Not sure if this is the right place to post this or not but here goes.
I had an undescended testicle on my right hand side at birth. However, for reasons unknow it wasnt noticed until I was 7 yrs old and I only had the operation then.
Everything is fine now (although the testicle is smaller than it should be) and I have no problems with ejaculation etc.
Were planning to start a family in the next couple of years and I know that my condition means that there is a strong chance that i may be infertile. I have tried searching the web for info but there is so much out there that figures I have been seeing seem to range from anywhere from between 10 and 50% chance of infertility.
I dont really want to have a test done yet as i dont know how i would handle the news if it wasnt good. I'm getting married next year so i want to concentrate on that for the time being.
Just wondering if anyone has had an similar experiences and what the outcome was?
I don't have any first hand experiences, but I do know that many men who were born with an undescended testicle, later corrected by surgery, are fertile. In general, the earlier the condition is corrected, the better the chances of the testicle producing viable sperm as an adult. At age 7, it was a little late, but should be OK. If you wait until puberty, there's pretty much no chance for the testicle.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind:
1) Although the undescended testiscle may be impaired, the other testicle is probably perfectly fine. You do not need both testicles to be fertile. Many guys with only 1 testicle are fertile (Lance Armstrong for example).
2) Infertile does not mean sterile! Infertile just means you're not producing enough viable sperm to get a woman pregnant on a normal basis. But you ARE producing sperm, and that's the important thing. Being infertile would just mean it may take you longer to conceive than normal, or it may mean you need to help nature along with fertility drugs, or even artificial insemination. The point is, there are still many options for you to be a father of your own child (with your own sperm), even being infertile.
And who knows, you may be perfectly fertile already!
When you're ready, try to conceive. If you're having problems getting your wife preganant, then see a doctor and have a sperm count/semen analysis done. Then take it from there.
As I'm sure you know, body heat kills the testicles ability to produce sperm; therefore, making it either sterile or infertile. Since there was nothing wrong with your left testicle, I would say you are okay. My husband has only one testicle, the other was injured in an accident (poor thing ) and we have 3 kids. Our joke is that we can't even look at each other without getting pregnant unless i am on birth control ... and even that didn't work once.
Does your fiance know about this? If it would give you peace of mind, I think you need to go ahead and have the tests done, because in my opinion if you don't than this is something that you will worry about until she does happen to get pregnant.
I think I agree with Christie and would just go ahead and have the tests done. If you're like me, this will always be nagging at you until you know for sure. I honestly think your chances of making babies are very good, being that your other testicle is perfectly fine. One is really all it takes! My son was born with an undescended testicle, which we had surgically corrected when he was a year old (the doctor said it was better to wait until then). I know that's what the doctor had told us, that even if he would only have the one good testicle that he could still father children someday. He said something about the operation as basically being for cosmetic reasons actually if nothing else, but really, from what he told us, I got the idea that men don't need two testicles to be fathers. In my son's case, the operation basically was just for cosmetic reasons because he never wants to have children; neither does our daughter. Btw, my son is two years younger than you are. I wish you luck, but I seriously doubt if you have anything to worry about. Just to ease your mind, though, I would go and have the tests done. Then you will know. If it were me, it would be worth the peace of mind.