morphology

sorrellam30

I'm new here and I'm not sure if I am posting in the right heading, but here it goes, this is my story....

My DH and I both turn 30 next week (I realize this is a minor detail, I guess it just reminds me of where I thought we would be in this journey by now)

We have been TTC for a year, because my husband is on medication for a type of genetic arthritis we had him do a SA.  My obgyn said his count and motility were fine but that his morphology was low and she felt comfortable sending us to a FS.

 We both had a bunch of tests (all mine came back fine-tubes, etc, I also ovulate monthly)  DH SA came back with 1% morphology-I cant remember what method they used but they said over 4% is normal (again motility and count were normal).  So FS suggests straight to IVF.  UGH, from hopeful to not in such a quick breath, I guess I just feel like can that really be the only option?  I bought Fertility blend for DH to try, I think we would give it at least until summer before we made any big decisions.  IVF is just such an expensive option.  Anyway, any success stories or advice would be so welcomed. thank you

jburke1

First off I am so sorry for ur struggles! I can relate completely! My husband has 2% morph and we have been struggling with secondary infertility. Good news is we got pregnant with our DS without even trying! We didn't even know DH had MFI until one year after trying for #2. So it can still happen on your own. It just may take longer then you hoped. We are going ahead with IUI this month, I have been writing about our new found MFI and most everyone has said that as long as his other counts are good IUI is a good option. Maybe ask your RE about that. The chances aren't as high as IVF but it is only $1500 and IVF is $15,000 (at my RE anyway). 

Best of luck to you! 

Mayan2011

If it were me, and my DH's count and motility were fine I think we would have tried a few IUIs prior to moving ahead with IVF.  There is more and more evidence suggesting that morphology doesn't play a big of a role as once thought.

Also, I assume you are using OPK or are charting to ensure the correct timing when trying on your own?  You would be surprised at the number of women that just assume that they ovulate on day 14.  If it were only that simple, and predictable.

GL.

sorrellam30

I know, I've read such conflicting information about morphology and that adds to the stress, because is it just a matter of me needing to be more patient? Or can we legitimately not get pregnant without help? And of course there doesnt seem to be a clear answer. Yes I used opks to monitor ovulation I realized early it was consistent, day 11 of a 24 day cycle, and I can actually physically tell when I amcramps etc. I need to schedule a follow up with our doctor I'm just putting it off for now..

sorrellam30

Thanks for your replies ladies, it makes me feel better to talk about it and suggestions and advice are always nice to hear! :

starspangledgirl1

so sorry you are going through this! i can also totally relate. we ttc for a year before we realized my hubby had a DOUBLE varicocele. he had to have surgery "down there" he had really low morph--1%, and we thought surgery would be the miracle fix, it wasn't, only improved things by maybe 25%, and we had to go to IVF anyway. i agree morphology is over rated, i think the new normal is 3 not 4%. i have heard great things about Fertility Blend/Fertilaid-my hubby is on it as well. Ill know how it worked on his next SA coming up. i hope everything works out ok! my advice is to try a few IUI's but dont wait too long on the IVF if you can. We waited it out over 2 years hoping for a natural BFP and i regret losing that time now. GL!!!!!

sorrellam30

Yes please do let me know how his next sa is! I think because I'm a new teacher we are going to at least wait until the summer to try any treatment, our fs is like an hour away, that way I'll have the time and hopefully the money  by then or better yet a bpf and no need! : good luck to you too!

Gr8te

We have 1% morph too. My RE said it's very difficult for an abnormal shaped sperm to fertilize an egg. Honestly, I thought we were jumping into IVF prematurely until we got our fert report. My embryologist explained that 20 eggs is equal to 20 months of trying. Out of those 20 months, we only would have had 4 opportunites to maybe get pregnant. The scary thing is that we used IMSI and ICSI to pick the best sperm. You should look into poor morph and sperm dna fragmentation. My RE thinks we lost 11 perfect looking embies/blasts due to sperm dna frag.

sorrellam30

Our RE hasn't mentioned DNA fragmentation to us yet...of course maybe thats because I have been avoiding him....I guess I should just suck it up and call him to discuss IVF and actually hear what he has to say.  Is dna fragmentation just a different part of a semen anaylsis?  An additional type of sa?  Thanks for the info! gl to you!

mhouseholder

I'm so excited to tell you all my story to keep your hopes up! 

My DH is 37 and I am 34. We've been trying for 18 months. 6 months ago we started testing me. I ovulate only randomly. Maybe once every 4 months? Have low progesterone and a late luteal phase... Three strikes. My husbands SA came back inSeptember 2012 as borderline low concentration and low motility but close to the cut off. But is morphology was at 0%!!! Three strikes for him too. ouch. We were told by his urologist that it had nothing to do with lifestyle choices (tightie whities or drinking or biking. he said those vitamins arent proven to help either). but that there was a study of a doctor who once took an SA test once a day for a year and the rates were all over the charts! He also taught us that it takes three months for a guy to produce his semen so if he has a cold, then three months later his SA won't be so great. So he advised for me to stop Clomid and for us to wait three months and get another SA test. If they still showed 0% then our only shot was IVF which we're just not comfortable with (nothing wrong with it and I support those who try it... I just was not optimistic about the cost versus rate of success).

 Well, being a bit older we are open to adopting as well so we also just went forward with that and are in the application phase with friends writing referrals and us doing background checks and training. And in the midst of it all, we got his second SA results back this Friday (normal on all parts even morphology!!) but that was only hours after I randomly took a pregnancy test (with no symptoms I just knew my AF was due in a day or two and it was the weekend so I wanted to check before I went out to the bar)... And it was positive!!!! I'm five weeks pregnant!!!!

We still want to adopt but obviously we'll have to wait until after this bun is out of the oven to finalize that!

 So my lesson is... Don't be discouraged at first. Test DH again three months later and keep the faith. 

 Best of luck and lots of prayers to you all.

 

jburke1

Wow that is great news mhouse and really good to hear. Congrats to you! Hope we have your same luck!

sorrellam30

That is very exciting!!!! Thank you for sharing! Congrats!

Gr8te

It's a separate test. Men with normal SAs can have sperm DNA frag too. They think it could be a reason for unexplained IF.