You can decide to have children in the same way as anyone else. People of all levels of spinal cord injuries have had children after their injury. If you want to prevent pregnancy, safe sex needs to be practiced. Condoms are considered the best choice for both males and females.
General Information
Click here to watch a video on the effects spinal cord injuries have on fertility: Fertility — Sexuality after SCI (sexualitysci.org)
This PDF booklet was developed by the Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service Spinal Outreach Team (SPOT) to provide information to parents with SCI ideas to help them find solutions to parenting challenges.
Click here to watch a video on childcare strategies for people with spinal cord injuries developed by Craig Hospital: Childcare Strategies for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (youtube.com)
For more information on fertility and pregnancy after a spinal cord injury, visit the following link to review general information put together by the United Spinal Association: Fertility and Pregnancy - United Spinal Association
Blog post from a family on overcoming a spinal cord injury on the road to parenthood. This blog post tells the story of what this family did to still have kids when the husband experienced a spinal cord injury: The Wall Family: Overcoming Tragedy on the Road to Parenthood | Shady Grove Fertility
This is the link to the website of the specialist, Dr. Khan, from Leesburg, VA who helped the family from the blog post on their journey: Naveed Khan, M.D. | Leesburg Fertility Specialist | Shady Grove Fertility
Female Fertility
If a female is interested in birth control options other than condoms, they should speak with their doctor. Pages 5-7 of this PDF created by Craig Hospital cover information on periods and birth control options: 786.Sexual-Function-for-Women-After-Spinal-Cord-Injury.pdf (craighospital.org)
Pages 17-22 of the following PDF sexuality-consumer-cpg-2012.pdf cover information regarding female reproductive health and fertility (e.g. menstruation, gynecological health, birth control, pregnancy, childbirth, AD and childbirth, and menopause). It was created by the Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine which was founded by the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and is a group that develops and distributes evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to practitioners and organizations that treat individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Click here for a PDF guide on pregnancy and SCI: Pregnancy-and-SCI-booklet-V7.pdf (scisexualhealth.ca)
For females, there is usually a brief pause in periods following a spinal cord injury, however, once the period returns, females can naturally become pregnant, carry, and deliver a baby. Pregnant females with spinal cord injuries are at a higher risk for secondary complications of spinal cord injuries, however, problems can be prevented or managed if they develop. For more information on pregnancy and considerations that should be made, check out this website: Pregnancy and Women with SCI | MSKTC
The following video created by the Shepherd Center discusses information on women with spinal cord injury, specifically, pregnancy, labor, and delivery: Women with Spinal Cord Injury: Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery - YouTube
The following PDF is a general list of questions for females to discuss with their OBGYN prior to the appointment created by the Shepherd Center: Questions for Females to Ask Doctors.
Here is another website with information on reproductive health for women with spinal cord injury created by The University of Alabama at Birmingham Spinal Cord Injury Model System (UAB-SCIMS): Reproductive Health for Women with SCI Video Series - Spinal Cord Injury Model System
Male Fertility
Some men with spinal cord injuries are able to get their partners pregnant through sexual intercourse, but many men cannot. Men with spinal cord injuries often have fertility issues, but fertility specialists can offer medications and techniques to help.
Reasons for infertility in men with spinal cord injuries can be because of difficulties obtaining and maintaining erections, inability to ejaculate into a vagina during intercourse, or sperm may be unable to swim to fertilize an egg (known as poor sperm motility). Specialists experienced in spinal cord injuries can offer treatment options such as in-home insemination or medically assisted procedures ( i.e. electroejaculation, intrauterine insemination, or in vitro fertilization).
Talk with your health care provider to see what options may be available to you and see what referrals they may have for specialists or specialty clinics.
For more information on male fertility, watch the video below created by a nurse practitioner from Craig Hospital: Male Fertility After Spinal Cord Injury (youtube.com)
Pages 22-23 of the following PDF sexuality-consumer-cpg-2012.pdf cover information regarding male fertility. It was created by the Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine which was founded by the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and is a group that develops and distributes evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to practitioners and organizations that treat individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).