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CLERMONT, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - About 15 percent of the country’s population has infertility problems.
That’s about a million couples trying to get pregnant who simply can’t, according to the experts at Orlando Health. In half of those cases there’s an issue with the would-be father and they have no idea. One Clermont couple tried for 8 years to conceive but nothing seemed to work.
“I always thought there was a problem,” said Ramiro Cruz Acosta who is now going to be a father of two.
When Ramiro Cruz Acosta was 18 years old he was diagnosed with a rare condition called “varicoceles,” a condition he never imagined could one day prevent him from conceiving a child.
“Varicoceles are actually common because I see it all the time but I would say overall the general population they’re not that common,” said Doctor Jamin Brahmbhatt a urologist for Orlando Health. “Not all varicoceles lead to infertility, it’s when we call them grade two or grade three varicoceles, when they’re very large.”
To put it plainly, doctors told Acosta he had “large veins” around his testicle causing abnormal sperm production. After a failed surgery in his teens to fix the issue he never gave it much thought that is until he wanted to start a family with his wife Shannon.
“I got to the point where I thought it really was never going to happen either,” said Shannon Cruz Acosta. “We use to give him encouragement and stuff because he used to feel bad about it.”
After 8 years of treatments and medications, nothing seemed to work. So, Acosta decided to go under the knife, again, hoping for a miracle.
“It was such a remarkable change,” said Dr. Brahmbhatt. “He had very low sperm counts, we did the surgery and we did the first semen analysis and he essentially became superman.”
After that successful surgery, came Audriana Cruz. She’s 9-months old and a perfectly healthy baby girl. Now come July another little one will be added to this growing family.
“We were actually trying to wait until April because of my C-section, they wanted me to wait a year before we tried again,” said Shannon Cruz Acosta who’s 16 weeks pregnant.
“I can’t even explain it,” when we asked Mr. Cruz Acosta how he felt being a first time father. “You have to go through it to really understand what this is about. It’s something beautiful.”
Acosta had some helpful advice for guys who may be facing the same problem.
“There’s an ego thing we got for men, oh there’s nothing wrong with me and they don’t go and check,” he stated. “Then they go through a miserable life and if you just go out there and talk to a doctor and get help you can have one of these,” as he points to his 9-month old daughter.
Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt said infertility is a common problem.
“What I tell a lot of couples is you’re not alone,” Dr. Brahmbhatt stated. “There are millions of couples out there in the United States that go through fertility issues.”
If you would learn more about this infertility in men visit here for more information: https://www.purclinic.com/male-infertility/varicocele/