I've never written about this before but thought it might be useful for someone who may be experiencing the same/similar problem and believes there's no real pr

I've never written about this before but thought it might be useful for someone who may be experiencing the same/similar problem and believes there's no real prospect of having children. During several years of trying to conceive, I undertook 2 sperm tests with the clinic and on both occasions drew a blank - literally nothing. I can't describe how brutally crushing this is to receive as news - especially from a poorly trained medical professional who has just delivered the news to you in much the same way he would tell you the time. Since I had an amazingly supportive and clever wife, she researched various treatments and came upon a process called microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE) which I believe was pioneered in the states and brought to the UK. One mTESE procedure later (approx £5k privately) where they were happily able to extract 8 vials of viable sperm, followed by a course of free IVF (in some UK places you get 1 free round, but can be up to 3) - 5 viable blastocysts were grown, 2 inserted - and 9 months later a happy healthy baby girl was born. I guess the summary is, guys: if you're having issues conceiving - don't always assume its the female, and get yourself checked out asap before its too late for easy conception - success rates drop off a cliff after age 38. Even if you're firing blanks, there is hope