Male infertility specialist Dr. Bastuba recalls the physicians a couple should see when trying to become pregnant.
Dr. Bastuba: When a couple is trying to get pregnant and having difficulties first thing to know is that any time is the right time if they desire to seek input, especially if they are 40 years or older, immediately is not too soon. From the standpoint of fertility, both the male and the female, in my opinion, should be seen at the same time and get the process started. Typically the female goes in first. I believe that’s cultural.
The reality is that it’s about 50:50 between male-female issues and female-female issues. About 50% are primarily female. About 30% are primarily male. Then there’s another 20% where it’s male and female there. So it’s equally important to have the male evaluated as the female.
A semen analysis is a reasonable start point, but a semen analysis is a crude measurement, in many ways, of male fertility and so we can’t just hang our head on a single semen analysis that seemed to be normal.
Once a male has started evaluation, typically they would be referred to a urologist or an andrologist, as they might be referred to, and that is a great place to start. Males with more difficult problems typically end up with someone like myself, maybe called a male fertility expert or, I like to call myself a reproductive urologist.
I typically deal with male side issues, though I work intimately with the female doctors. There typically a patient would start off with their gynecologist or OB/GYN, but then may work their way to a reproductive endocrinologist. These are the female side docs that do in vitro fertilization, do intrauterine inseminations, and various other aspects on the female side of working with her body to maximize female fertility.
So we’ve got the reproductive endocrinologist, we’ve got the reproductive urologist oftentimes working together, in sometimes, complex ways, to bring about success for couples.
About Dr. Martin D. Bastuba:
As San Diego's leading subspecialist in male fertility and male and female sexual dysfunction issues, Dr. Martin Bastuba gives hope to couples who have been unable to conceive, and to men and women who are experiencing the anxieties and frustration of sexual dysfunction. He offers complete diagnosis, treatment, prevention techniques and education for his patients.