Can a male "stop" producing sperm?

Holly&Troy

Hi everyone,

Your thoughts/feedback/knowledge/experiences on this would be appreciated. So, after my hubby's vasectomy reversal, there were no sperm in his samples. He has fathered three girls before his vasectomy in his previous marriage. But I have heard it's possible that his vasectomy has "tricked" his body into not producing sperm. (He had his vasectomy 10 years ago, his reversal 3 years ago.) I am hoping there isn't a problem with there being sperm in the testies, it's just not in the ejaculate. However, I hear that's a myth about males stopping sperm production; that males always produce sperm. I am just afraid there won't be any sperm for IVF! I have heard two different stories on this. Thanks in advance!!

tptbabe

***Child/PG mentioned***

We were able to get pregnant twice on our own (one live birth), but my DHs sperm count/motility/morphology went into a steep decline 2 years ago, and nothing was helping it. I haven't heard of a vasectomy "tricking" a mans body into stopping producing sperm, but it can increase the chances of him having antibodies due to the trauma sustained during the surgery. (Antibodies are actually a major factor in our case as well, though DH has never had a vasectomy or any kind of trauma to his testes/groin.)

So yes, it *is* possible for sperm production to decrease, but with your DHs history, I would be more inclined to think that the vasectomy reversal wasn't successful. Did he have a SA after the reversal to see if/how well it worked? Your best bet would be to see a urologist who specializes in MFI to see what the issue could be. If he's produced sperm in the past, I would think that there's a good chance that he is still producing sperm, but it's just not getting out, or that there might be a treatment that might be able to help him?

Holly&Troy

Thanks!! Yes, no sperm in sample after reversal. But this gives me hope that they are there!!