What happens next?...

[MrsTrump]

Hi there, I've been ttc for over a year now, am 34 and have been to the docs - so have done 21 day bloods and my dh has done sperm check, doing his second this week - my question is what's next? If we are both ok, ie if I seem to be ovulating and his sperm are ok what happens? If he has a low sperm count what happens? I know that if the problem lies with my ovulation then it's Clomid for me.. I live in Scotland by the way so don't know if that would make any difference to how things work? (I haven't any children, never been pregnant, my dh has two children) - thanks if you've got this far x

It really depends on the results (when do you get them?). We were in a similar situation (ttc for ages, getting nowhere, no kids at all though) and our results were a bit of a shock tbh - DH's sperm count was low, as were his motility and morphology stats, which basically means ICSI is the only way we'll have a family of our own. Our GP referred us to a clinic for further tests and to get the ball rolling and it all went from there.

I would imagine that given your DH has 2 children it might just be a case of giving it more time (I know, I know, you're sick of hearing that!), or it may well be an issue with your ovulation. I'm afraid I don't know much about how that issue is overcome, beyond clomid, as I've not been there.

Hopefully someone will be along soon who can be a little more helpful!

Good luck though!

Thanks Jumping, I just had my bloods done yesterday so should get the results on Friday, my dh's results will take about 6 weeks.. his dc are 11 and 12 so his sperm isn't necessarily healthy I guess... Up here we need to get both of these tests done before you can be referred to a fertility clinic.
How long does the whole referral etc process take? Will your ICSI process take long? Sorry am nosey and can just imagine how frustrating it can (and probably will) be..

Well, once we established what the problem was, it was straight-forward but we did encounter a waiting list! However as we're paying for it ourselves (our NHS trust doesn't fund any fertility treatment) we didn't actually need to wait for long once we'd chosen our preferred clinic.

If we'd stuck with the referral clinic, we'd have had a 6 month wait on top of the 3 months we waited for the first consultation appointment after referral (and more tests). I was seriously naffed off when we switched to our actual clinic, as it turned out the GP had sent me for the wrong tests on the wrong days anyway, so we had to do them all again!

The ICSI process itself takes around 9 weeks, so once it starts it all happens pretty quickly! We got a bfp on Saturday following our second fresh round (and a failed FET earlier this year), so now I'm 4+3 (). We still need to have a viability scan at 7wks to check there's a heartbeat, but fingers crossed!

One thing on sperm - unexplained male infertility can strike later on, after a guy has already had kids. However, sperm quality can also be improved with lifestyle and diet changes, so even if it's that, it's not the end of the road at all.

Aww congratulations Jumping - with a bit of luck I'll be giving advice and telling someone on this board that I got my bfp one day

Thanks! There are loads of assisted conception threads on here with heaps of good advice, so if you do find yourselves in that position, you know where to come! Good luck!