Becoming a father with Cystic Fibrosis

Question

Dear expert team,

My boyfriend has cystic fibrosis. F508 homozygous.

We would love to have a baby. A gene test showed that I am not a carrier. My boyfriend has had his semen tested by a urologist twice, and both times it was very little and no sperms were detectable. My question: can I stop taking the pill and is it not possible in a natural way, so to speak, to become pregnant, or is still possible that a pregnancy happens nevertheless in this way? Sometimes we still hope.

Many thanks in advance and kind regards.

Answer

Dear questioner,

I am happy to answer your question concerning the wish for a baby. Virtually all men who have CF with dF508 homozygosity are infertile, i.e. they cannot have a child in the conventional way. This is due to the fact that they lack spermatic ducts, which transport the sperms from the testicles to the penis, since birth. In principle, the sperms are still present in the testicles, but they do not find the way “out” so to speak. You can therefore stop taking the pill and it is very unlikely that you will become pregnant from your boyfriend if you have unprotected intercourse. However, this does not mean that you cannot still get pregnant by him with the modern methods of so-called in-vitro fertilization. For this, though, a testicular biopsy is required, and fertilization will then happen “in the test tube.” For your partner, but particularly also for you, this means a rather complex treatment, but it is generally possible and we have several couples in our clinic who have successfully become parents this way.

I would therefore recommend you consult (if you have not done so yet) a specialist concerning “in-vitro fertilization.”

Kind regards
Dr. med Markus Hofer
Adult CF Clinic
Zurich University Hospital

28.02.2012