Pregnant after IF
cinnamonrollcupcake
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Azoospermia Success Stories?
cinnamonrollcupcake
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Hello - My DH has been diagnosed with azoospermia (most likely obstructive). All testing that has been done so far (hormones, cystic fibrosis, etc.) has came back normal, which is great news. We have met with a couple of urologists to discuss doing a biopsy to try to find sperm to use for IVF/ICSI. For those of you who have dealt with azoospermia, what testing (blood tests, ultrasounds, etc.) did your DH have before the biopsy? We're trying to figure out what testing is necessary since we're paying out of pocket. What kind of biopsy was done (TESE, micro TESE)? Did you use fresh or frozen sperm for IVF? How many IVF cycles did it take before you were successful? Any other information you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated. This has been a very depressing diagnosis as we still don't know if sperm will even be found. Looking for some glimmer of hope.Thank you!
Baby girl born 6/2/14
2nd baby due 5/15/16
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Re: Azoospermia Success Stories?
Hi,
We had the same diagnosis January of 2012. My husband has a blocked vas d. from a hernia surgery when he was 8 weeks old.
We started with a sperm anaylsis, blood work to test for any disorders (all clear), an ultrasound to check for blood flow, exploratory biopsy to check for blockage and sperm. During the first biopsy the blockage was discovered and cells were extracted to test for evidence of sperm. The doctor who did the first biopsy was not skilled to attempt to repair the blockage so we went to Cleveland Clinic. DH then had a second surgery to repair the blockage and/or harvest sperm. There was extensive damage done to the vas and repair was not an option, sperm was harvested though!! This happened the end of July, we froze the sperm and decided to start IVF w/ICSI (also at Cleveland Clinic) in October (I have high blood pressure so we wanted to get that more under control first) November we were implanted with our first embryos, one stuck and we are due to meet our little girl in August.
I know it is easier said than done but don?t give up hope, take it one step at a time there could be many reasons why no sperm is showing in his sample. Have faith and I wish you the best.
11/21/2012: ER 12R/8F
10/28/2012: begin IVF w/ICSI (lupron & follistim protocol)
07/2012: DH unsuccessful vas repair/ sperm harvested
03/2012: DH vas blockage discovered
01/2012: S/A came back zero
01/2009: TTC on own 12/6/08: Married Me:31 DH:36 -azoospermia
I'm another azoo success!
DH was diagnosed Jan 2012, also obstruction. They had done some bloodwork to rule out any genetic stuff, but never bothered with an ultrasound. Basically the doctor said that he could tell just from feeling around on the external exam that it blacked.
He had the vas reconstruction surgery in April 2012. While they were doing the surgery he did pull out a sample. We had two vials- which I drove to our fertility clinic for storage while DH was still in surgery. We went back a few times over the 6 months of so for follow up SA's, but the results were still 0. The doctor said that when he got in there the tissue was pretty degraded, so he didn't have high hopes. Despite the results, our doctor was phenomenal and really on top of the field. If you're looking for someone in the Boston area feel free to PM me.
After the last SA came back 0 we decided it was time to stop waiting and move on to treatment. We did our first round of IVF with ICSI this past February and are 5 months pregnant with a healthy little boy.
With the aspirated sample you don't have the option of using it fresh. The sperm are immature and have no tails, so they don't swim well. That's why our only option was IVF with ICSI. The count in our frozen samples was pretty good though, so the clinic only used 1/2 a vial for this cycle, which means we still have 3 more chances. Our RE did recommend being more aggressive with my drugs though. Because the sperm are immature, even with ICSI you're fertilization rate isn't going to be as strong as someone with a regular sample. So he pushed to get more eggs from me so our start number would be higher. We ended up with 17 eggs, only 7 fertilized. Of that 5 made it to day 3, so we waited until for a day 5. We transferred 1 healthy blast and had one other to freeze. The good news about being azoo is that, if MFI is your only issue, then you're body is probably pretty healthy and ready to support a pregnancy. So once you get a good embryo you have a better shot that it will stick.
Good luck!