What if male partner is infertile?

Evidence supported that sperm quality declination in men is significant in the last decades.

Male infertility

Parental age and sperm quality are two influencing malefactors that interfere with both natural conceiving and IVF success.

IVF is an assisted reproductive technology used as a therapeutic solution for couples who are facing difficulty to conceive normally.

The sperm parameters like poor sperm motility and structural deformity interfere with fertilization.

The contribution of male gametes is 50% of the embryo genome.

A clinical trial reported that the malefactors significantly impact ART outcomes.

The sperm's rapid progressive motility affects the IVF fertilization rate.

This study finding also indicated that oligospermia is a common issue with increasing parental age.

A transfer at the cleaved embryo stage is a better option for severe oligospermia as the blastocyst formation rate is significantly reduced.

Researchers are also working on the quantification of free sperm DNA to optimize the selection of male gametes for improving ART results.

Antioxidant therapy

In general semen, the test is performed for analyzing the male sperm count.

Male with low sperm counts (< 5 million motile sperm) are facing problems to achieve pregnancies.

Finding defects in semen analysis leads to a difficult prognosis.

Abnormal morphology interferes the IVF success.

Some of these men are also facing difficulty in fertilizing eggs.

However, not all of them are having the same issue.

In such cases, often IVF and ICSI prescribe to assist in conceiving along with antioxidant therapy.

Male individuals with borderline morphology often get improvement with Antioxidant therapy alone.

But almost 3 to 6 months of therapy is required to show just a small morphological improvement.

Antioxidant therapy and donor sperm are two recommended options in case of finding a high sperm DNA fragmentation index.

Sperm donation

Sperm is a male reproductive gamete and swims in a fluid called semen.

In the sperm donation process, the sperm donor donates his semen sample after following self-ejaculation.

Sperm donation helps single women or a couple who are unable to conceive due to the absence of a male partner or male fertility issues.

Sperm Banks are service centers that collect and store donated sperm and deliver it to the reproductive clinic to proceed with fertility treatment.

Therefore, sperm donation is the procedure through which a healthy man donates his semen to help others to build their family.

The IVF success rate is quite high to overcome the male factor infertility with acceptance of sperm donation.

Reproductive Specialists can guide a couple based on the initial test reports.

In some cases, consultation with a reproductive urologist is also required for determining the best possible treatment option.

Sperm donation Procedure

Both known and anonymous sperm donation is possible.

Sperm donors donate their freshly collected sperm to the sperm bank after collecting the semen sample in a sterile cup through masturbation in a private room.

Before, giving the sample, the donor needs to follow 3 days to abstain from ejaculation.
The collected sample is cryopreserved (frozen) for at least six months.

Then the donor is thoroughly tested for STD, and genetic diseases If all the test results are negative, then the collected frozen semen sample is thawed for evaluating sperm quantity, quality, and movement.

If the sperm sample meets the quality standards, then the donor is selected.
The donor can give samples once a week.

The donor needs to sign a contract and legal agreement to avoid any future legal issues before starting donating his sperm.

But in case of any test result shows positive, the sperm bank informs the candidate and refers to the treatment and/or counseling.

After sperm donation

The donated sperm sample inserts into a woman's reproductive organs through intrauterine insemination or is used in IVF treatment for the artificial fertilization of mature eggs.

Promising research findings through enzyme therapy

Faulty sperm maturation leads to defective cell division and the resultant of this causes infertility, loss of pregnancy, and congenital defects.

Researchers reported in a recently published research article in Science Advances that an identified enzyme could play a vital role in upholding chromosomal pairing during the pachytene stage of cell division.

This proteinous nature of the enzyme is known as SKP1, and without this component, meiosis cannot proceed to the next stage, which is known as metaphase.

Metaphase is a primary developmental stage for sperm cell generation.

A recent research outcome showed the possibility of introducing SKP1 in the sperm generation through inducing meiosis cell division could be a solution for those male infertile patients who have spermatogonia, but no sperm.

Currently, this research is an animal-based study. But this research team is very much optimistic about their findings.

They are hopeful to produce in-vitro sperm by manipulating the SKP1 enzyme and its pathway shortly.

Obtaining this success will bring a boon to the ART industry.

Reference:

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5251225/
    https://rmanetwork.com/blog/sperm-quality-affect-ivf-success/
  • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200325212205.htm

 

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