Azoospermia, or the absence of any sperm cells from the ejaculated sperm, presents a significant challenge to fertility urologists. While there are options for azoospermic couples to create happy families, such as donor sperm donation and adoption, most couples still want genetically related offspring.

Advances in urology, gynaecology, and fertility laboratory technologies enable surgical sperm retrieval in azoospermic men and the achievement of live births for many, but not all, azoospermic couples. At the moment, extensive research is being conducted in a variety of directions in order to develop new fertility options through the creation of "artificial sperm cells” or semen analysis.

Many obstacles and problems may arise despite the new technologies and innovations. These all should be given in detail to the azoospermic couples. The current review defines the problem, describes the theoretical basis for creating artificial genetically related sperm cells, and provides an update on current successes and challenges on the long and winding road to the ultimate goal: enabling every azoospermic couple to have their own genetically related offspring.

Hopefully, these research efforts will bear fruit in the near future, resulting in the ability to create artificial sperm cells and provide such couples with off-the-shelf solutions, fulfilling their desire to parent genetically related healthy babies.

Most men and women want to be parents in general, and especially to be the biological parents of a child who carries their DNA. In sexually reproducing species, genetic information is passed down from generation to generation only through gametes, and only when the nuclei of a sperm cell and an ovum are unbroken.

The current situation focuses on male factor infertility. Fertilization cannot take place unless mature sperm cells are available, according to the male partner.

In cases where there are no sperm cells in the ejaculate, surgical options for retrieving sperm cells from the testicles themselves or their adnexa exist. There are no other ready-to-use and non-experimental options for obtaining mature sperm cells.

Based on current knowledge and ongoing research, there are several possible future directions to overcome azoospermia and provide azoospermic men with artificial sperm cells carrying their own genetic information, which could eventually be used to enable them to have their own genetically related offspring.

The new options discussed here are intriguing, but they are not yet ready to be clinically administered to azoospermic couples.

When discussing infertility, it must be emphasised that sperm quality plays a major role. While it was once thought that most cases of infertility were caused by the female partner, recent worldwide research, including in Israel, shows that about half of all infertility cases are caused by the male partner.

Semen analysis, which examines ejaculate, is the most basic test for determining male fertility. The test is easily accessible, non-invasive, and repeatable.

Men with azoospermia, a complete lack of spermatozoa in the ejaculate, are at the extreme end of male infertility. Azoospermia affects about 0.6–1% of all men and 10%–15% of infertile men.

If the cause of azoospermia is a blockage of the seminal tract, sperm cells can be recovered in almost all cases. When treating cases of obstructive azoospermia, male fertility specialist centres with micro-surgical capabilities prefer retrieving sperm via microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA)—aspiration of sperm cells from the epididymal head, proximal to the obstruction point. Learn more about this by connections with the medical professional.

https://www.indiraivf.com/semen-analysis/