Varicocele... Surgery?

Marigold6912 · May 2014

Hi ladies. I've been absent for a couple of months after joining and it's taken awhile to get back all of our results. We got the results of the SA back and the motility is a 25% with a morphology of 3%. Upon examination and sonogram it was determined my DH has varicocele. The urologist recommending surgery to fix this and then to try for another year before IUI or IVF. Right now I'm not sure what is the best option.. We've already tried for almost 2 years and having to wait longer before trying assisted reproduction was not something I think we even considered. We had planned on doing our first IUI in June. The doctor said if time is a factor then we can go with IUI or IVF but since I am 25 it may be worth trying the surgery and hoping I become pregnant "naturally". Sorry for rambling but any advice would be really helpful. Has anyone's SO had this surgery? Also side note we are completely OOP but the surgery would be covered by insurance because it is considered medical. Thanks!

carriek565 · May 2014

My husband had the surgery in Jan. Our RE recommended going straight to IVF if he opted not to get the surgery since his morph was low (4%), and we want to try on our own if we could. His SA is scheduled for tomorrow, so we don't know if it improved his morph or not yet - we were told sometimes it doesn't make a difference.

You'll really need to wait about 3 months after the surgery to see any results since that's the life cycle of sperm. So if you're to the point of not wanting to wait any longer, then I'd say skip it. If you're wanting to trying to avoid IUI or IVF, then I'd give the surgery a shot.

Good luck with your decision!

cymber217 · May 2014

My husband is getting the surgery tomorrow. I would recommend getting the surgery or IUI. But not IVF yet. IVF is very expensive and physically and emotionally draining. We were told the surgery has a 70% chance of increasing his counts. Since our insurance covers it, it is a better option then OOP IVF with 40%ish chance of working.

Marigold6912 · May 2014

My husband wants to do the surgery. I think I just need to come to terms with waiting longer as I was hopeful to start treatment in June. The doctor did say the SA would be tested again 3 months after surgery with hopefully an improvement. We were also told the IUI has a low percentage of success especially with the numbers as they are. I know it is probably the best option to try the surgery and not rush into treatment that will cost us our savings - it's just in the back of my head I'm thinking what if we do this and there is no improvement at all? So frustrating! Thank you for shaing your experiences with me!

carriek565 · May 2014

We had the same thought, as we both had to go through surgeries and months of treatment to fix our issues, but when it came down to it, we didn't want to regret NOT trying to do all we could, so we opted to go the long route. Honestly, we're probably going to end up with IVF anyway, but we are both comfortable with the fact that we've done all we could.

ETA: Sorry tried to quote and didn't work!

Marigold6912 · May 2014

We are working with an RE and urologist that works within RE's practice. RE recommended IUI after getting results from SA but wanted him checked by urologist first. Them the urologist found the vericocele. He basically said he would recommend at least trying another 9 months after surgery. We want to do everything possible we can to help and I have heard of many people the surgery has helped but just as many who said it didn't. I also don't want to "waste" doing an IUI before surgery if the success rate is estimated to be so low for us with the numbers the way they are.

mountaineer23 · May 2014

My DH had the surgery in December. I'm glad we went ahead and did it. Varicoceles gradually get worse and can actually cause testicular atrophy. We're in limbo now too. My RE wants us to try for 5 cycles after my HSG to see if we get pregnant on our own.

mizzoutd · November 2014

My DH had his varicocele surgery in April 2014. His urologist did tell us it may be six months to a year before we saw any drastic improvement in his numbers. When we went back for a check up 4 months later, his sperm count had more than doubled and his motility rate had increased significantly. Now 6 months after his surgery, I am pregnant! While the surgery may not work in every instance, it did work for us, and DH is now happy that he went through with it.

Hollowvic · November 2014

My husband doesn't have a Varicocele but when we went to the Urologist he said the surgery doesn't always improve the situation. Because of my age we went straight to IVF. I see you're way younger so time isn't as much of an issue but if it does work it takes 6 months to a year to see any results, as others have said. Good luck!!!

moto611 · November 2014

My husband had this surgery. He was sore for a little while after but overall it wasn't a huge deal and insurance covered it. His numbers did improve dramatically but I'm not sure that was all due to the surgery.

As for your situation, if I were you I would consider doing both (surgery AND treatments). I would tell your husband to have the surgery now... you're young and if the varicocele is causing the issue, you will want it taken care of sooner rather than later. Especially if you want multiple kids.

But varicocele surgery doesn't always improve pregnancy rates. Because of that, I would still pursue treatments. I'd have him tested right after the surgery and if his numbers are good enough post-wash for an IUI, I would do that. But if they're not and IVF is your only option, then I would probably wait to see if his numbers improve.

beccahedd913 · January 2015

Hello,

This is my first post. My DH had varicocele surgery for a Grade 3 on the left and a Grade 1 on the right.. no wonder we were having bedroom issues! He had this surgery November 24 and we are in the middle of the 3 month wait before the first SA results post-op. He's recovered enough to want to try to BD only now we are facing problems with lack of sensitivity which is resulting in more ED issues. We've done what we are supposed to do. I spent 15 months being in love with him while he was serving in Iraq then we dated for-freakin-ever, we were engaged for 21 months. Been married for almost 2 years, bought a house.. HELLO UNIVERSE! WE ARE READY TO BE PARENTS! ENOUGH WITH THE CRAP! Seriously, I've been taking pre-natal vitamins for a year now! We really want more than one baby and I just turned 30, the timing is perfect. It's agonizing being held back when the gate has finally been thrown open. And lets not forget that every member of our family can't go any holidays without asking about our baby intentions. I'm horrible with keeping secrets from my mother and this is a 7 month secret that I just don't want to keep any longer. To anyone who actually read this whole rant, I thank you. Just knowing there maybe someone out there listening helps. Seriously, thank you.

dj-vh · November 2018

I've read some pretty bad things about surgery. I'd like to avoid if possible.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21733620 and https://synapse.koreamed.org/DOIx.php?id=10.4111/kju.2013.54.10.703

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