Does Azoospermia Mean No Chance of Becoming a Father?
Azoospermia is the term used to describe a lack of sperm present in the seminal fluid. The lack of sperm can be due to either obstructive or non-obstructive reasons. Obstructive azoospermia means that the sperm are being produced by the testes but there is a physical reason that the they are not reaching the seminal fluid. This obstruction could be because of a vasectomy, epididymal scarring from a previous infection, congenital absence of vas or badly performed hernia surgery. Vasectomies are able to be reversed with a 90% success rate. Until recently, if the physical blockage could not be successfully repaired there would be no way a man with no sperm 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
