Question about castration - already on HRT

[SmTBalls (imported)]

I'm surgically nutless and on injected T.

With regular T levels, everything works fine. I like being able to stop/change the T as I want.

I enjoy being a eunuch, but if I just needed sterility only, maybe I'd consider vasectomy?

I would too but for the reasons I mentioned. I really don't like volunteering to be injured which is how I see surgery. I didn't have my wisdom teeth out until one of them broke. Then I had all 4 done at once because I never wanted to have to go through the recovery again.

If I have something done I really wouldn't want to have the chance of having to have something else done later. Like I said, vasectomy seems like a lot of risk of problems to save a couple organs that don't do anything for me at all (other than get in the way and cause pain).

The "Smart RISUG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible ... r_guidance)" procedure sounds promising in that it is an implantation of a material that destroys the sperm as they pass through the vas deferens, but the vas deferens is not cut or anything so the (destroyed) sperm still leave the body. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like this procedure will be available anywhere any time real soon.

What's forcing the issue is in my later years I absolutely can't stand sex with a condom and I'm in a multi-decade monogamous relationship so I shouldn't need to use them. My wife took birth control for years but stopped many years ago as she started having problems with it. "Plan B" would not be effective for her in the event of a condom failure due to her weight (something we found out after she used Plan B after a condom failure awhile back and then found out that the research shows it is completely ineffective for women over 165 pounds). As I said in the OP I need to get a sperm count done because I might already be sterile from the HRT in which case none of this matters.

[SmTBalls (imported)]

If your on exogenous testosterone for four years already, your testicles already have atrophied so having them removed will not change anything but having an empty sack.

They have definitely atrophied a lot. Going roughly by feel I'd say they are about 5/8" in diameter. Strangely they change size sometimes. Sometimes they get a lot smaller and sometimes a little larger. No idea why that would be. With any luck this means they aren't doing anything at all, but I need to get the count done. I keep saying that.

That said, I've read of weight lifters that use massive doses of testosterone having trouble impregnating someone, but never read anything anywhere that someone on normal levels of HRT for many years would eventually have a zero sperm count. I've read plenty of things that say HRT will reduce sperm counts but never any that said they would go to zero.

I did a Google search just now though and found this, so I wonder...

Testosterone therapy of any type generally leads reduced sperm production. In fact, zero sperm counts occur in 90% of patients within 10 weeks of starting therapy. Sperm counts usually rebound within 6-12 months after therapy is stopped. Patients on testosterone should be informed that fertility will be impaired during treatment.

It would be just like me to put a buttload of thought and research into something that may be completely irrelevant to me. Have I mentioned I need to get a sperm count done?

[SmTBalls (imported)]

Keep checking your sperm level. Use some form of birth control until you no longer need it.

We use condoms today. If I find out I've been using condoms for the last 4 years for no reason (if already sterile) I'm going to be so pissed. Need to get that appointment to see my doc so I can ask him to order the sperm count for me.

Thanks again for all the replies everyone! I REALLY appreciate the input.

[daifu-orchid (imported)]

Do be careful. My dad says condoms don't work.

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

Do be careful. My dad says condoms don't work.

Very funny. --FLO--

[SmTBalls (imported)]

OK, sperm count ordered. Planning to go in Friday to give my "sample". No orgasms until then to make sure it's a good sample.

I don't know whether to hope it's zero or not. If it's zero then that's good news because it means nothing needs to be done, but it's bad news because I've wasted a lot of years messing with condoms for no reason.

It really needs to be absolutely zero for me to be comfortable not using a condom. When reading about vasectomy failures on Dr. Stein's page I came across this and found it quite amazing:

[A] man whose vasectomy was performed and whose semen was sperm-free in early 2005 got a partner pregnant in late 2006; no sperm could be found in his semen even then, but DNA tests confirmed his paternity (the veritable "one got through").

So, although unlikely, it only takes one to ruin the party.

[ylpb7508 (imported)]

OK, sperm count ordered. Planning to go in Friday to give my "sample". No orgasms until then to make sure it's a good sample.

I don't know whether to hope it's zero or not. If it's zero then that's good news because it means nothing needs to be done, but it's bad news because I've wasted a lot of years messing with condoms for no reason.

It really needs to be absolutely zero for me to be comfortable not using a condom. When reading about vasectomy failures on Dr. Stein's page I came across this and found it quite amazing:

So, although unlikely, it only takes one to ruin the party.

I had a vasectomy done ages ago (40 years or more) and I still remember the urologist saying something like, "This procedure is 99.99% effective. But that does mean that .01% of the men will still be fertile." Those little sperm are amazingly determined.

[SmTBalls (imported)]

OK, I'm sure you have all been waiting for the outcome to this with baited breath... Actually I'm sure you haven't.

I delivered my "sample" to LabCorp on Friday and have anxiously been awaiting receipt of the result which arrived just a few minutes ago.

No spermatozoa are identified.

Post-vasectomy sperm count performed on uncentrifuged specimen.

Of course I haven't had a vasectomy, that's just the type of test that I ordered. So, great news!

Of course now I wish I'd done that damn test years ago.

I think I'm going to frame the report and put it on my wall.

Thanks everyone for your information and support. As long as my balls stay dormant I guess I'll keep 'em. I still wouldn't mind having them gone, but it would be a lot harder "sell" to the wife now that the principal rationale is no longer an issue.