Results

One of the transgender women who volunteered to preserve their semen after activating her therapy was taking the drug Lupron before she stopped. Lupron is a sex hormone blocker drug which stops puberty when administered in adolescence for six months.

She was able to produce a sperm sample which can be compared to that which was collected from the eight other transgender women who preserved their sperm before undergoing medication.

The second result, which was from the other transgender woman shows that fertility doesn’t quickly return after halting gender-affirming medications. The second patient has been taking spironolactone and estradiol for about two years. However, after four months of terminating treatment, she wasn’t still able to produce sperm, and she decided to stop trying to recover her fertility and continue with her medications because it is a tremendous psychological process.

Limitations

The study only evaluated two cases, and further research needs to be carried out with transgender women from different ethnic backgrounds so we can understand the process fully.

As the study team mentioned, transgender women who stopped taking gender-affirming drugs can produce sperm, but it is not guaranteed.

Sources

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-08/uop-twc080119.php

http://www.upmc.com/media/news/080519-valli-trans-sperm-recovery