ICSI using sperm from biopsy
cinnamonrollcupcake
member
Hi - I'm new here. We recently have learned about our infertility. My husband had 2 semen analyses that both came back with zero sperm. However, all of his blood work (hormone levels, cystic fibrosis, karyotype, Y chromosome micro deletion) came back normal/negative. Since all of the tests came back normal the next step is for him to have a testicular biopsy to try to find sperm to use for ICSI.
Looking to hear from anyone who has been through or is going through a similar experience. We have lots of questions about this process. What are the chances that they will find sperm during the biopsy (considering the blood tests all came back normal)? Is it possible to do an ultrasound before the biopsy to see if there's sperm, or is that not possible? Is there an ideal amount of time to leave between the biopsy and IVF? What is the success rate of ICSI when using sperm from a testicular biopsy (a clinic told us it is lower than IVF rates)? How many IVF tries does it take on average? Also, has anyone heard that IVF isn't as successful during the summer?? (one clinic we have talked to doesn't do IVF in the summer since they said their success rates weren't as good in the summer). And has anyone doing ICSI using sperm from a biopsy qualified for the Attain IVF guarantee program?
Would really appreciate anyone who's willing to share their journey through this. Thanks so much.
Re: ICSI using sperm from biopsy
These are the steps we took:
My husband went to an urologist that specialized on male infertility, we had an appt with him where he went over the blood work results, he gave us 90 chance he could retrieve sperm he also said he could do an ultrasound to be more sure it would cost us an extra 1,500. We decided to not do an ultrasound and take the risk but we also decided that if no sperm was retrieved we would go with a sperm donor!
It's a very difficult decision to take as a couple but luckily on the day of the procedure the urologist was able to obtain enough sperm, we had our embryo transplant are just waiting on our pregnancy results!
Anything is possible and If its in your financial means I would go ahead an do the ultrasound to give both of you comfort in knowing more about his situation!
Good luck to both of you!
Out story is similar...SA showed no sperm. We then went to a urologist specializing in infertility. Genetic test showed DH is a carrier for CF, of which a trait is CAVD (basically he was born with a vasectomy). I was tested for CF and was not a carrier (Yay!!! If we were both carriers, there'd be a 25% chance our kids would have CF.)
Hubby had biopsy mid-January and we have a few vials of sperm!!! Yay!!! We then start IVF early February which ended in chemical pregnancy.
We're trying again in July!! Hope that info helps!
My Dh had low numbers and volume on his SA. Also his testosterone was low. So he had to do 72 days off clomid before his biopsy. Clomid can increase volume and numbers. We found sperm in the biopsy, however we were unsuccessful in our first round of IVF.
I realized after the biopsy that it seemed DH had more volume to his semen. So i told him i wanted his to do another SA. It came back with a count of 17 million, which he had azoo on his first 2. We did numerous other semen freezes, but only got numbers around 1 and 2 million. So if its a blockage there is a chance that even though several SA said none, that at random times there could be some sperm.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories and for the support. We have a consultation with a male infertility urologist in a week - so we'll see what they say/recommend to us. At this point we plan on probably going through with the biopsy, not sure about the ultrasound since it's so expensive - we'll see what they say our chances are for finding sperm from the biopsy.
I wish you all the best!