Re: Adam and In Vitro

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In a message dated 1/9/00 6:17:46 PM Pacific Standard Time, krooner1@...

writes:

<< Hi Adam,

Congrats on your wife's pregnancy. I have asked about this before and

didn't get a reply from you, so if you don't respond, I'll assume you

don't want to talk about it.

Hello Gracie,

Actually I did respond but it may have gotten lost in a sea of e-mails. I

don't mind talking about it at all. After 3 years of dealing with

infertility, one loses all sense of modesty.

My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for 3 years. Last

year he had several SA's which showed zero sperm. The doctor thinks

liver disease is the problem. All his liver doctors tell us that

post-transplant we would be able to try for a baby. But we don't know

when that will be and Ed is 49 years old. The urologist said he could

do a biopsy to see if there are any sperm inside and if there was we

could do in-vitro. Now my questions:

Is this what happened to you? Did you do ICSI?

In our case ( and I), we had unexplained infertility. That means that

my sperm count and motility was normal and everything checked out with .

We did not do an ICSI so I do not know about the operation.

Was the operation horrible? Ed agreed to do it until he saw a

televised operation on it. It did look terrible.

My understanding that ICSI itself is the proccess of injecting a sperm

directly into the egg. It really does not involve the man at all. However,

retrieving the sperm may be a different matter. Again I know little about

the surgical aspect of it.

Did your sex drive diminish with the disease?

No. But fatigue is definately an issue with PSC. The only link that I can

think of between PSC and infertility is Azulfadine (Sp ?). This is a drug

taken for ulcerative colitis that affects sperm count/motility. Many of us

with PSC also have UC and have thus taken Azulfadine. Asacol is another drug

for UC but does not affect sperm.

I'm sorry if this is too personal and you can email me privately if

you'd like. Like I said, if I don't hear from you I'll drop the

subject for good! But you are the only man I've met online or off that

has been in the same situation we are in. Thank you for any

information you can provide and congratulations again.

Gracie

The following is a national organization that deals directly with infertility

issues. RESOLVE, 1310 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02144 . It is

wonderful organization and resource.

I believe that PSC and infertility are seperate issues. In my case, I am

still relatively healthy (itching and fatigue are my major symptoms) and

and I decided not put our lives on hold but to start a family. In our

case if we waited several years it may not have happened at all since

is 38 and I probably will not need a transplant for several years. The only

reason that I could see waiting to start a family is if Ed is getting close

to needing a transplant. It would be very difficult to be a care giver to a

transplant patient and be pregnant/new mother. Another thing to consider is

how much support you and Ed have. With enough support, perhaps you could

deal with both things.

But medically, I don't think that any infertility percedures could harm or

accelerate the PSC. but of course you should check with your hepatologist.

Good Luck.

Adam dx96