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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment of male infertility depends on the cause, how long you've been infertile, your age and personal preferences. In all cases of infertility, the female partner also will need to be checked and may need treatment. In some cases, treatment of the female partner can compensate for male fertility problems. Your doctor may try to improve your fertility by either correcting an underlying problem (if one is found) or trying treatments that seem like they may be helpful. Often, an exact cause of infertility can't be identified. Even if an exact cause isn't clear, your doctor may be able to recommend treatments that work.
Treatments for male infertility include:
- Surgery. For example, a varicocele can often be surgically corrected or an obstructed vas deferens can be repaired.
- Treating infections. If a blood test reveals high numbers of white blood cells, you may have an infection of the reproductive tract. Antibiotic treatment may cure the infection, but doesn't always restore fertility.
- Treatments for sexual intercourse problems. Treating conditions such as erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation can improve fertility. Approaches can include medication or counseling.
- Hormone treatments and medications. In cases where infertility is caused by high or low levels of certain hormones or problems with the way the body uses hormones, your doctor may recommend treatment with hormone replacement or medications that change hormone levels.
- Assisted reproductive technology (ART). For blockage of the vas deferens, retrograde ejaculation or other problems with sperm delivery, sperm can be taken directly from the testicle or recovered from the bladder and injected into an egg. The most common ART treatment is in vitro fertilization (IVF). This procedure involves surgically removing an egg from a woman's ovary, combining it with sperm in the lab, and then placing the fertilized egg into the uterus.
When treatment doesn't work
Sometimes male fertility problems can't be treated, and it's impossible for a man to father a child. If this is the case, your doctor may suggest that you and your partner consider either using sperm from a donor or adopting a child.
- Guzick DS. Evaluation of the infertile couple. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 7, 2010.
- Sigman M, et al. Male infertility. In: Wein AJ, et al. Campbell-Walsh Urology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/198188923-5/0/1445/22.html. Accessed May 7, 2010.
- Swerdloff RF, et al. Evaluation of male infertility. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 7, 2010.
- Bulun SE, et al. Infertility and subfertility in men. In: Kronenberg HM, et al. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/199429868-3/0/1555/120.html?tocnode=54107480&fromURL=120.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2911-3..50020-0--cesec90_1743. Accessed May 7, 2010.
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- Leibovitch. The vicious cycling: Bicycling related urogenital disorders. European Urology. 2005;47:277.
- Wang C. et al. Treatment of male infertility. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 7, 2010.
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- Agarwal A, et al. Prevention of oxidative stress injury to sperm. Journal of Andrology. 26;6:2005.
- Agarwal A, et al. Carnitines and male infertility. Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 2004;8:376. http://www.rbmonline.com/4DCGI/Article/Detail?38%091%09=%201200%09. Accessed May 7, 2010.
- Burns LH. Psychiatric aspects of infertility and infertility treatments. Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2007;30:689.
- Hornstein MD, et al. Optimizing natural fertility in couples planning pregnancy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 7, 2010.
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