Varicoceles are a common cause of male factor infertility. My husband's reduced sperm count was due to a varicocele, and having the varicocele removed solved his fertility woes. (However, since he was still married to an infertile woman, solving his fertility issue still did not result in his conceiving a child.)

A varicocele is a varicose vein in the testicles. A varicocele causes problems because it holds a pocket of blood and keeps the sperm too warm, causing some of the sperm to die off. When the testicle tries to protect the sperm from overheating, the varicocele manages to keep the warm blood against the sperm. When I think of varicose veins, I think of the really large ones that bulge out of an older woman's legs, but a varicocele does not have to be very large to cause a fertility issue.

My husband's varicocele was diagnosed by a urologist. On the first visit, the urologist examined my husband's genitals, but he did not see anything amiss. However, he scheduled an ultrasound, telling us that it is possible to have a varicocele large enough to cause fertility issues that is not visible to the naked eye.

Through the ultrasound, the urologist found a rather large varicocele, which he said was definitely causing fertility problems. He said that my husband would need to have surgery, called a varicocelectomy, to correct the problem. Both my husband and I cringed at the thought of a surgeon taking a knife to my husband's genitals, but the urologist reassured us by explaining how the surgery was performed.

A varicocelectomy does not involve "cutting" the testicle. Instead, the incision is made in the abdomen. The surgeon determines which vein is feeding the varicocele. He performs surgery on that vein to stop the blood flow to the varicocele. Without blood flowing to the varicocele, the varicocele goes away. While any surgery is distressing, knowing that the surgery was actually on the abdomen made the process seem much less scary.

My husband had the surgery on a Friday and was back to work on Monday. While the surgery was not comfortable, it really was not that bad, all things considered. If I had been fertile, then this surgery would have likely resulted in our ability to conceive a child together.

Related Topics:

• Varicoceles
• Male Factors

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