Let me put you in the picture, doctor. I am a guy of 55, living in the Corporate Area. My wife is 25. I know that is a big age difference, but I love her very much. And we are both real keen to have a baby.

Last year, I ran into some bad health problems, just before we got married, and had difficulties with urination. They took me to the hospital, and I was told that I had trouble with my prostate gland. I still don't really know what the prostate is, doc, and I would be grateful if you could advise me.

Eventually, the doctors said that I must take a little operation on the penis. It was not a 'cutting' operation, so they did not cut my skin at all. I understand that they pushed some instruments up inside the penis.

Well, I made a good recovery from that operation, and the problem with the urine was cured. So that was good. When I got home, I was glad to find that I had not lost my nature. Within a very short time, my wife and I were having great sex, as much as before.

But ever since I came out of hospital, one thing has been badly wrong, doc. My wife pointed out to me that whenever time I discharge, no fluid comes out! I am fretting about this, doc, because I cannot see how I am going to get her pregnant if I do not produce the liquid. And she is desperate to have a baby. What is the explanation of all this? And what can we do?

A Sorry to hear about your problems. Let me begin by explaining about the prostate gland, which gives so many men a difficult time.

The prostate is about the size of a small ackee. It is located in the lower part of your body, and you cannot see it because it is so deep inside. If you put your fingertip on the middle part of your pubic hair, you are pointing straight towards it.

The only way of feeling it is through the bottom. That is because it lies just in front of the rectum, causing a small 'bulge' in the front wall of the rectum. And this is why doctors examine the prostate gland by putting a gloved finger into the guy's 'rear end'.

You may be aware that some sophisticated ladies turn their men on by massaging the prostate with the tip of a finger. Sometimes this helps a guy who has lost his nature.

Now, what is the prostate for? Well, it produces part of the man's sex fluid. In particular, some of the 'pre-come' liquid is generated in the prostate.

So why does the prostate gland give males such a lot of trouble? The big problem is that the urinary pipe runs straight through it. So if anything goes wrong with the prostate, that tends to affect the ability to urinate properly.

Sadly, in most males aged over 50, the prostate starts to enlarge a little. We do not know why this happens. Interestingly, there is now some scientific evidence that if you have an adequate amount of sex as a young guy, your prostate is less likely to swell up.

Anyway, in your case what happened was that your prostate enlarged, and started interfering with your urination. So they took you into hospital and did a little operation.

Almost certainly, that operation was what is called a 'Trans-Urethral Resection', or 'TUR'. This means pushing a sort of 'drill' up the penis and nibbling away part of the prostate from inside, thus widening the urinary passage.

So far, so good. But alas, prostate operations do sometimes interfere with sexual function. In your case, you say that you are still able to have great sex with your young wife, so that is fine.

But you have been left with a common complication of prostate surgery. You are not shooting out any fluid when you orgasm.

This is because the prostate op has given what is called 'retrograde ejaculation'. In other words, the sex fluid is shooting backwards into your bladder instead of squirting out in the normal way.

In fact, you may well notice that your urine is cloudy after having sex. This is because the sex liquid has gone into the bladder and mixed with the urine.

That makes life real difficult for you and your wife, seeing as you want to conceive a baby. Your best hope is to go back and see the surgeon who performed the prostate operation. He will tell whether anything can be done.

In particular, he will explain to you how it is possible for a lab to extract your sperms from your urine after sex and then use them to inseminate your wife, thus causing a pregnancy. I do hope this can be done for you, and I wish you both well.

A Yes, you will. And I am sure you will enjoy it too. Best thing now is to go and see a sympathetic woman doc, preferably one who 'majors' on family planning and similar subjects, and get her to check you out internally.

She will be able to reassure you that your vagina is OK, and she will give you a good advice about sex.

I would recommend that when you start going to bed with your fiancé, you use plenty of a reliable lubricant, which you can get from a pharmacy. Good luck.

A There are many, many causes. But in Jamaica, the commonest is lack of iron. Often that is due to loss of iron in the menstrual blood, during heavy periods.

A Almost certainly. See a doc who can help you to tightly control your 'sugar'. That should make it easier to avoid attacks of thrush.

A No, I certainly do not think you need tell your wife. I believe that 20 years ago there was really not all that much HIV in England, so the odds are that you are fine, especially as you have presumably been well all this time. However, I would recommend that you discreetly get yourself an HIV test.