EP 100: What an extra X chromosome means to Male Fertility

An extra X Chromosome and male fertility

I can’t actually believe I made it to 100.

Well I can as there’s so much that needs to be discussed when it comes to fertility. When I started on this podcasting journey, I had no idea there were so many different factors affecting our success in getting pregnant.

First of all I want to say thank you for being willing to share your stories with me as I feel I’m in an extremely privileged position to be able to talk to you and please know how vital it is that we keep this conversation going.

In this landmark episode I’m putting the spotlight back on male infertility by chatting with Dr Kevin McEleny about the work he does to train medical professionals to understand more about dealing with men and the issues that could be affecting their fertility.

Dr Kevin McEleny, Newcastle Urology

We discussed Azoospermia and how 10% of men who have production type of Azoospermia have Kleinfelter Syndrome.

This can result in men having issues with their educational, weight gain, breast enlargement, a lack of confidence, communication issues, dislexia, dispraxia.

Sadly a lot of men aren’t diagnosed early and Kevin explains how there may be opportunities to have put intervention into education which could have affected their life.

One example he shared was of a Dad who thought his son was lazy and playing up at school, however post diagnosis the Dad said he felt guilty and would have done something different to help his son more.

Kevin is involved in a research group – with partners in the US, hoping to explore this more and they are also working with Kleinfelter syndrome association

He is also working with Dr Esmee Hannah on how men use social media to seek support, as Dr Kevin feels conventional counting is female facing, which might not be exactly what men want..

Follow Kevin on twitter here

We’re assembling an elite team on researchers here! A sort of Marvel’s Avengers for male fertility researchers (can I be Thor?) https://t.co/LdLA7NZgG1

— Kevin McEleny (@malefertdoc) September 19, 2017