The short answer is yes, probably, the Commander is sterile. When Offred goes for her routine appointment at the gynecologist, he says as much to her and offers to get her pregnant himself. She is horrified by the doctor's suggestion and is sure that he could be an Eye (a spy for the government) or that he might report her as disloyal and disobedient if she declines his offer—but the fact is that Offred has had a child before, and so we know it is most likely possible for her to become pregnant again. However, the Commander has never fathered a child, and, because of his age, it is extremely likely that he cannot do so. The doctor implies that this is the case himself.
The reader is never explicitly told whether or not the Commander is sterile, but it can be inferred that he is. The Commander is an older officer of the “Sons of Jacob,” so because he is in a respectable position in this dystopian society, it is forbidden to even insinuate that he is sterile. Actually, it is forbidden to insinuate that any man in power is sterile, even though it is a fact that most of the civilization has become sterile from toxicity in the environment. Sterility is publicly blamed only on the women because of the patriarchal nature of Gilead.
The handmaids, then, are a group of women that are forced to reproduce by these men in power because they have been proven to have healthy reproductive systems, which is difficult to find. Childbirth has become so rare that any single healthy child is revered and celebrated while the handmaids continue to live a life of reproductive slavery. In this society, however, even being in this position is a “blessing” because there are many other worse positions to be in, such as cleaning up toxic waste until eventual death.
Offred, having not produced a child for the Commander yet, is in grave danger of being sent to the toxic wastelands because the handmaids have a “deadline” that they must produce a child within. The reader can assume that the Commander’s wife, Serena Joy, is aware that her husband is most likely sterile. It is difficult for her to watch the monthly “ritual” between the Commander and Offred (essentially a ritual of rape), so she arranges for Offred to sleep with her husband’s chauffeur, Nick, in secret. This is a risky move that could get all three of them in trouble, but both Nick and Offred are afraid of what Serena Joy may do should they not follow her instructions so they oblige.
While we never know for sure, the text strongly suggests that the Commander is sterile. The reason handmaids exist at all is that pollution has rendered much of the population sterile. The Commander is an older man who has never fathered a child. Given the high levels of infertility in the culture, the Commander's age, and his lack of other children, the odds are very high that he can't procreate.
However, in this dystopia, a fundamentalist Christian world, a man can never be considered sterile. The myth that protects the men is that it is always the woman's fault if a pregnancy doesn't occur. If a handmaid doesn't eventually get pregnant, she is blamed, even if every likelihood is that the problem is with the man.
Serena and Offred both know this. Serena, a pragmatist, understands that her husband is most likely sterile. (Her thoughts on the subject help convince us that he is sterile.) Therefore, she arranges for Offred to have sex with the younger, very possibly fertile Nick. Although this is a risky move, Offred agrees to it, knowing that if she doesn't get pregnant, she will be sent to die cleaning up toxic waste.
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