Spinal cord injuries can be life-altering, and the potential for infertility is often a devastating blow.
Nearly 8 in 10 men in the United States who have experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) experience fertility and reproductive issues due to erectile dysfunction and reduced sperm quality.
But one clinic in Miami, Florida, is making it its mission to help men with spinal cord injuries start families.
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The Miami Paralysis Cure Project, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has helped deliver 200 babies since the 1990s.
Fox News Digital spoke with Dr. Emad Ibrahim, director of the Male Infertility Research Program, about why the finding was “remarkable.”
A patient with a spinal cord injury walks into Dr. Emad Ibrahim’s office at his Miami, Florida, clinic. (University of Miami)
The doctor said “nothing could compare to the joy” he felt when he found out one of his patients was pregnant.
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“Every time I get an email with an ultrasound of my baby, it feels like mission accomplished,” he said. “It’s the happiest feeling of my life.”
Ibrahim, an associate professor of urology and neurosurgery at the University of Miami, said the clinical research program is “very unique” in that it helps men have their own children through a technology rarely found elsewhere.
New dads Eric Rosemary (left) and Darris Strauter (right) both underwent surgery at Miami Project under the direction of Dr. Ibrahim (center). (Eric Rosemary, University of Miami)
While men with erectile dysfunction can be treated with medication, those with ejaculation problems face a bigger challenge, which a Miami clinic is addressing with two unique procedures.
The two techniques include penile vibration stimulation and electroejaculation, both of which are FDA approved, and are chosen based on the nature of the spinal cord injury.
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The electroejaculation device activates and contracts the glands that produce sperm. (The device is also available in Sweden, its only location outside Miami.)
The method is “almost 100 percent” guaranteed to be successful, Ibrahim said.
Being a “great” father
Men come from all over the United States and even abroad to seek out the treatment. — Darris Strauter, 44, of Miami, is one of them.
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Strauter said in an interview with Fox News Digital in 2018 that he was a victim of gun violence.
He was shot eight times while waiting at a traffic light and was left paralyzed from the chest down.
Darice Strauter plays with her daughter, who turned 2, on Aug. 5, 2024. Strauter was shot in 2018 and left paralyzed. (University of Miami)
“I don’t feel anything,” he said. “This is a crazy situation. You just have to take the hits and keep going and try to stay positive.”
Despite the incident, Strauter, who already had one child, was determined to give his wife a child.
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“I kept saying, ‘She deserves kids,'” he said. “She’s been there for me the whole time, so I thought, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.'”
Mr Strauter received treatment from Ibrahim that ultimately led to his wife’s successful pregnancy, and their daughter is now nearly two and “healthy and strong”, Mr Strauter said.
“[Fatherhood] “It’s great. It’s so much fun,” he says. “I love everything about it.”
“I pray that God will continue to lead us on a path to greatness,” Strauter, pictured with his wife and daughter, told Fox News Digital. (University of Miami)
Another Florida resident, Eric Rosemary, 46, also found success at the Miami facility after being paralyzed in a Memorial Day accident 15 years ago.
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“I was on a boat in West Palm Beach and fell off the boat and shattered my C4, C5 and C6 vertebrae and became a quadriplegic,” he said.
Rosemary, who has been married for eight years, told Fox News Digital that she turned to Miami Projects at the right time to have children.
Eric Rosemary of Florida, seen here with his family, said the Miami Project is “leading the way” in helping people with spinal cord injuries adapt. (Eric Rosemary)
Rosemary previously worked on the clinical trials for this project.
He and his wife welcomed two sons into the world in 2020 and 2023 after trying three times with their first pregnancy and two times with their second.
“When you’re injured, there are so many other things to worry about,” Rosemary says.
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“In my 30s, I was able to overcome a spinal cord injury, rebuild my business, rebuild my life, get married and have my sons,” he continued. “I was fortunate to have had the time to do that.”
Ibrahim noted that for patients with spinal cord injuries, sexual function is often “neglected” initially, with the focus primarily on mobility and medical care.
Darris Strauter, pictured in the background with his daughter, is now a stay-at-home dad, and his wife is in the foreground. (University of Miami)
“They barely talk about fertility,” he says, “and unfortunately, in remote parts of the country, there are still rehabilitation centers that tell patients, ‘Give up, you’re not going to be able to have children.'”
He added: “If [providers] If people know our program exists and actually refer patients to us, that would be a great help.”
Ongoing research
With the Miami Project procedures showing impressive results, further research is underway into possible fertility treatments, Ibrahim revealed.
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The program was awarded a $3.24 million, 40-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense in July 2023 to conduct clinical trials to study a drug called probenecid, which was previously used to treat gout.
Dr Ibrahim, who specialises in reproductive and sexual dysfunction in men with spinal cord injuries, said “nothing could compare to the joy” he felt when he found out one of his patients was pregnant. (University of Miami)
Through years of research, Ibrahim and his team discovered that the drug targets internal problems experienced by some SCI patients, he said.
In a pilot study of 18 spinal cord injury patients, Ibrahim reported that all participants saw improvements in sperm quality.
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“The drug is safe and there is literature supporting that it is effective,” he said.
The Miami Project is recruiting new volunteers, and larger clinical trials are currently underway.
