Testosterone Infertility
It seems that you can attribute all the ‘defects’ of the male race on testosterone. It seems that a lack or too much of testosterone might cause infertility. If testosterone quantities aren’t spot on the guy will have a hard time producing or distributing sperm.
To give you an idea: testosterone is produced in the testes, which are housed in the scrotum. The hypothalamus manufactures gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) which stimulates the pituitary to make LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) which stimulates the testes to manufacture testosterone, so if one things goes wrong with the pituitary or hypothalamus (both areas in your brain) fertility will be impacted. In adolescence, it is testosterone that stimulates the visible sexual features – all those awkward things like facial hair and pubic hair. It is also responsible for controlling the sex drive.
If you don’t have enough testosterone then you may have something called hypogonadism. As stated before, problems with the pituitary gland, testes or hypothalamus can lower your testosterone manufacture or it can be a problem that you inherit at birth. The lack of testosterone assaults every part of your sexuality. You have low sex drive, erectile difficulties and decreased sperm count. Other symptoms of hypogonadism include mood swings, hot flashes, an increase in body fat, enlarged breast tissue and hot flashes. Typically a hormone specialist (endocrinologist) is the only one who will be able to give you an accurate diagnosis. Typically you will be given testosterone replacement therapy, but you may still require extra assistance to have a baby. Confirm that your doctor knows that you want to have a baby as this might impact your treatment.
You probably didn’t realize that lots of testosterone may be a problem, but hypergonadism can also bring about infertility. This is much rarer than hypogonadism and more tricky to treat. Men who suffer from hypergonadism will experience acne, early puberty, increased muscle mass (the only good news), enlarged breast tissue and abnormal hair growth.
Testosterone infertility is not only a male problem as women who have too much testosterone might have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), a widespread cause of infertility. Difficulty losing weight, excess facial hair, acne and irregular or absent periods are all symptoms of PCOS. So abnormal testosterone concentrations in men or women could cause fertility difficulties. With the appropriate levels of testosterone, infertility is unlikely. Testosterone infertility is relatively simple to treat, although you could also need counseling to help handle the emotional aspects of hyper- or hypogonadism as these could affect your perception of your masculinity.
Here is more information on What is Infertility. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Infertility.
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