IUI vs RU

KristoKekerooni · April 2016

Does anyone know the ranges of a SA. I know what the normal is, but what defines it as "mild" "moderate" and "severe?" I have searched and searched and can't find parameters.
I just found my doc's office does IUIs for only ~$400 including everything but meds if we decide to add those in. We are weighing our options. Should we go ahead and see the Reproductive Urologist and pay 100% oop for the appointment, tests, and possible procedures? Or just try an IUI to start with and see where it goes? It kinda depends on how severe the MFI is. Is it so bad that an IUI won't work? Or is it not so bad and an IUI will probably work?

girlryanne · April 2016

I believe I was told that 20 million is the start of the normal range for count but I dont know what they want for the rest. Like you said, you don't want to spend the money if you aren't going to have great chances. What were his numbers?

This might help:
https://www.advancedfertility.com/malefactor.htm

KristoKekerooni · April 2016

@girlryanneExactly, I knew 20 is normal, but like, where does it go from "ehh" to "OMG, that's low"
His count is 9. 2 mill/mL
His motility was fine at 59%
Morph was 9%, but I heard the parameters on that are a little too stringent, so that's probably okay?
His total count was 36.8 mill

ETA tag.

girlryanne · April 2016

@MommyForTheFirstTime that I don't know.

I know it takes around 3 months to make changes in this area, so it might be worth seeing the RU right away.

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

We're also dealing with MFI so I believe I can speak to this somewhat. It's a bit of a misconception that the total sperm count matters, because it doesn't. What matters is total MOTILE sperm count. You could have a good count, but if motility is low, it reduces the number of usable sperm. It's also good to keep in mind that IUIs don't have the best success rate, even with normal sperm.

For you to be a candidate for IUI, you need to have at least 1 million motile sperm. In order to have the best chances with IUI (meaning around 20% success rate by the 3rd IUI), you need 20 million motile sperm. For our second IUI we had about 9 million motile sperm post wash and my RE told us we had about a 10% chance because I did injectables. Success rates go up with consecutive IUIs.

Here's a chart that outlines success rates on the first IUI with different motile sperm counts:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/w3/yvu4f3tmunt1.png

mclorn · April 2016

That's a great chart. All I know is that IUI success rates are not great to begin with... my DH and I have unexplained infertility with perfect cycles and after 3 IUIs still no luck. So seeing an RU may be a better use of your time and money?

chicandbubbly · April 2016

Wow thanks for sharing this chart @wifeinraleigh28 I had no idea our chances with IUI were so unbelievably low! :0.

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

I know @chicandbubbly, it got me really down when I discovered this chart right before our first IUI. But we have to remain positive. It just makes me so thankful that there's such a thing as IVF!! I hope you're doing well during your TWW!

Drove2u · April 2016

We had great sperm count (the RE es very impressed lol) and I got great results as well. Went through six iuis and no luck. So if you already know there are issues I would get them checked out and fixed first before spending money on it. Who knows you may want to go straight to Ivf. We have moved on to Ivf now.

KristoKekerooni · April 2016

Thanks for all your advice, guys. That really helps us.

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