What is infertility?
Infertility affects approximately 6.1 million Americans and their partners and is defined as the inability to conceive for one year with regular unprotected intercourse. If the woman is over 35 years old and has been unable to conceive for six months then an earlier infertility evaluation is justified.

What is the incidence of male infertility?
A male factor is identified as the primary cause of infertility in 40% of cases and a female factor is identified 30-40% of the time. In 10% of cases both partners have detectable abnormalities and the remainder are unexplained.

What is the first step in diagnosing a male factor?
The first important steps in diagnosing any suspected infertility is for the woman to begin a routine infertility work up and for the male partner to obtain a reliable semen analysis at the same time. If a male factor is identified, the male should follow up with a physician who can perform additional tests and outline a treatment plan. Ideally, both partners should to be involved and evaluated in the beginning so that the treatment plan can be designed to address all identifiable fertility issues.

What treatment options are available for male factor infertility?
Advances in the area of male infertility have enabled fertility specialists to offer a wider range of successful treatment options to help couples conceive. Depending on the severity of the male factor, the physician may recommend simple treatments such as sperm washing for inseminations or advanced treatments such as IVF with or without ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). IVF with or without ICSI may be required to overcome a male factor that has not responded to less intensive therapy. ICSI is the process of inserting a single sperm into the egg and is performed in conjunction with in vitro fertilization. Sperm can even be obtained from the testes using simple office procedures such as testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) to extract the sperm. This offers hope for many men who have no sperm at all in their ejaculate, for example in cases of vasectomy, blocked ducts or an absence of the vas deferens, among others.