Male infertility: Providing a plan for hope

At UW Health’s UW Health Fertility Care, we specialize in all aspects of male infertility. We provide testing to find the underlying cause of your infertility. If you and your female partner have tried to get pregnant for more than a year, you may want to consider seeing a doctor for fertility testing.

Conditions that can affect sperm and fertility include:

• Erectile dysfunction

• Ejaculatory dysfunction

• Exposure to environmental toxins, such as radiation, heavy metals or chemicals

• Hormone imbalance

• Infections, including sexually transmitted infections

• Low or no sperm count

• Previous vasectomy 

• Side effects from surgery, prostate or testicular surgery

• Sperm that are misshapen or not fully grown

• Sperm that cannot travel far or fast enough to fertilize an egg

• Varicocele (swollen veins in your scrotum)

You can also be infertile with no known cause. Our infertility team may be able to recommend a treatment option to improve your chances of conceiving.

Risk factors for male infertility

Certain lifestyle choices and activities can affect your fertility. These include:

• Chemotherapy or radiation treatments 

• Drug abuse

• Excessive alcohol use

• Injuries to the scrotum or testicles

• Obesity

• Overheating the testicles (for example, sitting in a hot tub or wearing tight clothing)

• Tobacco use

The diagnosis process may include:

• Genetic testing

• Getting a comprehensive health history 

• Hormone testing 

• Physical examination 

• Screening for broken DNA strands in individual sperm

• Semen analysis 

• Ultrasound imaging 

Preserving your fertility

We work with you to ensure your future fertility.

• If you have cancer and need chemotherapy or radiation, you can preserve your fertility. Learn more

• You can make lifestyle changes to boost fertility, such as losing weight and stopping smoking.

Your fertility team talks with you about your treatment options. We offer medical and surgical care, including:

• Fertility preservation

• Microsurgical varicocelectomy to repair swollen veins 

• Sperm extraction using:

  • Electroejaculation

  • Microscopic epididymal sperm aspiration

  • Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration

  • Testicular sperm extraction/aspiration

• Transurethral resection to repair blocked ejaculatory ducts

• Vasectomy reversal 

Improving fertility care with research

Our fertility specialists study all aspects of infertility to improve care for you. We test new treatments and track success rates.

Our infertility doctors provide specialty care at UW Health Fertility Care in Middleton, Wis.