Hi all
Just to give you our experience of 1% morphology - we have had three rounds of ICSI and we are 34 and 35. We have had lots of testing across of three cycles to really start ticking boxes. Whilst I agree that it only takes one and if the count and motility is really good ( as my hubby's has been) this is positive, we have found that we can significantly increase all the other stats about make sperm but morphology is likely to change very little. We have recently opted for testicular sperm recovery for our 4th cycle - since we have moved to a London Ivf clinic we are finally understanding the likely cause of our male factor infertility. Following the op our male specialist consultant (introduced to us by our Ivf clinic and only one of two specialists in the country) confirmed he could SEE the problem, the sperm still have very tapered heads, bent necks and whilst there was normal to collect this still needs a method called IMSE - a very powerful microscope to ensure they are genuinely normal!
I am a big believer in trying naturally and taking the pressure off and we too were happy to try ourselves for some time, this consultant has confirmed to us however that it much less likely that we would conceive naturally - and actually we had had three failed ICSI cycles - when we know the best 'looking' sperm was injected into the egg. My advice would be with very port morphology - do not waste time doing cycles without a very through level of additional testing. Ensure you have IMSE, ensure you have array CGH generic testing in the embryos - as they likelihood is although you may get pregnant through ICSI ( and we did on our third cycle) The abnormalities of the sperm may still be too much for the egg to repair and hence the embryo dosent thrive (hence Mis carrying)
Sorry to add a more negative spin on this - but if there is one thing I promised myself is that I'd share my experience with others to ensure they are aware of the possible extra boxes it is worth kicking sooner than later to save others going through three plus cycles which in hindsight had little chane of working!! My advice would be, ask your Ivf clinic for a lot of detail about make factor infertility as many are keen to get you cycling without being specific enough to your needs. The London clinics really do seen to be much better connected to specialists who can really fine tune your treatment.
Our first cycle was free, second cost 6k, third 10k and this next one 14k - goodness knows how anyone is expected to afford this journey, but I would say if we had started with the cycle we are about to embark on, although it may be the most expensive - we would have saved an awful lot of money we have spent reaching this point!
Hope this is somewhat insightful and please don't let our story out you off a period of trying naturally, but I would say IvF, IUI really is a waste of time with very low morphology from what we have learnt. ICSI is a must and the extra tests i mention are well worth looking into!
:-)