Whether or not a man is fertile depends largely upon the (
quality of) his sperm production. This is controlled and regulated hormonally, but not all problems can be blamed on hormonal imbalance. Sometimes psychological factors are the root of cause, or else an obstruction somewhere along the sperms' journey both in the mans' and womans' body. See also
problem areas, reduced fertility and theory of fertiliy.
Specific treatmentThe doctors will try to find out via andrological investigations whether there is a specific issue with you which is contributing or causing the fertility problems which you and your partner are experiencing. See
looking for the cause in the section examinations for men.
If this is the case, a 'specific treatment' can be implemented for the particular problem that you have. For the various possibilities, see
remedies for impotence.
Quite often, no specific cause can be found, or there is no specific treatment available. Controversy surrounds certain treatment, for example
varicocele (removal of varicose veins in the testicles) and
prostate operation.
However these sorts of problems only represent about 5% of cases. For the remaining 95% of cases, a 'nonspecific' type of treatment must be implemented, with other words, something not directly aimed at solving one particular problem.
Non specific treatmentIt used to be that men with a normal hormone profile were administered additional amounts of hormones with a view of improving sperm production (see also
hormone treatment). However, many studies have concluded that this type of treatment is inefficient.
Therefore nowadays, the vast majority of cases involve assisted reproduction techniques such as
artificial insemination and
IVF or ICSI. These techniques do not heal infertility, but simply bypass the problem by replacing natural occurrences with laboratory procedures. The end result, if the procedure works, is pregnancy.