Most healthy men continue to produce sperm cells throughout their lives. I recently read of a 90 year old man fathering a child. The questions for those of us with SCI are: 1. can we ejaculate, and 2. is the sperm in the ejaculate viable?
Yes, it is possible to harvest sperm from men with SCI. I have friends who have undergone the procedure, but I do not know the exact details. If you are able to ejaculate at all, you can have that sperm tested for viability and any viable sperm can be used to fertilize eggs harvested from your partner. If you cannot ejaculate, there is a procedure which uses vibration and/or electical stimulation to induce ejaculation. If this is not succesful, as a last resort, the sperm can be harvested surgically, I'm told. Of course, these procedures are expensive and not always successful, so it is a big decision. I would suggest meeting with a fertility specialist [your family doctor should be able to refer one,] to find out exactly what your options are. Good luck--I hope you are blessed with a child. Don. ________________________________ From: Shahidul <[email protected]> To: Quad <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, January 3, 2011 9:07:35 AM Subject: [QUAD-L] Baby Hello friends:-) Happy new year to you all. I had this query and I am sure, many of you have the answers. it's mainly to male members but female members are welcome to give any opinion. I was never bothered about this in my 18 years of quad life. Never thought it will ever happen to me, but it happened all of a sudden (I was not prepared for this). I am now 48 and a lady of 30-35 years agreed to spend her life with me. She only wishes that, if she had a child from me. Now I am thinking, after all these years is it possible to give birth of any child ? Do I have any sperm left ? I cannot do voluntary intercourse as I am quad. Do doctors have any way to get the sperm from me and inject it to my mate ? Please, please share your experiences soonest. I shall be very pleased. So long... Bye... Yours, Alam
