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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Male factor - how are our chances really?

7 replies

Southsiderg4 · 02/04/2023 17:43

After 15 months TTC we had an appointment with the consultant at the assisted fertility unit last week. Since having my coil removed I have had long, irregular cycles so I knew there was something going on with me - potentially PCOS - which the consultant also thinks and has ordered bloods, a scan and prescribed letrozole. What we weren’t expecting were my husbands results. The consultation all went very quickly so I didn’t think to ask just how bad they were/what our chances of conceiving naturally actually are. His count was 13 million, and the doc explained 14m was normal with chances of conception increasing over 14m until 40m then levelling off. So count obviously below normal - but how bad is that? He said the motility was fine but morphology also bad at 2%. Because of my husbands semen analysis results he has put us on the waiting list for IVF but said to keep trying naturally and the letrozole will give us more chances (because at the moment I’m essentially only ovulating every two months, if that). Realistically, how bad are these semen analysis results? Is it realistic that we would ever conceive naturally?

OP posts:
marshk · 03/04/2023 13:52

Hi @Southsiderg4 - I don't have an answer but would be interested hear other people's experiences!

lottieb92 · 03/04/2023 14:39

@Southsiderg4 are they going to repeat your husbands test in 3 months? They usually do that to rule out a rouge result and be sure concentration is that low or if it was just a bad test sample.

my husband had 8 mil on first SA test… 3 months later he tested with 22 mil concentration.

he made lifestyle changes and took lots of vitamins and we aren’t sure if it was that … or just a better test sample that improved it!
google sperm vitamins - it’s a lot but they’re worth it!

plenty of men manage to get their OHs pregnant with less that your DHs 13 mil! So rest assured it’s still a good amount only slightly below average 🤞🏻

curliegirlie · 03/04/2023 14:55

My DH had two bad SA whilst TTC DD1 (although the first one had been analysed outside the proper timeframe) and we then went on to conceive her just a few weeks after our first consultation with the fertility clinic!

HappyValet · 03/04/2023 15:02

Yes we had MFI, 99% antisperm antibodies resulting in pretty much zero chance of natural conception. We had 2 babies via ICSI.

Then, 10 years after coming off contraception we conceived naturally, totally unexpectedly and our 3rd is 1.5y now.

Miracles can and do happen! But the treatment is there for those who need it and can work.

Best of luck to you.

3ormorecharacters · 03/04/2023 15:10

I dont think 2% is actually that bad for morphology, and it's one of the less important factors as far as I can remember from when we were going through this. Don't count yourselves out. My DH went gluten free (undiagnosed IBS which he'd been ignoring for years) and it made a massive difference, so lifestyle changes can help a lot.

Fariapea · 18/10/2024 16:54

HappyValet · 03/04/2023 15:02

Yes we had MFI, 99% antisperm antibodies resulting in pretty much zero chance of natural conception. We had 2 babies via ICSI.

Then, 10 years after coming off contraception we conceived naturally, totally unexpectedly and our 3rd is 1.5y now.

Miracles can and do happen! But the treatment is there for those who need it and can work.

Best of luck to you.

Hi @HappyValet I hope you're still on mumsnet. We have an asa issue too. May I ask which clinic you went to for your icsi? We want to find a clinic experienced in asa. Thanks

HappyValet · 18/10/2024 19:47

Fariapea · 18/10/2024 16:54

Hi @HappyValet I hope you're still on mumsnet. We have an asa issue too. May I ask which clinic you went to for your icsi? We want to find a clinic experienced in asa. Thanks

Hello @Fariapea

We had our ICSI on the NHS at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. The first round was funded, the second was around £1000 for the drugs, but the treatment was free, from what I can recall. Sorry that is probably not very helpful if you're looking at private clinics.

Sending you lots of luck and best wishes Daffodil

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