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Does having type 1 diabetes affect levels of fertility?
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<blockquote data-quote="AliP" data-source="post: 634017" data-attributes="member: 128255"><p>Hi Adam, I saw your post and had to reply as I have first hand experience to share with you.</p><p></p><p>My husband is Type 1. He was diagnosed at 13 years of age and is now nearly 42. We have been together since your age, but only felt ready to have a family in our mid thirties. Unfortunately, that then proved to be not so straight forward. Because of the length of time he has been diabetic and (as he would readily admit) poor control when he was younger, he was diagnosed with retrograde ejaculation (the condition which someone else has explained elsewhere in this thread). As a result, it turned out there was only a very small chance that we would be able to conceive naturally (because sometimes everything works as it should, but the chances of that happening on a fertile day can't be guaranteed!). </p><p></p><p>We started trying for a family at the beginning of 2010 and after all the various tests and waiting times for appointments, finally got the go ahead for IVF funding during autumn 2012. It was possible for my husband to have a non-surgical procedure to extract sperm from his urine, but if that doesn't work for some people, then there are various surgical options (obviously not ideal because of diabetics not healing as well as other people). We then had to undergo a special form of IVF called ICSI (which is more expensive). If you look up fertility clinic websites near to you, you should find out all the information you need to know.</p><p></p><p>I am very pleased to say that I sit here typing this with my 9 month old son beside me, but we were running out of time for our own family.</p><p></p><p>For yourself at this stage in life, I would recommend as someone else on this thread has said, get some sperm on ice! You do have to pay to store it, but it will be worth it in the future if you happen to develop RE or another complication. If you do go down the storage route, I would recommend you going on a health kick first - we already ate a healthy diet but were even more careful what we ate, got fit and we gave up alcohol too (that's hard, but can really make a difference).</p><p></p><p>When you do eventually find a lovely lady you want to have children with, don't leave it too long to start your family. If we had decided to have children earlier in our relationship, we might have had an easier time of it. Remember that not all women may be willing to go through all that IVF treatment entails .... </p><p></p><p>I should also mention that it is apparently possible to get some tablets that can temporarily cure RE which increases the chances of a natural conception; due to our age, we did not have enough time to try that as a route though.</p><p></p><p>Everyone says it, good control is the key to living with diabetes. It absolutely is, although you may not realise it until you are older and wiser <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Wishing you all the best.</p><p></p><p>Ali</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AliP, post: 634017, member: 128255"] Hi Adam, I saw your post and had to reply as I have first hand experience to share with you. My husband is Type 1. He was diagnosed at 13 years of age and is now nearly 42. We have been together since your age, but only felt ready to have a family in our mid thirties. Unfortunately, that then proved to be not so straight forward. Because of the length of time he has been diabetic and (as he would readily admit) poor control when he was younger, he was diagnosed with retrograde ejaculation (the condition which someone else has explained elsewhere in this thread). As a result, it turned out there was only a very small chance that we would be able to conceive naturally (because sometimes everything works as it should, but the chances of that happening on a fertile day can't be guaranteed!). We started trying for a family at the beginning of 2010 and after all the various tests and waiting times for appointments, finally got the go ahead for IVF funding during autumn 2012. It was possible for my husband to have a non-surgical procedure to extract sperm from his urine, but if that doesn't work for some people, then there are various surgical options (obviously not ideal because of diabetics not healing as well as other people). We then had to undergo a special form of IVF called ICSI (which is more expensive). If you look up fertility clinic websites near to you, you should find out all the information you need to know. I am very pleased to say that I sit here typing this with my 9 month old son beside me, but we were running out of time for our own family. For yourself at this stage in life, I would recommend as someone else on this thread has said, get some sperm on ice! You do have to pay to store it, but it will be worth it in the future if you happen to develop RE or another complication. If you do go down the storage route, I would recommend you going on a health kick first - we already ate a healthy diet but were even more careful what we ate, got fit and we gave up alcohol too (that's hard, but can really make a difference). When you do eventually find a lovely lady you want to have children with, don't leave it too long to start your family. If we had decided to have children earlier in our relationship, we might have had an easier time of it. Remember that not all women may be willing to go through all that IVF treatment entails .... I should also mention that it is apparently possible to get some tablets that can temporarily cure RE which increases the chances of a natural conception; due to our age, we did not have enough time to try that as a route though. Everyone says it, good control is the key to living with diabetes. It absolutely is, although you may not realise it until you are older and wiser ;) Wishing you all the best. Ali [/QUOTE]
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