# The man's role in IVF?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 3, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628 "2008-06-03T14:36:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/1 "2008-06-03T14:36:51Z")
I’m on the email list for a neighbor who is sending out updates on her in vitro fertilization procedure. Despite this fairly intimate communication I don’t know her well enough to ask her personal questions. So I’m asking you guys.
In one email following the procedure she refers to her husband: “Donnie is feeling great and is back to work today.” In the next email she says: “Donnie is back to normal.”
I know that IVF is a lengthy, stressful procedure for the woman, but I thought the man’s role involved a cup and a magazine. Is there something more to it?
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### Author:  [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/2 "2008-06-03T15:15:36Z")
If they’re having ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) done rather than just plain IVF, then they have to harvest sperm cells directly from the testicle (Testicular Sperm Extraction), in which case it would be debilitating for a day or two (it’s done under local anaesthetic) because they’d be jabbing needles into your nuts. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/3 "2008-06-03T15:27:51Z")
Thanks, that’s probably what it is.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/4 "2008-06-03T15:37:58Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater]
If they’re having ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) done rather than just plain IVF, then they have to harvest sperm cells directly from the testicle (Testicular Sperm Extraction), in which case it would be debilitating for a day or two (it’s done under local anaesthetic) because they’d be jabbing needles into your nuts. :eek:
[/QUOTE]
ICSI doesn’t require sperm be extracted directly from the testicle.
Testicular Sperm Extraction is only required if the male can not produce sperm through normal ejaculation.
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### Author:  [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/5 "2008-06-03T15:43:17Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire]
ICSI doesn’t require sperm be extracted directly from the testicle.
Testicular Sperm Extraction is only required if the male can not produce sperm through normal ejaculation.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that was a mistake. I saw a wikipedia article linking the two to a decline in the use of donor sperm and then somehow made the jump to ICSI requiring TSE. Mea culpa.
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/6 "2008-06-03T15:52:47Z")
Could he have been shaken up over the financial input required of him?
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### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/7 "2008-06-03T16:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge]
Could he have been shaken up over the financial input required of him?
[/QUOTE]
It’s possible. They used IVF to conceive their daughter, and this is the second or third attempt for a second child. They’re young, too, so either they have great insurance or some family money.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/8 "2008-06-03T16:24:27Z")
The testicular sperm extraction seems like a pretty rare need in IVF cases I would think?
I know sperm count numbers, mobility, and egg penetration are common male fertility issues but I’ve never heard of the need for (tse).
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/9 "2008-06-03T17:25:56Z")
My brother had a vasectomy after his first two kids were born. But he got remarried and wanted a child with his new wife. It was painful a painful procedure, but my nephew is now 8 months old and a happy little kid.
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### Author:  [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/10 "2008-06-03T20:19:04Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire]
The testicular sperm extraction seems like a pretty rare need in IVF cases I would think?
I know sperm count numbers, mobility, and egg penetration are common male fertility issues but I’ve never heard of the need for (tse).
[/QUOTE]
A former coworker’s husband produced almost no sperm, and those present had horrible motility. They skipped clomid, IUI, and “regular” IVF and went straight to ICSI with the few sperm they harvested from TSE because of his combination of issues. Luckily for them, she conceived on her first round.
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### Author:  [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/11 "2008-06-03T22:15:37Z")
And now Donnie’s laundry is all over the internet!
I always said he was a little off.
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### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/12 "2008-06-12T18:58:37Z")
In case anyone is curious, I spoke with the neighborhood busybody and she told me that Donnie was “born with a natural vasectomy”. (I’ve made a note never to tell this lady anything personal about myself.)
Based on some of her vague references to a genetic disorder, I think Donnie probably suffers from congenital absence of the vas deferens, because he has a mild form of cystic fibrosis. The busybody says that the couple underwent genetic counseling to make sure that the wife didn’t carry a defective gene for CF also.
And the IVF procedure worked - my neighbor announced that she’s pregnant.
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### Author:  [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/13 "2008-06-12T21:58:49Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine]
In case anyone is curious, I spoke with the neighborhood busybody and she told me that Donnie was “born with a natural vasectomy”. (I’ve made a note never to tell this lady anything personal about myself.)
[/QUOTE]
Given that they’ve chosen to announce details of their IVF odyssey to friends and acquaintances alike, I’d say your neighbors can’t really consider anything “personal” or “private”. They’d probably have been delighted to share intimate details about his testicles with you directly.
I’m sure you can hardly wait to hear all about her morning sickness, hemorrhoids, and, eventually, her episiotomy!
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mans-role-in-ivf/451628/14 "2008-06-12T22:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=InternetLegend]
Given that they’ve chosen to announce details of their IVF odyssey to friends and acquaintances alike, I’d say your neighbors can’t really consider anything “personal” or “private”. They’d probably have been delighted to share intimate details about his testicles with you directly.
I’m sure you can hardly wait to hear all about her morning sickness, hemorrhoids, and, eventually, her episiotomy!
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, no kidding. What is it about people these days? Whatever happened to just “We’re trying to have a baby”, or even “We’re having to go the medical route”? I don’t even like to think about the fact that my neighbors _have_ testicles!