PITTSBURGH, Aug. 5, 2019 - Scientists at Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI), collaborating with clinicians at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh report two cases in which young transgender women attempted to recover their fertility after starting and stopping gender-affirming medications.
The study, published today in Pediatrics, found that one transgender woman was able to produce viable sperm after a few months of discontinuing her puberty-halting medication, whereas a different patient on hormone therapy could not produce sperm during the time she could psychologically tolerate being off her medication.
"We were interested in examining the timeline for getting viable sperm after stopping masculinity-suppressing medication," said lead author Hanna Valli-Pulaski, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at MWRI. "Going on and off gender-affirming medications can cause psychological distress in this population and it's important patients have a discussion with their health care provider before starting or stopping any treatment."
The research team examined medical records of two transgender women who tried to preserve their sperm after stopping hormone therapy and compared their semen quality against eight other transgender women who elected to preserve their sperm before beginning therapy. All of the study participants came through the Fertility Preservation Program in Pittsburgh between 2015 and 2018 as young adults.
One of the patients who elected to preserve their sperm after beginning therapy had been taking the drug Lupron--a sex hormone blocker that halts puberty when taken in adolescence--for six months. She elected to stop taking Lupron to attempt sperm cryopreservation.
Five months later, she was able to produce a sperm sample comparable to those collected from the eight transgender women who saved their sperm prior to undergoing treatment.
Although this one case shows that it's possible to recover sperm after starting gender-affirming therapy, stopping medication for even just a few months can be psychologically distressing, Valli-Pulaski said. For male-to-female transgender individuals, facial hair can start to sprout and the voice begin to deepen after just a few months of stopping medication. It's possible to reverse these effects, but it would take time.
What's more, a second case included in this study showed that fertility doesn't always return quickly after going off gender-affirming drugs.
This patient had been taking estradiol and spironolactone for more than two years. Four months after stopping treatment, she was still unable to produce viable sperm, and at that point, she decided to stop trying for fertility preservation and proceeded with gender reassignment surgery.
The sperm production results of the two study participants provide valuable information that clinicians can share with future patients wishing to have biological children after beginning gender-affirming therapy, notes Valli-Pilaski.
"Right now, there's not much information available about fertility preservation for transgender patients," Valli-Pulaski said. "If you have any data, it's important to share so that patients, researchers and clinicians can learn from it."
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Additional authors on the study include Emily Barnard, D.O., Stephanie Rothenberg, M.D., Marie Menke, M.D., of UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital; Cherie Priya Dhar, M.D., Selma Witchel, M.D., Gerald Montano, D.O., of UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; and Kyle Orwig, Ph.D., of Magee-Womens Research Institute.
To read this release online or share it, visit http://www.upmc.com/media/news/080519-valli-trans-sperm-recovery [when embargo lifts].
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A $20 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 87,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and a 3.5 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.2 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid $587 million in federal, state and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside on its annual Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.
About Magee-Womens Research Institute
Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) is the largest research institute in the U.S. devoted exclusively to health conditions affecting women and infants. The Institute is leading discoveries and advancing knowledge in the field of reproductive biology and medicine, translating this knowledge into improved health, wellness and disease prevention for women, engaging our community in women's health, and training the present and future generations of women's health researchers.
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PEDIATRICS