106 menshealth.com.au
that is used to assess the cause of their low
sperm count. “If we can find out what is
behind it, we might be able to treat it,” says
Homa. The leading known cause of male
infertility, she says, is a varicocoele – a clump
of abnormally enlarged veins around or above
a testicle. “This leads to an engorgement of
blood that heats the testes. If you raise the
temperature of the testes too high, you can
destroy sperm development.”
Homa is convinced of the potential
benefits of varicocoele repairs. “There is a
lot of evidence that this will improve sperm
DNA damage and increase your chances
of pregnancy, naturally and with IVF,”
she says. So why isn’t it more commonly
practised? In this and other respects, the
medical community is divided. “In studies
where men were randomised either to have
the varicocoele repaired or not, the results
showed their fertility did not improve,” says
Child. “So the guidance is that men should not
have it repaired purely for fertility reasons,
as there is no evidence that the treatment will
help.” Child continues, “In general, there are
no drugs, surgeries or medications that can
‘fix’ men’s fertility problems.” For now, he
believes IVF remains the best option.
LIFE SUPPORT
Avradeep and Emma opted for IVF using
donor sperm. “I felt bad for Emma because
I was the reason she could not conceive
naturally, and why we needed to go down this
route,” he says. “She would have to undergo
various uncomfortable procedures and blood
tests, whereas my lack of sperm ruled me out
immediately.” Sometimes, on the drive back
from work, he would cr y. “I felt useless.”
This sense of personal failure is a very
common response, explains Homa. “How
would I describe the emotional state of the
men who come to see me? I think the word is
‘dire’,” she says. “They feel guilty about how
they cannot provide what their partner
wants most and yet she is stuck with them.
I have had men tell me it would be better to
divorce, so she could find somebody else.
I have had plenty of men break down
during a consultation.”
Homa sees her clients without their
partners, so they are, perhaps, more
comfortable about revealing their emotions.
In other environments, many of them feel
they have to “be strong”. “Men often hide
their feelings in front of their partners,” says
Lewis, “even if they are heartbroken inside.”
Richard Clothier is a marketing manager
who married his wife in 2011. After learning
he had fertility issues that would make
natural pregnancy unlikely, his wife started
HIT OR MYTH?
Dr Jackson Kirkman-Brown separates media scare story from legitimate strategyWIFI & PHONE SIGNALS
COOK YOUR SPERM
MYTH
While the heat
from your laptop
can cause
short-term
damage, no link
has been
established
between Wi-Fi
and infertility.IT’S HEALTHY TO
EJACULATE OFTEN
HIT
This won’t offer any
long-term benefits,
but “refreshing”
your sperm once
every couple of
days is beneficial
when you’re trying
to conceive.A LOW SPERM COUNT IS
A SIGN OF POOR HEALTH
MYTH
It’s largely
inherited, so while
lifestyle factors can
help, the chances
are that it’s
unrelated to
anything
you’ve done.PROTEIN SUPPS CAN
HARM YOUR SWIMMERS
HIT
Unfortunately,
there’s some truth
here. While most
men won’t have any
issues, if your
sperm count is low,
quitting the shakes
can help.IVF treatment in early 2016. “I kept quiet
about my feelings in order to be the ‘knight in
shining armour’ who every man wants to be
for his partner,” he says. “But it took its toll.
Every morning on the drive to work, I would
pull up on the same stretch of road and
find I was punching the steering wheel with
both hands. I was filled with rage and raw
emotion, making noises that I had never
heard myself make.”
That those like Clothier feel they have no
outlet for their frustration is a sign that men
still feel uncomfortable about discussing
their feelings openly. “Men have fewer social
support networks,” says Barnes. “[Maleinfertilit y] is something that has been taboo
for many years, and men don’t have the same
resources available to them.”
Some are trying to change this. In 2015,
Gareth Down set up a Facebook group focused
on male fertility. After discovering he had no
sperm as a result of testicular lumps during
his teenage years, Down and his wife, Natalie,
began fertility treatment. The couple had
multiple rounds of intrauterine insemination
(IUI) and IVF, and Natalie frequently went
online in search of support and advice. When
Down tried to do the same, however, he came
up against a wall. “The people on the pages
were predominantly female, and I couldn’t“MANY MEN FEEL A LACK OF
SPERM AFFECTS THEIR
SENSE OF MASCULINITY”