Male infertility- antisperm antibodies
According to the Cleveland Clinic, 10% of all men trying to conceive suffer from male infertility. Male infertility seems to be a taboo topic. Before finding out that I had an Antiphospholipid syndrome causing infertility, I was always assumed to be the one with infertility issues.
My husband was diagnosed with having antibodies in his sperm after 6 years of us trying to conceive. Neither one of us had any idea that this was even a thing, of course I don’t go around googling male sperm. I was aware of there being an issue with low sperm count or mobility but nothing else.
So what exactly are antisperm antibodies?
Antisperm antibodies are immune system proteins that destroy the Sperm. I basically like to explain that the immune system attacks the sperm in defense causing infertility.
There are a few ways this could occur.
- Injury or trauma to the testicles.
- An infection in the prostate gland.
- Reversing a vasectomy.
Females can also have an allergic reaction to their male partners antisperm antibodies causing her to produce antibodies.
TESTING
Finding out if you have antibodies would be done by completing a sperm analysis. Usually these tests are referred by the IVF clinic or a Urologist.
In our situation, Apparently, I received all the testing under the moon and was diagnosed with unexplained infertility at the first clinic that I visited. We then visited another clinic who informed us that usually if the female partner’s test comes back normal, the male partner should complete a sperm analysis. I can’t even begin to understand or express my frustration as to why the first clinic we visited didn’t recommend this test. This would have saved us years of questions and concerns.
The IVF doctor informed us that Assisted Reproductive Technology with Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (holy crap, that’s a lot of big words) would be the only way of conceiving. We were given a 1% chance of being able to conceive naturally, but then a 70% chance if we do ART with ICSI.
I spoke with our Embryologist for a bit and she informed us that this process basically means injecting the female egg with the male sperm, making an embryo.
The day of my egg extraction, my husband also had to provide a sample of his sperm. After returning home we received a phone call that he would have to return for a second sample. A lot of times it is difficult to separate the sperm from each other, they become very “sticky” because of the antibody. She would have to cut off the tail of the sperm which is usually where the antibody is to inject into my egg.
There was hope for us and there is hope for all men who suffer from Antisperm antibodies.
Resources
“Male Infertility: Causes & Treatment.” Cleveland Clinic, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17201-male-infertility.
