DNA sperm fragmentation

[Teakind]

Hello,

I thought I'd post this in case it helps someone else. I've been trying for over two years and have had two miscarriages. I've tried letrozole for 6 months and didn't get pregnant despite ovulating. We were then referred for IVF as we were unexplained as such. I do have high NK levels but have been on treatment for that. My DH has always had great sperm samples and so we thought it must be me. We saw a fantastic consultant at The Lister and he suggested that we do a DNA sperm fragmentation test on DH just to see if IVF/ICSI/IMSI would be more appropriate. His results came back incredibly high. Despite his normal tests being fine, this meant we were highly unlikely to have a successful pregnancy even with IVF.

We went to see a urologist who ran some tests and turns out he has an infection that can be cured with some antibiotics!! He said he usually sees couples who have had failed IVF cycles before finding that the fragmentation is an issue. He said to wait 6 weeks, get retested and we might not even need IVF. Of course this may not be the case but I live in hope!

If you are having problems or have had failed IVF cycles it may be worth looking in to. If you research it, it stops the embryos developing properly.

Sorry if that was a convoluted explaination. It seems crazy to me that this issue could potentially be fixed by £20 worth of antibiotics. Of course, infection isn't the only cause but there seems to be treatment for a lot of the causes. I hope this helps someone as I had never heard of it before my consultation at The Lister. I don't think the NHS pay for it but considering how expensive IVF is it might be worth looking in to.

[Hyland]

Hi How much did the test cost?

[Teakind]

Hi, that was pricey at £500! It's called SpermComet but you might be able to find it cheaper.

[Chlo22]

HI teakind, did you happen to see Dr Faris by any chance at the Lister? My story is very similar to yours. Trying to conceive since Sep15, 2 miscarriages and finally decided to go to the Lister and we have just been today and DH's sperm dan fragmentation result was 50%. The consultant has referred us to a urologist and he did talk about infections or varicoceles and told DH to take Proxeed Plus twice a day and overall, gave the impression this is something that can be improved and then said we would have IMSI. How did you get on in the end?