"Not Yet Ready For Prime Time" Sperm

Research sheds new light on why some men have fertility problems - and what can be done to turn things around!

By Colette Bouchez

While a great deal of the difficulty in getting pregnant is frequently focused on women, it’s important to remember that up to 50% of all fertility problems are male related.

Now, two new studies offer important pieces in the male fertility puzzle, helping to sort out the reason why some couples may be having problems conceiving. Moreover, both new studies point to a defect in a protein involved in helping sperm to mature and grow as the key culprit.

“Our study shows for the first time to our knowledge that [this protein]…. is associated with a strong impact on fertility outcome,” says lead study author Dr. Jessica Escoffier of the Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, one of two locations where the independent research was conducted.

Indeed, one of the major causes of male infertility is related to sperm which fail to fully develop. When this occurs, two possible problems result. The first is a decrease in sperm motility – meaning that the “little guys” either can’t swim quickly enough to reach the egg in time, or that they lose their direction when they try to swim.

But even if his sperm does successfully reach it’s destination, without proper maturation, entry into the shell of the egg is not possible - and that means fertilization will not take place.

While there have been many theories as to what can keep both these problems from occurring, today two new studies have independently shown that a defect in proteins crucial for sperm development may be at the root of the problem.

In the one study, conducted at The Toyko Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, a group of Japanese researchers zeroed in on a protein which is expressed in the area of the testes where sperm is made . Test subjects who were lacking in this protein ejaculated sperm that were considered “immature” – or not yet ready to fertilize an egg. Both motility and the ability to penetrate the egg appeared to be impacted.

In the study, conducted at the Grenoble Institute of Neurosicence in France, Escoffier and her colleagues found that this same protein played an essential role in the health of the “acrosome” - a portion of the head of each sperm that produces enzymes which help break down an egg’s shell , allowing entry and subsequently, fertilization to occur. In subjects who were lacking this protein, sperm were not able to fertilize an egg in the test tube – the process known as IVF.

Although the research was done in mice and not humans, researchers say they are confidant that the results are applicable and may represent a whole new target for both male fertility medications which target and excite this protein, as well as male contraceptives which help dampen the activity of the protein.

Both studies were published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

In the meantime, remember that many advances in the treatment of male fertility can help nearly all men to father a child. In the procedure known as ICSI, for example, individual sperm are extracted from a man's testicles and placed directly into the egg, thereby reducing a great many of the obstacles to conception.

Also remember that many men can dramatically improve the health of their sperm via simple changes in diet and lifestyle. Good nutrition, along with avoiding certain foods, can be the deciding factor that helps some men go from infertile to fertile without any medical treatments.
To learn more about the foods that can help male fertility click here.

Or visit www.GettingPregnantNow.org to learn more about the latest natural and medical treatments for helping you get pregnant fast!


Copyright by ElleMedia/ Colette Bouchez 2010 - All Rights Reserved.In addition to US Copyright, the text of this FERTILITY BLOG is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All Formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

Birthing A Mother: New Book Sheds Light On Surrogacy

Are you infertile? Are you having problems getting pregnant? Find out if the surrogacy option is right for you?
(Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick, son, and new twins delivered by a surrogate.)

By Dr. Niels H. Lauersen

Medical Director, GettingPregnantNow.org

Are you having problems getting pregnant? Have you been told that you cannot carry a baby to term? Have you thought about the possibility of another woman carrying your child.

If so, you’re among a growing number of women who may benefit from the power of surrogacy, the fertility treatment that allows one woman to carry the baby for another. And for many it can be a life-changing experience.

Indeed, most recently the concept of surrogacy made worldwide headlines when actress Sarah Jessica Parker and husband actor Matthew Broderick conceived twins using a surrogate mother (pictured above).

And, in fact, for those women who, for any variety of reasons cannot or chose not to carry a baby in their own womb, it offers the chance for genetic parenting that otherwise might not be possible. For the surrogate it can be an opportunity to give life – and more importantly give a child – to a woman or man who might otherwise never know the experience of genetic parenthood.

And now, a brand new book explores that very relationship with groundbreaking new research on the surrogacy experience. Titled Birthing a Mother: The Surrogate Body and the Pregnant Self the book is based on a study conducted by cultural anthropologist Elly Teman, a Research Fellow at the Penn Center for the Integration of Genetic Healthcare Technologies at the University of Pennsylvania. Offering up a unique perspective on the surrogacy experience, it is a book that I believe is likely to help every woman considering this option to know and understand the emotional and even the physical process, better.

What Does Surrogacy Involve?

There are many different types of surrogate pregnancies – some which involve the use of the intended mother’s eggs and some with donor eggs or the eggs of the surrogate. Sperm can come from the baby’s intended father or from a donor. Surrogates can become pregnancy using traditional fertility treatments such as IVF, or via artificial insemination.

In terms of choosing a surrogate, it can be someone the couple knows – such as the intended mother’s sister, cousin, or even her own mother. Other times it’s may be a complete stranger – someone they meet through their doctor or through one of a growing number of surrogate agencies.

But irregardless of how the two women meet, the relationship between birth mother and intended mother is a complex one, filled with emotions on every level.

And in fact, the new book Birthing a Mother probes the intimate experience of being a surrogate while also exploring how surrogates – and their intended mothers – walk a fine line of emotional negotiation that can be difficult, and yet rewarding, for both.

The book also dispels many common myths about the surrogacy experience, including the one I have heard most often from my patients – the fear that the surrogate will not relinquish the baby when the time comes. While certainly this has been known to happen, by and large, surrogates are well adjusted women who enter into the experience with the mindset that they doing this for someone else’s benefit – and rarely is it a problem when birthing day arrives.

In fact, I have seen some of the most incredible, lasting bonds develop between birth mother and biological mother – which is something Teman’s study also found.

Her research, which looked at Jewish Israeli women, traced the process by which surrogates psychologically and emotionally disengage from the fetus they carry. In that work she too found that most of these women develop a profound and often lasting emotional bond with each one – and one that in the end, I believe can be beneficial to both women as well as to the child.

Early reviews of Birthing a Mother touch on Dr. Teman’s skill as a writer and on the groundbreaking nature of her work , while the book itself offers a glimpse of a world that most will never see or experience.

If You Are Considering Surrogacy

If you are considering surrogacy to make your own dreams of motherhood come true, I urge you to read this book; if you are woman who has considered being a surrogate, this book will guide you to make the right choice. If you are a woman grappling with infertility – particularly if you are over age 40 – then this book can open your eyes to another option you may have never considered.

Do be aware, however, that surrogacy is not sanctioned in every state. In some states in the US surrogacy is outlawed, in other states it is allowed only among women who are blood relatives. For more information and a state-by-state law guide visit: AllAboutSurrogacy.com

To learn more about the surrogacy experience, including costs and medical information, visiting GettingPregnantNow.org

Copyright by ElleMedia2010 - All Rights Reserved. In addition to US Copyright, the text of this FERTILITY BLOG is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All Formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.
Disclosure:Purchasing a book directly from this site may benefit the owners of this blog.