Prior to MESA/TESE, the only hope for some couples with severe male factor infertility was to use a sperm donor. In less severe cases, intrauterine insemination using the husbands sperm would sometimes prove effective. In general, the prognosis for creating a genetically related child was not good for men with male infertility.
MESA/TESE involves a surgical sperm retreival. MESA/TESE has enabled thousands of men with few, or no, sperm in their ejaculate to father children. MESA/TESE is performed in conjunction with an IVF procedure and involves injecting a single surgically retrieved sperm directly into the egg. Sophisticated micromanipulation equipment and skill are required to produce good MESA/TESE outcomes. Our embryologist has years of successful experience performing MESA/TESE and other micromanipulation procedures. Fertilization rates using MESA/TESE are typically over 70% in mature eggs. Where male infertility once had dismal outcomes, it is now possible for men with no sperm in their ejaculate to produce their own children.
These procedures include mid-epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) or testicular sperm extraction (TESE). In TESE, the sperm are retrieved directly from the testicles and in MESA they are extracted from the epididymis. As these surgically extracted sperm have less than normal motility, they are injected into each available egg. These procedures to treat causes of infertility in men are particularly important to men who cannot ejaculate, perhaps due to a spinal cord injury.
Sperm retrieval from men with azoospermia is now possible with acceptable to excellent pregnancy rates when applied with intracytoplamic sperm injection (ICSI). The ability to use cryopreserved epididymal and often testicular spermatoza should continue to limit the number of sperm retrieval procedures necessary to acheive fertility for a couple. These advancements, both in sperm retrieval and assisted reproduction, provide the potential of fertility treatment where the only management options were donor insemination or adoption only several years ago. Specific genetic abnormalities are associated with azoospermia in men and careful evaluation of the cause of azoospermia is indicated for all men.
Our fertility clinic treats infertility in men and we attract patients from Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and the surrounding regions. Many couples choose our fertility practice because of our reputation for individualized and compassionate care coupled with outstanding male infertility treatment success rates