Please help !!!!! Advice needed :(

[NewMember]

My DP and I have now being TTC for 10 months. He just recieved his 2nd sperm analysis result, which was not good. He did not bring home all the figures but reading between the lines his sperm count is very low, he thinks below 1 million. Does anyone have experience of this?

Are our chances of TTC on our own gone? What about ICI or IVF?

He is heartbroken so I am trying to find out as much information as possible.

Really scared

[Marrenon]

no advice but hope someone else comes along with some experience soon,

good luck and welcome to MN

[NewMember]

Thanx Marrenon

[NewMember]

Bump

[NewMember]

Very quiet in here tonight

[Caitni]

Newmember I'm really sorry you're going through this - it's very hard on you both.

Firstly, I think your husband should get a copy of his results (both sets) and see for himself (and yourself) what you're dealing with. Results are judged by WHO guidelines (you can see them here).

Secondly, sperm can be influenced by things like being sick or excessive drinking in the months before a test (it takes 3 months to be made so being sick three months before the test can impact on the results). He can also try things like taking men's vitamins (zinc is really important for sperm development), avoiding boxers/hot baths/restrictive clothing (anything that raises the temp of his testicles) and eating healthily, cutting back on drinking and exercising more (he can also try these smoothies).

In my experience, my DH also has a low sperm count (results varied between 4m & 11m per ml) and we were told that men with low sperm counts can father children naturally, so trying for up to 2 years can result in a natural pregnancy. But ICSI and IUI offer much better odds as most men with low counts won't be able to get their partners pregnant. We decided IUI wasn't for us (the results are too low IMO) so we went private for ICSI. I'm now nearly 20 weeks pregnant after one round of ICSI at the Lister (I was 31 when it worked for us).

Sorry for the massive ramble. I want to give you hope (some men with low counts do go on to father children naturally) but also that ICSI is a good option. You need to seek a referral to a fertility consultant to see what your options are and decide the best course of action for you.

Whatever you decide to do I hope you get your BFP.

[NewMember]

Thank you very much Caitni and belgianbun. I def feel a little bit better now that I have read your comments. I def feel much more relaxed. I am hoping we get to visit a specialist soon, in the hope they can help us! I will stay in touch and let you know

[NewMember]

Bump...

[NewMember]

Ouch, I really hope I have a happy ending 2!