Fertility & Children
SO YOU’VE DECIDED TO HAVE KIDS!
Don’t panic. Even if you’ve lost a testicle, there are many roads available to you in order to have kids. The first is – normally! Despite losing one testicle, your second testicle may still produce enough sperm to conceive normally.
If you have a low sperm count, or chemotherapy or radiation
therapy has made normal conception unavailable, there is still hope! This is just another step on your cancer journey. Below is some of the information you’ll need on the road to having your own kids.
“As the only male child in my family… I always felt a huge weight to carry on the family name ever since I was a kid. When I was diagnosed… I thought I’d never be able to have kids… and that my family name would end with me.”
— Christopher Lloyd,
Oneball President
SPERM BANKING
Say hello to your very own Winter Soldiers! (Frozen Sperm)
“At about $800 for the initial deposit, and about $300 every year after for sperm banking… I always say that my future kids are already leeching money off of me!”
— Christopher Lloyd,
Oneball President
Soon after someone is diagnosed with testicular cancer, one of the first stops on their cancer journey is likely to be to Sperm Bank. Sperm banking is the process of collecting and storing semen. It is also known as sperm cryopreservation or semen storage. Since the removal of one testicle does not affect fertility, sperm banking can be discussed with the doctor after the radical orchiectomy if the patient plans to have children in the future.
Sperm banking should be done if the patient will receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy and is planning to have children, since these treatments may negatively impact fertility. Prior to sperm banking, a sperm count is taken from a semen sample to determine if the semen is suitable to be preserved. The following characteristics are used to determine the quality of the sperm:
Sperm Count
Morphology
RISK FACTORS
Age: Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in Men between 15 to 35.
Family history: A man with a close male relative who has had testicular cancer has an increased risk of developing testicular cancer.
Personal history: Men who have had cancer in one testicle have an increased risk of developing testicular cancer in the other testicle.
Cryptorchidism: This is a condition where one or both testicles do not descend into the scrotum before birth as they typically should. The impact of this condition may be lowered if surgery is performed to correct this before puberty.
Klinefelter’s Syndrome: Men with this condition have an extra X chromosome, which results in low levels of male hormones, infertility, breast enlargement and small testicles. In rare cases, it also increases the risk of developing germ cell tumors (seminoma) that begin in the chest.
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency virus) infection: Men with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), have a slightly higher risk of developing germ cell tumors (seminoma).
Down syndrome (Trisomy 21): Men with Down syndrome have an increased risk of developing testicular cancer.
Sperm count
The number of sperm present. 15 – 150 million sperm/mL is the typical healthy male sperm count. A single ejaculate with more than 22 million sperm is considered healthy.Motility
The percentage of sperm actively swimming. >50% should be motile.Morphology
The shape of the sperm. Approximately >25-30% of sperm should have a functional and appropriate shape.IN VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF)
Photo courtesy of: www.newlifefertility.com
Males with low sperm counts (<2 million) after chemotherapy may decide to undergo In Vitro Fertilization IVF: a process in which an egg is manually fertilized with a sperm in a laboratory dish. Mature ova are gathered from the female and stored separately until they are ready for sperm injection.
If an individual has previously banked sperm, a sample of sperm will be collected from the affected male and will be screened to find the healthiest sperm within the sample and injected into the female’s ovum. Once fertilization occurs, the zygote will be placed along the uterine wall of the woman to ensure implantation and proper development. The cost ranges between $10,000-$17,000. Miscarriages are more likely to occur with IVF as proper implantation is less likely to occur compared to traditional fertilization.