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Marital Status and Fertility of 185 Male Renal Transplant Recipients in China

HONG-WEI WANG

WANG-LING PENG

HUI-MING XU

From the ^* Center for Renal Transplantation, Jiulisong Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; the Institute of Urology, Transplantation Center, the Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China; the Department of Urology, the 153rd Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; and the Zhejiang Family Planning Research Institute, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Correspondence to: Prof Long-Gen Xu, Director, Center for Renal Transplantation, Jiulisong Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, China (e-mail: xulonggen{at}sina.com).

A questionnaire was designed to assess the effects of renal transplantation in men of reproductive age on marital status and fertility. The study sought to correlate recipients' marital status and fertility with the health of the recipients after the transplantation, the health of children they fathered after the procedure, and the functioning of the transplanted kidney. Male recipients (n = 243) who were single and of reproductive age before renal transplantation were selected from 2007 recipients of a renal transplant recorded in the authors' hospitals in China. Of the 243 surveyed, 185 completed the questionnaire and participated in follow-up in the clinic or by telephone. Their marital status and fertility were investigated. Of the 185 recipients, 69 got married 12–88 months (mean, 32.19 ± 14.30 months) after renal transplantation, and 62 of 69 couples were actively attempting to become pregnant. Fifty-three patients fathered 54 children, including 1 pair of twins, 9–72 months (mean, 25.81 ± 15.33 months) after marriage. The birth weights of the newborns ranged from 2500 to 4600 g (mean, 3395 ± 456.80 g). These children developed well. Nine patients did not father any children, and 3 of these 9 cases were attributable to infertility in the wife. Seven patients were using contraceptives. Three recipients suffered from chronic graft rejection and resumed hemodialysis 2–11 years after they fathered children. In addition, 2 patients died after fathering 1 child: 1 from dysfunction of the transplanted kidney 9 years after birth of his child, and another in an accident 1 year after his child's birth. Our findings suggest that, like men without renal transplants, male recipients of renal transplants can get married and father children, and the transplantation procedure appears to have no significant effect on the children fathered afterwards, on the recipients' health, or on the functioning of the transplanted kidney. It is very important to indicate that, in addition to needing contraception if they do not conceive, male renal transplant recipients should expect fertility rates that are similar to those of the general population.

     Key words: Questionnaire, hemodialysis, immunosuppressive drug therapy