MFI success stories...please come in!

jschwind22 · May 2012

Lurker here...we got a MFI diagnosis today. My RE, whose motives I have questioned from the beginning, is strongly recommending that we move straight to IVF. The initial feedback I received on 3T was IVF is possibly not necessary with these numbers. I was hoping some ladies who had success with a MFI diagnosis could give me some insight with the treatments that were successful with similar numbers. Here's what they are :

Count was normal but I didn't get the exact number.

Volume- 5 cc- normal

Concentration- 55.4- Looking for between 115-150 mil/cc, but he said he wasn't concerned unless it was less than 15 mil/cc

Motility- 33%- Looking for greater than 40%, but he wasn't concerned. Grade was a 3 so that was good.

Morph- 4%- Looking for 14%. RE said that he gets very concerned when it is less than 5%.

Thanks in advance!

esperanza123 · May 2012

My DH numbers were similar to yours. We did three IUIs with no luck and were successful with IVF and ICSI. Good luck!

kbeach82 · May 2012

Part of our dx is MFI - 4% morph for DH. Our RE recommended going straight to IVF w/ICSI. We are very fortunate to have great insurance coverage for IVF, so we took her recommendation and have DS as a result. We will be starting another IVF w/ICSI cycle in August to TTC #2. Good luck!

Traci09 · May 2012

DH's numbers were significantly lower than that, but we still tried an IUI before going to IVF. We were successful with an FET after IVF w/ ICSI.

Assuming that you have no insurance coverage, I'd recommend trying an IUI w/ Clomid first, just because it should be a lot cheaper than IVF.

Has your DH been to a urologist yet? He should have at least one more SA, preferably one done in a lab that specializes in MFI. One SA might not give you the whole story as to what is going on.

GL!

pooman · May 2012

My DH's numbers were worse than that. Our RE suggested IVF right away (wow what a shock that was!) We tried some IUIs but eventually got our DD and these twins through IVFs with ICSI.

Good luck. If you do end up doing IVF know that, at least for me, each step was not as scary/painful/horrible as I thought it was going to be.

jjhp2018 · May 2012

Honestly, I don't remember much with DH's levels. The 2nd time he was tested his count was 15mil with 25% motility and we tried IUI (we were OOP and wanted to give it a go). It didn't work and we took a break and decided to try adoption (had been TTC 3 yrs by that point).

After getting screwed by an adoption agency we went back to seeing a RE and DH's count had dropped to 2.1mil. We were successful with IVF/ICSI!

Wishing you the best!!

TamTam624 · May 2012

I dont remember DHs exact numbers all the way around but his issue was Morph he was 3%. DS and this LO are suprise BFPs. Our RE did say he wanted to try 3 IUIs with clomid prior to IVF but gave us less than 10% chance of getting PG without IVF.

Good Luck!

jesselayne8 · May 2012

DH's best SA was 2% morph and 45% motility. We had success with IUI #3. I would if you have time and insurance coverage then iUI is worth a try.

DH1972 · May 2012

We questioned our RE motives from the beginning too. It seemed like he was more concerned with his success rates than anything else, and looking back, it's odd that we had a problem with it since that's the whole reason we chose him to begin with. By the time we took his advice and did IVF, we didn't care what his motivations were, we just wanted a baby.

Our numbers looked similar to yours but we did several IUIs before doing IVF w/ICSI. I can't speak for my wife, but if I had it to do over again I would have skipped the IUIs and gone with IVF right away.

oooCarrieB · May 2012

My DH was MFI and with traditional chinese medicine (acupuncture, herbal supplements, vitamins and healthier eating/organic food) he was able to improve his numbers significantly, so that he was only considered borderline MFI.

But then I was dx as DOR, so we ended up doing IVF w ICSI anyway, which was successful.

You may want to try some other options to improve his numbers prior to doing IVF.

Sarafuss · May 2012

We weren't considered MFI (just my PCOS) but DH's numbers were similar to your DH's. For his first SA his count was normal, motility was around 70% I think, morph was 5%. Our first two IUI's they were grade 2 (on a scale of 0-3) and the third IUI was grade 3. IUI worked for us. I would definitely try a couple IUI's before moving on to IVF.

As PP said, one SA doesn't give you the whole picture. DH started taking a men's daily multivitamin and cut out caffeine. The count and motility went up with each IUI. I think the post wash counts went from 50 to 60 to 65 million and the motility was 90%, 90% and 95% for our three IUI's. I don't know if the vitamins and cutting out caffeine really helped or not but it doesn't hurt to try!

Good luck!

Ali212 · May 2012

My husband has great SA numbers except morph (1-2%) so that was our only MFI issue but with the morph, my 2nd RE recommended IVF with ICSI explaining the issue is around fertilization and the low morph severely limited ability to effectively fertilize (hence ICSI). My 1st RE did not feel I needed to go immediately to IVF and that I could try IUIs but with various cycle issues and then BFN/failed cycles, we decided to get a 2nd opinion. We did ultimately have success with IVF but it took us 4 fresh cycles. Once we started IVF though, it was clear MFI wasn't our only issue b/c by removing that part of the problem from the equation, we had 90-95% fert rates but it then became apparent that I had egg quality problems as well.

Have you done an IUI yet? It can't hurt to try and it is relatively lower in cost than IVF but if you feel like you don't want to wait, then I might consider IVF. It's really about your personal situation. I wish I hadn't wasted 7 cycles doing my failed IUIs and just moved to IVF (esp since it took me 4 IVF cycles) but it's always easier to say that in hindsight.

JillRock96 · May 2012

We had low count, morph, and motility -- but our count was much lower than yours (about 10-15 mil/cc pre-wash). We did two IUIs with femara without luck, then had success with IVF with ICSI.

Good luck!

MAK06 · May 2012

I don't remember our exact numbers. Everything was pretty much normal if I remember correctly but morph was way low (1%). When we first received dx our RE suggested we try one IUI cycle and then move on to IVF w/ICSI for our best chances. This is what we did. We were successful on our first cycle for our DS. We are currently in the process of another cycle for baby #2.

I would maybe give IUI a try if I were you (depends if you are OOP or have insurance) but wouldn't do a crazy amount of cycles given the morph diagnosis.

Best of luck to you!

newsbaby · May 2012

Loooong story short my DH has azoospemia. We were able to retrieve (crappy, I don't remember the exact counts) through TESE and have 17 month old twins after 5 IVF attempts. It was a hard road but worth it. Good luck!!!

psyck · May 2012

I don't remember our exact numbers, but we had issues with number, morphology and motility. We did IVF + ICSI and wound up with twin boys! Good luck to you!

NYBrideInWI · May 2012

I don't think you need IVF, based on the information you've shared (and my years of scouring the internet for info on MFI). Maybe try an IUI if you want to "do something", but I really don't see how IVF could be justified.

Truthfully I think those numbers look like what is considered "normal". Of all the factors, morphology is the least reliable as a predictor of pregnancy chances. DH's urologist, who specializes in IF, doesn't even measure morphology because he doesn't think there is good scientific evidence that the number matters. The only time DH's morph was reported it was 0% normal, and yet we have two healthy children.

We were MFI conceiving #1 because DH had a varicocele, about 1 million sperm, conceived with TI after varicocele surgery (up to 10-11million sperm); we were MFI again with #2 because DH developed a blockage and had zero sperm, we got pregnant with IVF + ICSI. (and I'm now DOR)

Good luck!

Karma1969 · May 2012

My DH had 0% morph. I got pg on our 6'th round of b2b IUI's. Our first RE told us to go straight to IVF/ICSI. Our 2'nd RE started me on injectibles and that was the cycle that got me pg. My H also has a son with his ex and they weren't even trying. Good luck. Hugs...

Cajun_gal · May 2012

jschwind22:

Lurker here...we got a MFI diagnosis today. My RE, whose motives I have questioned from the beginning, is strongly recommending that we move straight to IVF. The initial feedback I received on 3T was IVF is possibly not necessary with these numbers. I was hoping some ladies who had success with a MFI diagnosis could give me some insight with the treatments that were successful with similar numbers. Here's what they are :

Count was normal but I didn't get the exact number.

Volume- 5 cc- normal

Concentration- 55.4- Looking for between 115-150 mil/cc, but he said he wasn't concerned unless it was less than 15 mil/cc

Motility- 33%- Looking for greater than 40%, but he wasn't concerned. Grade was a 3 so that was good.

Morph- 4%- Looking for 14%. RE said that he gets very concerned when it is less than 5%.

Thanks in advance!

My DH had the same morph but the rest of the #s were the same. We did 6 IUIs before getting pregnant with IVF w/ ICSI for DS1. Then we got pregnant on our own with DS2, but we have no idea what his sperm counts were anywhere around that time. So, I'd be inclined to say that it could happen without IVF but your odds are much much better with IVF. You could always try IUI first before deciding to do IVF and maybe have success with the IUIs. Best of luck to you!

FabulousMrs.P · May 2012

We had MFI. My husband had low testosterone. The medication he was initially put on made his count go to zero. He ended up doing HCG shots to both boost his testosterone and have his body start producing sperm. It was expensive and a bit painful for DH, but it worked! We have a DD!

Hang in there! I know how hard it is to hear the diagnosis, but it can totally work out!

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