Countrylass, there's a lot you can do to improve low sperm count, so don't worry if that is the outcome.

I understand why this is a sensitive issue for your DH, my DH felt the same way as your DH. He was so scared that I might leave him.

Hoping for the best result for you and your DH.

 

[luckdragon]

Hello there Hun this sounds exactly like me and my dh! He didn't tell me for ages then it became apparent that his two scars were from that! I'd never even thought about it before that moment! We tried and tried for well over a year but it was no use, so we went to see the dr! We had 3 months of tests and they showed me to be completely normal but my poor dh has no sperm what so ever. The undescended testicles damaged his production from
Being too hot and too far up to develop properly. We were told we could try surgical sperm recovery but that the sperm if any found would be damaged and have not much chance of working. A year later and I have just finished my first Ivf cycle with donor sperm! It's not an easy journey, the best thing to do is to get a semen analysis and go from there. It really depends on when he had them operated on! My dh had his op at 15 which is way way too late as they need to be fixed before the boy is 1 to preserve any sperm production. Xx

 

[zanDark]

My husband had surgery as a kid because of an undescended testicle his SA was fine both times he was tested before our IUIs

I would get him to go have an SA and ask a FE about it!

 

[Ktd185]

Sorry to bring up an old post, but just looking for some advice please.

I've been withy my OH for 9 years, we've been TTC unsuccessfully for 2 years. I've always known that my OH had undescended testicles as a child, I assumed he was a baby, turns out he was 5 years old. OH has a GP appointment on the 17th to discuss sperm analysis, as requested by my GP. It's obviously playing on his mind as he asked me today if I thought the testicle issue had anything to do with it.

I've never thought much about it, so I did some Googling today. The results aren't great and I am now very worried! MIL has always told him it wouldn't cause any problems, the Google results say otherwise!

 

[star25]

Hi, I worried like anything as my dh had one corrected when he was about 4, hes had 4 sa's now and they range from 13-84mil so try not to worry, easier said than done I know, but our issue is mainly with me not ovulating and FS isn't worried about the undescended testicle as a couple of times now he has said it doesn't matter as the other one still works fine! not sure if that means the one that was undescended does nothing but he still has a fair count, good luck, the sooner you get results the better you will feel x

 

[Ktd185]

Hi, I worried like anything as my dh had one corrected when he was about 4, hes had 4 sa's now and they range from 13-84mil so try not to worry, easier said than done I know, but our issue is mainly with me not ovulating and FS isn't worried about the undescended testicle as a couple of times now he has said it doesn't matter as the other one still works fine! not sure if that means the one that was undescended does nothing but he still has a fair count, good luck, the sooner you get results the better you will feel x

Thank you for your reply!

I always thought the issue was with me, as I have very irregular cycles. I've seen my GP and had 21 day bloods done, which showed I ovulate. She said the next step was to get OH to do a sperm analysis. It's taken a while for him to agree to this but he's seeing GP on the 17th.

Both testicles were undescended which was picked up at a pre-school check up, and then operated on (or whatever they do). MIL was positive it wouldn't be a problem but now I just can't stop worrying about it!

 

[star25]

Im the same with irregular cycles, endometriosis was suspected so had a laparoscopy, hsg and hysteroscopy and they found nothing at all, just rarely ovulate, now on 4th cycle of clomid
I know its difficult waiting for all these results an answers, I worried at every test and every result and it was always better than I expected, hope it all works out well x

 

[Hopeful Cat]

Hi Ktd, I don't want to upset you or anything but I thought i'd tell you my story so far. My dh had both undescended testicles that weren't corrected until age 9 or 10. MIL was told there may be a fertility issue as a result. He was diagnosed with azoospermia (no sperm in ejaculate) late last year and they found no sperm in a fine needle aspiration (FNA). He was diagnosed with sertoli cell only syndrome which is the worst of the azoospermia types I believe. However, he has just gone through a mTESE and they found sperm. We were given a 5-10% chance of finding sperm in the mTESE but we still found sperm!!

Currently half way through our IVF ICSI cycle and am waiting to hear if any of the eggs fertilise and turn into embryos for transfer.

There is always hope honey Everybody's story is different and the results will always vary. You just have to put your head up and keep taking steps towards your baby.

Your dh had his fixed much earlier than my dh so he may have no infertility issues at all.

I really wish you all the best luck and support

 

[NikkiR143]

Hey guys! I'm new to this forum and I've found it really helpful so far. My husband had one undescended testicle as a child. They did the surgery to correct it, but it still never dropped. For some reason, his mom never took him back to remove the testicle in his abdomen so he still has that one up there. However, his left testicle was always normal. But...it's huge when he stands up! He says it's always been like that. It almost looks swollen, but no pain. And in the morning, when he is lying in bed it's a normal, small testicle. Really weird! Anyway, him ejaculate has always been really clear and watery which always worried me as I thought this was an indicator of low sperm count and with his history it would make sense. My fears came true when we tried to conceive for a year and I never got pregnant So we're not finally taking the steps to find out what's wrong. He goes for a sperm count this Friday. I'm nervous...The doctor always told him as a child that his one left testicle would produce normal sperm, but I think it's weird that it's so big and that his ejaculate is clear and watery. Any advice would be helpful!

 

[star25]

Hi Nicole, I cant help too much but my fertility specialist said it doesnt matter my dh had one undescended as the other one works fine so not to worry
I know how u feel, I was certain we would get bad results and I was so scared but they turned out better than expected, 4 counts done ranging from 13--84 million so even if the results arent great they can vary from test to test

 

[NikkiR143]

Thank you for your response! It gives me some hope
I wish you luck!

 

[melissaelaine]

Hi Nicole! My DH also was born with an undescended testicle and is actually going in tomorrow morning for an SA. I'll keep you updated with our results. He had surgery when he was young, but had some complications with it and had to go back when he was around 5 to get it fixed. We did an at home sperm check and he got a negative result (indicating fewer than 20M), but we're not jumping to conclusions until he gets his SA results.

 

[NikkiR143]

Thank you! It has always worried me that they never removed the undescended testicle in his abdomen since I've heard this raised his chance of getting testicular cancer. I guess it's something we need to bring up with his doctor. As far as the good testicle goes, I'm hoping he's producing some sperm. It worries me that his semen is so clear though. I just don't think that's normal...ugh. Stressful!

Good luck tomorrow!

 

[Briss]

ladies, sorry for being silly but I have to ask, how do you know that your DH had undescended testicles? I asked my DH but he does not know and he has very bad relationships with his mother so he is not going to ask her. His count was never above 11-12 million and I wonder what's causing it.

 

[melissaelaine]

ladies, sorry for being silly but I have to ask, how do you know that your DH had undescended testicles? I asked my DH but he does not know and he has very bad relationships with his mother so he is not going to ask her. His count was never above 11-12 million and I wonder what's causing it.

My DH had his later surgery when he was old enough to remember it. The surgery can also leave a scar, so I have read about people not knowing, but suspecting based on the scarring.