Please help

HopefulGJT

 After all of our tests at the RE we have been diagnosed with slight Male Factor IF.  I am confused because the nurse said teh SA was normal when I called in February but then at our follow up visit my RE said it was slight infertility.  Numbers are as follows:

Volume 4ml (normal 1-5)

Concentraion 17 (normal >20)

Forward progression 2,3 (normal 3,4)

Motolity:  58% (normal >50%)

Morph 5% (normal >14%)  but some literature says 5 is ok

PH, agg. and round cells all normal.

I am heartbroken and my DH feels bad.  We have been trying since May 2010 and neither of us are ready to give up but the RE suggests that IVF with ISCI is our best chance.  She said she could start out with IUI but DH and I are uncertain.  We would like to try to conceive naturally and are not yet ready to go to assisted however we feel that the RE is pushing us towards assisted because she doesn't think we can do so naturally.  Any advice would be appreciated.  What would you do if you were in my shoes?

illinigal

How old are you and your DH?  If you are over 35, I'd get going on assisted fertility sooner rather than later.  If you are in your 20s, you haven't been trying over a year yet, so if you want to keep trying naturally for a few more months, I say go for it.   Have you been tested?  Before you move forward with IUI or IVF, you would need to be tested as well to find out if you and DH both have problems.  If you have problems too, ART is your best bet.  Good luck!

Delta04

illinigal:

How old are you and your DH?  If you are over 35, I'd get going on assisted fertility sooner rather than later.  If you are in your 20s, you haven't been trying over a year yet, so if you want to keep trying naturally for a few more months, I say go for it.   Have you been tested?  Before you move forward with IUI or IVF, you would need to be tested as well to find out if you and DH both have problems.  If you have problems too, ART is your best bet.  Good luck!

I totally agree here.  The most important thing here is your age and the results of any testing you might have done - that should dictate what you do.  We are dealing with MFI as well but there are several women on SAIF/PAIF that have had much success.  GL to you.

patchen30

I agree w/ PPs.  First and foremost you should get tested.  If everything comes back fine w/ you and you're young, I don't see why IUI wouldn't give you a good shot - the only thing your DH is slightly lacking on is count.  And you could wait until it's been a full year to try that.

pennylanehd

patchen30:

I agree w/ PPs.  First and foremost you should get tested.  If everything comes back fine w/ you and you're young, I don't see why IUI wouldn't give you a good shot - the only thing your DH is slightly lacking on is count.  And you could wait until it's been a full year to try that.

This!  I agree entirely.  The numbers aren't bad at all for MFI, especially if you've checked out and time is on your side.  Good luck!

Nature Lover

HopefulGJT:

 After all of our tests at the RE we have been diagnosed with slight Male Factor IF.  I am confused because the nurse said teh SA was normal when I called in February but then at our follow up visit my RE said it was slight infertility.  Numbers are as follows:

Volume 4ml (normal 1-5)

Concentraion 17 (normal >20)

Forward progression 2,3 (normal 3,4)

Motolity:  58% (normal >50%)

Morph 5% (normal >14%)  but some literature says 5 is ok over 4% is now considered nrmal in most circles

PH, agg. and round cells all normal.

I am heartbroken and my DH feels bad.  We have been trying since May 2010 and neither of us are ready to give up but the RE suggests that IVF with ISCI is our best chance.  She said she could start out with IUI but DH and I are uncertain.  We would like to try to conceive naturally and are not yet ready to go to assisted however we feel that the RE is pushing us towards assisted because she doesn't think we can do so naturally.  Any advice would be appreciated.  What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I think those numbers sound pretty good and see my note above about the morph.  Also, my RE said that if we had slight problems with MFI that would be one of the easier things to deal with b/c then he could just do an IUI (get the sperm to where they need to be so they ahve the greatest chance of fertilizing the eggo n their own) and be done with it without more extensive treatments required. Turned out DH had no MFI issues so we didn't go that route.

I know you are not wanting to do treatments right now (and if you are young def keep trying a bit longer) but keep in mind that IUI is realtively inexpensive (compared to IVF) and you can do it with pills or injections, but also can do it naturally if you choose (just track when you will ovulate and have teh RE insert the sperm so its there to meet the egg - relatively qick, painless, and inexpensive).  IUI only costs about $400-$500.  It gets more expensive the more monitoring they have to do with it (numbr of ultrasounds and bloodwork) but that is determined by if its natural (very little monitoring required), with pills (a bit mroe), or with injectibles (the most expensive b/c they ahve to monitor you a lot more.

Also if your RE told you that you should do IVF with ICSI with such minor MFI issues, and s/he cannot explain to you why she is reommending this (any other underlying issues), I would go for a second opinion.  WIll your insurance cover infertility testing?  Mine doesn't cover infertility treatment, but does cover testing which I think is pretty common.  Get all of the tests done on you, get a second opinion, and in the meantime let YH know that this is not his fault, that his numbers are actually pretty great, and that this will all work out :-)

HopefulGJT

Thank you ladies for your information.  I am 29, DH is 30.  I got all of the testing done and all is normal with me.  We are going to see a urologist for help with DH's issue.  We want to do this naturally and DH is against IUI and I don't know how I feel about it yet.  We just were heartbroken b/c teh RE kept pushing that IUI or IVF with ICSI is our only hope. 

HopefulGJT

Nature Lover:

HopefulGJT:

 After all of our tests at the RE we have been diagnosed with slight Male Factor IF.  I am confused because the nurse said teh SA was normal when I called in February but then at our follow up visit my RE said it was slight infertility.  Numbers are as follows:

Volume 4ml (normal 1-5)

Concentraion 17 (normal >20)

Forward progression 2,3 (normal 3,4)

Motolity:  58% (normal >50%)

Morph 5% (normal >14%)  but some literature says 5 is ok over 4% is now considered nrmal in most circles

PH, agg. and round cells all normal.

I am heartbroken and my DH feels bad.  We have been trying since May 2010 and neither of us are ready to give up but the RE suggests that IVF with ISCI is our best chance.  She said she could start out with IUI but DH and I are uncertain.  We would like to try to conceive naturally and are not yet ready to go to assisted however we feel that the RE is pushing us towards assisted because she doesn't think we can do so naturally.  Any advice would be appreciated.  What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I think those numbers sound pretty good and see my note above about the morph.  Also, my RE said that if we had slight problems with MFI that would be one of the easier things to deal with b/c then he could just do an IUI (get the sperm to where they need to be so they ahve the greatest chance of fertilizing the eggo n their own) and be done with it without more extensive treatments required. Turned out DH had no MFI issues so we didn't go that route.

I know you are not wanting to do treatments right now (and if you are young def keep trying a bit longer) but keep in mind that IUI is realtively inexpensive (compared to IVF) and you can do it with pills or injections, but also can do it naturally if you choose (just track when you will ovulate and have teh RE insert the sperm so its there to meet the egg - relatively qick, painless, and inexpensive).  IUI only costs about $400-$500.  It gets more expensive the more monitoring they have to do with it (numbr of ultrasounds and bloodwork) but that is determined by if its natural (very little monitoring required), with pills (a bit mroe), or with injectibles (the most expensive b/c they ahve to monitor you a lot more.

Also if your RE told you that you should do IVF with ICSI with such minor MFI issues, and s/he cannot explain to you why she is reommending this (any other underlying issues), I would go for a second opinion.  WIll your insurance cover infertility testing?  Mine doesn't cover infertility treatment, but does cover testing which I think is pretty common.  Get all of the tests done on you, get a second opinion, and in the meantime let YH know that this is not his fault, that his numbers are actually pretty great, and that this will all work out :-)

 

Regarding the morp where did you find that over 4% is ok.  WE had been given data that with DH's morph we have only a 1-2% chance of conception naturally.  This crushed DH.  I am trying to be brave and make him be more optimistic.  Its hard though because I had wanted a baby for 3 years now and DH was not ready until last year so we waited.

softbalangel

HopefulGJT:

Nature Lover:

HopefulGJT:

 After all of our tests at the RE we have been diagnosed with slight Male Factor IF.  I am confused because the nurse said teh SA was normal when I called in February but then at our follow up visit my RE said it was slight infertility.  Numbers are as follows:

Volume 4ml (normal 1-5)

Concentraion 17 (normal >20)

Forward progression 2,3 (normal 3,4)

Motolity:  58% (normal >50%)

Morph 5% (normal >14%)  but some literature says 5 is ok over 4% is now considered nrmal in most circles

PH, agg. and round cells all normal.

I am heartbroken and my DH feels bad.  We have been trying since May 2010 and neither of us are ready to give up but the RE suggests that IVF with ISCI is our best chance.  She said she could start out with IUI but DH and I are uncertain.  We would like to try to conceive naturally and are not yet ready to go to assisted however we feel that the RE is pushing us towards assisted because she doesn't think we can do so naturally.  Any advice would be appreciated.  What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I think those numbers sound pretty good and see my note above about the morph.  Also, my RE said that if we had slight problems with MFI that would be one of the easier things to deal with b/c then he could just do an IUI (get the sperm to where they need to be so they ahve the greatest chance of fertilizing the eggo n their own) and be done with it without more extensive treatments required. Turned out DH had no MFI issues so we didn't go that route.

I know you are not wanting to do treatments right now (and if you are young def keep trying a bit longer) but keep in mind that IUI is realtively inexpensive (compared to IVF) and you can do it with pills or injections, but also can do it naturally if you choose (just track when you will ovulate and have teh RE insert the sperm so its there to meet the egg - relatively qick, painless, and inexpensive).  IUI only costs about $400-$500.  It gets more expensive the more monitoring they have to do with it (numbr of ultrasounds and bloodwork) but that is determined by if its natural (very little monitoring required), with pills (a bit mroe), or with injectibles (the most expensive b/c they ahve to monitor you a lot more.

Also if your RE told you that you should do IVF with ICSI with such minor MFI issues, and s/he cannot explain to you why she is reommending this (any other underlying issues), I would go for a second opinion.  WIll your insurance cover infertility testing?  Mine doesn't cover infertility treatment, but does cover testing which I think is pretty common.  Get all of the tests done on you, get a second opinion, and in the meantime let YH know that this is not his fault, that his numbers are actually pretty great, and that this will all work out :-)

 

Regarding the morp where did you find that over 4% is ok.  WE had been given data that with DH's morph we have only a 1-2% chance of conception naturally.  This crushed DH.  I am trying to be brave and make him be more optimistic.  Its hard though because I had wanted a baby for 3 years now and DH was not ready until last year so we waited.

My H has MFI as well. His morph is 7% and according to the paperwork we received when he was tested, 4% or higher is considered okay. Our issues lie in count and motility though, which is why we were told IVF w/ ICSI is our best option.

meganfauer

I too think that your numbers look good. My husband and I are beginning IVF on March 30th. I am 31 and he is almost 36 and his sperm are the reason for our infertility. Our numbers were measured a bit differently than yours so I am not sure how I would even compare. But i know that our Morph rate was the problem, i think that we were almost at 0% but basically that is why Artificial Insemination is not an option for us just IVF. 

It was a very huge blow to my husbands ego and I know that he just beats himself up inside but once we got this information I was ready to go full force forward in whatever we had to do. We want a child and I will do whatever it takes to make this happen for us to conceive our own child, as I am sure we all are. I too would of LOVED to be able to conceive naturally BUT as my mother told me thank goodness for modern medicine, if we were given this diagnois 20 years ago we would of been looking into adoption.

 So with that said good luck with your continued trying but I too say dont wait too long b/c you also don't want to add layers of stress of not conceiving naturally to you as well.  

 

Good luck,

megan

 

ChicagoWeded2007

We had the same thing (see siggy).  But we went to see the urologist and his numbers increased to the level where we could try IUI.  Good luck!