I have 23 non-motile sperm in my sample. Am I sterile?

Yes and no. From a practical standpoint, it would be highly unlikely to achieve pregnancy with so few sperm. Most folks agree that 20 million are necessary. Urologists vary on what exactly to say to patients like you and most feel you are safe if you have less than 100,000 sperm. If you were my patient, I'd say "the likelihood of achieving pregnancy with your count is extremely low, however it is possible. The decision to wait until they completely clear, going ahead with unprotected sex, or repeating the procedure is your call." So you are not sterile, however the likelihood of achieving pregnancy is near nil. I have repeated about 5 vasectomies in cases like this and although anecdotal, all achieved a zero count.

Published on Jul 11, 2012

The AUA guidelines say you're sterile and have approx. 1 in 2000 risk of pregnancy. I tell my patients in this situation that it's OK with that risk to stop other contraception but encourage them to recheck in about 3 months.

Published on Jul 11, 2012