Dr. K and her Patients in the News
Male Infertility Caused by Testicular Cancer - Their Success Story
William and Juanita VanBuren
KHOU Channel 11 May 28, 2003 Video
William and Juanita after much research presented themselves at Dr. Sonja Kristiansen,
MD's office on 04-11-03 to try once again to pursue their difficult infertility struggle.
William Van Buren at age 22 and unmarried was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1994.
His right testicle was surgically removed. At his 6 month check post surgery, the cancer
had spread and may have moved into the lymph nodes. His options were extensive surgery to
dissect the cancer and multiple lymph nodes or chemotherapy. "I chose surgery since I was
in law school and worried the side effects of chemotherapy would make me too ill to continue
school," said William.
Juanita Van Buren, a single mother raising two young children from a previous relationship
met William a year after his second cancer surgery. They married, he adopted her two children
and has been a dedicated father ever since. Juanita knew though he longed for a biological
connection and an opportunity to raise a child from birth. "Having given birth to two healthy
children, back to back, I know that we still have a chance to conceive a child together,"
said Juanita.
Several years ago, in 1997 William had a procedure called Electro-ejaculation to obtain sperm
to fertilize Juanita's eggs that were retrieved through In-vitro fertilization.
Electro-ejaculation requires anesthesia to those patients without spinal cord injuries.
An electrical current is applied to a nerve to induce ejaculation while the sperm is retrieved
prior to entering the bladder. The IVF procedure unfortunately failed.
After research to find a doctor and an IVF laboratory with the latest in Embryological
technology and equipment, and believing William may need to have another Electro-ejaculation
procedure to obtain sperm, they met with Sonja Kristiansen, MD. "Dr. Kristiansen gave us
as much time as we needed to understand our options. She is very informative and genuinely
interested in helping us build a family," said the Van Burens.
After making a few phone calls, Dr. Kristiansen was also able to give the couple great news,
William’s remaining sperm had been frozen at the previous IVF facility, this meant
he would not have to go through another expensive procedure to obtain sperm.
This month Juanita will again go through an IVF cycle, using William's remaining frozen sperm.
Using retrieved eggs from Juanita, a process called ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection)
where a single healthy sperm will be selected from William's remaining frozen sperm, loaded
into a microscopic needle, and injected directly into each egg under a microscope by
Embryologist, Dr. Jose Hernandez. This procedure increases the probability of fertilization
of Juanita's eggs by as much as 80%. Prior to transferring the fertilized embryos to Juanita's
uterus a procedure called Assisted Hatching (an opening is made in the wall of the embryo
to encourage it to leave its shell and implant into the uterine wall) will be performed to
increase the probability of implantation of the embryo.
William and Juanita are hopeful their research will increase their possibility of William's
dream of having a biological child come true this month.
UPDATE: Juanita and William are happy to announce they are pregnant with their first IVF
attempt with Dr. Sonja Kristiansen! Stay tuned to Channel 11 to see their follow up story
in the near future.