Darrell Gwynn Foundation

MIAMI PROJECT: MALE FERTILITY PROGRAM


Miami Project- Fertility Research Program

Spinal cord injuries are sudden and overwhelming tragedies. Life is forever changed in the blink of an eye, the crash of an auto, the fall from a ladder, the dive into shallow water. No one expects to get a spinal cord injury. There are no genetic tests to predict who will get one. They can happen to anyone at anytime. The result, in most cases, is permanent paralysis. Nothing can be felt below the level of injury. Nothing can be moved below the level of injury. Bladder, bowel, and sexual function are irretrievably damaged.

The vast majority (80%) of spinal cord injuries occur to young men at the peak of their reproductive health. Many men with spinal cord injuries get married and want to father children. Following spinal cord injury, most men have impaired fertility due to abnormalities in erectile function, ejaculatory function and semen quality. (Interestingly, women with spinal cord injury retain fertility and can conceive and bear children at a similar success rate as the general population.) For men with spinal cord injury, however, medical assistance is required to reproduce.

The goal of the Male Fertility Research Program is to understand and improve impairments to male infertility that occur following spinal cord injury. Some of the questions being investigated in this research program include:


  • What is the best method of semen retrieval in men with spinal cord injury?
  • What happens to semen quality after spinal cord injury?
  • What can be done to improve abnormal semen quality in men with spinal cord injury?
  • What can be done to optimize reproductive outcomes in couples with a male partner with a spinal cord injury?

Research from this program is rapidly progressing toward a method of improving low sperm motility in men with spinal cord injury. Research continues to improve the potential for biological fatherhood, and thus improve the quality of life for couples with a male partner with SCI.

The Miami Project's Male Fertility Program holds a special place in the Darrell Gwynn Foundation's hearts, it was through this program Darrell Gwynn, President of the Darrell Gwynn Foundation, conceived his beautiful daughter Katie. Life does not end with a spinal cord injury and the dream of having a family can still be achieved through programs such as the Male Fertility Program. The Darrell Gwynn Foundation hopes by supporting this program all spinal cord victims can still realize their dreams of conceiving a child.