12% sperm motility :'(

[Westsussex]

Hi all.

My husband and I had a misscarraige over one year ago now. Since then, as we've been unable to conceive again, we've been tested privately.

All of my results are perfect, unfortunately his weren't and he has 12% sperm motility. His other results were all above average.

I'm nearing the age where we'll be too old for any help on the NHS but may possibly scrape through.

Does anyone have any success stories from getting pregnant with this percentage motility?? I'm so consumed by it all and so so down.

We're about to start a weight loss process for him, no alcohol at all, healthy eating, weight loss, etc.

I'm starting to feel like it may never happen. After losing our baby, it's so hard to come to terms with.

Thank you xx

Hi,
I'm so sorry you miscarried. Miscarriage is so tough to cope with.

Can you afford IVF? We had success twice with a sperm motility of zero! 12% is racerboy by comparison.

Edited to add - at a late age too. I was 39 and 40 when we had our DC.

Zinc is your friend here. Is he now taking Zinc supplements? DH was prescribed those after we had tests. We did get pregnant naturally after all manner of tests and procedures, but I think I wasn't ovulating for some of that time too.

My partner had less than 1% morphology he managed to turn that around and get a normal result in less than three months , we tried for 2 years I'm 36 now and were just about to start IVF and fell pregnant naturally I'm 15 weeks now. I would highly recommend watching Fab and Ell on YouTube they were in a similar situation they have a video on what they did to get pregnant with twins we followed their supplement regime and added in one or two things like zinc and selenium but it can definitely be improved . Also cut out all alcohol and exercise is important.

D

Hi @OwlWeiwei and thank yoo so so much. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss also, it's incredibly hard isn't it. Unfortunately due to the debts the government gave businesses over covid, we now have no money or access to credit. At a stretch I could ask for money from my step dad to pay him back, its great to hear IVF worked for you! With much lower motility also so at least I know maybe we hava an option with that! Xx

@Cheshiresun thank you very much, we are taking a large concoction of suppliments including zinc. So I'm hoping this will work for us also, I didn't realise how important the zinc was until I started reading on here however! So I'll check our doses and make sure he keeps up on that. We may re test him soon as he's been on the suppliments for a while now. And congratulations on your baby xx

Hi @LizzeyBenett wow, this is quite incredible, it really shows how quickly the results can change when the body gets what it needs, thank you!

I've also heard of Fab and Eli but have never watched them so I now have something to binge as we come into the new year :)

Thank you eveyone I now have some hope!xxx

After a year of trying, we both got tested, I was fine but DP had low sperm motility - no idea what level mind. His diet was already good so in addition he cut out hot baths, kept himself ' aerated', cut out alcohol and took a supplement called Pycnogenol - which is an extract from French maritime pine bark. Trials showed that this improved motility - one study mentions a herbal medicine called Prelox which is more commonly used as a natural alternative to Viagra, the other just Pycnogenol. Improvement in sperm quality and function with French maritime pine tree bark extract - PubMed (nih.gov)

I was also 40 so odds were really stacked against us.

Well after maybe 6 months and one miscarriage, something worked, and DS was conceived naturally and is now a teenager.

So here is another success story - wishing you good luck!

@Siezethefish thank you so much, we've just purchased some of the Pycnogenol pine bark and he's going to start that this week! I'd never heard of it until you'd said. I'm also nearing 40 so your story is great to hear and I'm so happy for you. Thank you 🥰

Hi @Westsussex , slight detail, but where/who did you go to to get tested privately? We had a miscarriage this year, and have been trying since to no avail- also am 40 this year so clock ticking!
(I do have a lovely 5 year old from a previous relationship, so I know am luckier than some)

Derail, not detail!

Hi @RiotC I'm sorry to hear about your misscarraige.

After being told we'd not receive any help from the NHS as my husband has grown children from a previous relationship (don't get me started lol) I first decided to pay for an internal scan at a place called The Scanning Room in Horley near where I live.

This testing was quite amazing really as the very experienced lady (who had previously worked as a nurse doing the same within the nhs) was able to look at my egg reserves, egg quality, checking I have dominant folicals each month, the womb lining, tubes checking for cysts etc and more. All of this was for approx £85 which I felt was fantastic value. My results were very luckily perfect.

So my next step was wanting to have look at my hormones, and for this I did purchase the Hertility testing kit where you prick your finger and send off a blood sample. When my results came I then had a telephone/face time call with a wonderful fertility expert who had significant experience and a masters degree etc specifically around misscarraige and fertility and this was also very helpful to me personally.

My best friend is a consultant surgeon and she actually recommended seeing a fertility specialist who would then arrange all of this testing and take us through the whole journey, I haven't done this yet but (it's more expensive) but she really wanted me to take this route.

Oh and my husband did an at home sperm test we just googled. Probably always best to do the offical route with a specialist but we just haven't yet.

I hope this helps xxx