Low Testosterone Treatment Male Fertility

Long term efficacy and safety of treatment for low T in a fertility preserving manner

A longstanding dilemma in male fertility is how to treat men with low testosterone in a manner that is not bad for their fertility.  With the growing population of men in the US being diagnosed with hypogonadism (low testosterone) every year, a larger group of men in the age range where they still want to have children are being found to be hypogonadal. Traditional testosterone replacement therapy options such as testosterone gels, injections, and pellets suppress sperm production and have an adverse impact on male fertility.  For that reason, clomiphene citrate has commonly been used, off-label, for the treatment of hypogonadism and does not suppress sperm production.  Although there are a lot of studies evaluating the safety and effectiveness of using this medication in men, there has not been long-term data with durations of greater than 2 years on treatment published until now.  Drs. Parviz Kavoussi and Luke Machen, reproductive urologists at Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF published the longest-term study to date, following men for up to 7 years on this medicine, showing a good testosterone response with minimal risks.  Their study was published in the Journal of Urology.  To read the study click here.