ejaculatin

[Martin]

we are investigating having another baby. My husband is c4 (so called) complete , we know that he ejaculates into his bladder through urine tests (probably two sphincturotomies doesn't help) .We want to exhaust all 'natural' options before looking at ivf.Does anyone know if a verticare vibrater can overcome retrograde ejaculation?Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated .Many thanks for such a great site.

[momoftwo]

Hi. I had to respond to your message to tell you a bit about our experience with having our second child. Our first child was born pre-sci. About three and a half years later, we were ready for number two. However, ejaculation was a thing of the past by then. We went to a wonderful urologist who found, through electro-ejacuation, that my husband was ejaculating into the bladder. (He tried the vibration as well, but it didn't work.) We worked simulaneously with a fertility doctor. This doctor initially told us that IVF was the only hope. We were very discouraged. The urologist was able to get sperm samples from the bladder. The count was not great, but not horrible either. We stood our ground about trying artificial insemination before ever considering IVF. On the second attempt, it was successful. Our daughter is now 22 months old, and her 8-year-old brother wants to know when the next one is coming!!! We broken the news to him that we are not going to have any more babies coming http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif I don't know if this helps you at all, but I hope it does.

[SCI-Nurse]

Sorry for the late reply...I was out of town.

If your husband truely is a retrograde ejaculator, this is one of the easiest problems to overcome in male infertility in SCI. The Ferticare can be used to cause ejaculation, although it is not any more likely to cause antegrade than retrograde ejaculation, which occurs because the sphincter is unable to close off the neck of the bladder as should happen during ejaculation.

Is the urologist you are working with a specialist in male infertility (andrologist)? Generally in the case of retrograde ejaculation in men with SCI, the man takes medication prior to ejaculation (1-2 days) to akalinize their urine. Ideally, then the bladder is emptied by catheterization, and a buffering solution (HAMMS solution is one commonly used) is put into the bladder. The man then stimulates ejaculation, either with intercourse or masturbation or by using the Ferticare.

The bladder is again catheterized, and the contents of the bladder is spun down and rinsed to get a concentrated pellet of sperm. This can be used for artificial insemination by methods such as IUI (intrauterine insemination) as long as it is timed with your cycle. In our area IUI is less than $200 per attempt, and this is done in the clinic, not an OR. We even had one patient who was able to do the procedure at home using intravaginal insemination using some equipment we was loaned by the clinic (the centrifuge).

I would explore this prior to attempting IVF if at all possible.

(KLD)

[Martin]

Thankyou for your advice , we will now certainly look into all of these options .