Low Sperm Count Success Stories

[MissEmily5]

Hello all,
Hoping for any stories of anyone who had been in a similar situation- and hopefully there is some happy ones! 😂

Me (28) and my husband (31) have been TTC for 8 months (not long in the grand scheme of things but still emotionally exhausting). I have fairly regular cycles that tend to be 27/28 days, but can range from 26-30 days. From my ovulation tests I tend to ovulate most regularly on CD17, however this month I’ve received my earliest time on CD13 (praying this is a good sign)!

Me and my partner take Fertility Smart supplements as well as additional vitamin D.

We’re in a lucky situation that we’ve managed to get some private tests done to get some basic things tested. We have the following done;

AMH- came back good with 27.4pmol/L.

Transvaginal Ultrasound- came back showing a good follicle count of 31, with normal sized ovaries and tubes that look good too. Only thing was that my endometrial lining was thinner that expected at 2.9mm at cycle 30 (day before my period was due).

Bloods taken to check for Rubella, TSH, Anti-Sperm Antibody & Prolactin- all came back fine.

Semen Analysis- Good progressive motility of 49%, normal morphology of 5% but a low sperm concentration of 7M per ml.

We’ve got some more tests booked- a repeat scan for me (they believe mine could be a fluke as there is nothing to suggest any underlying problems) and a repeat sperm analysis (which again they hope to see a change as nothing suggests why he might have a low count).

But they have said if my DH sperm count is still low, that although natural conception is still a possibility that they would recommend going through IVF plus ICSI- which just seems very overwhelming.

Has anyone been through something similar and what was your outcome? Or has anyone conceived naturally? Which obviously would be the best outcome- but if so how long and if you did anything to help aid it?

I know that everyone is different and as is everyone’s journeys but any help words of wisdom or just to hear similar stories would help.
Thank you in advance for your help and baby dust to you all? ✨

Hi, this happened to us. We tried for a long time and had various tests and investigations done. One of my tubes was a bit dodgy apparently and DHs sperm count was about 9M per mil. He took some vitamins and it helped his count a bit. We did ICSi and got DS first time. I decided after that that I didn’t want to do any more fertility treatment and so DS would be our only child. Literally within a couple of months of effectively giving up I was pregnant naturally and that how’s we got DD. I’d heard about this happening to others but didn’t think it would happen to us. DS is now 20 and DD is now 16. I also had a couple of miscarriages in between DS and DD, (before ‘giving up’) they were naturally conceived as well. I hope this helps. Good luck to you x

IVF with ICSI was the only thing that worked for us.

We used a clinic in Istanbul as it was a fraction of the cost of UK.

@Runningforcheesecake thank you for sharing your story and your happy ending :) I’m sorry to hear about your miscarriages in between. Hopefully the supplements will help were they can but I know they can’t do wonders.

@SwordToFlamethrower thanks for your reply! Do you mind sharing what your partners sperm count was like?
definitely something we’ll need to look into as it’s very expensive here!

Me and my husband tried naturally for 18 months, we had some tests done at month 12 which showed a low sperm count at 3m per ml and our fertility clinic at the time said it will either be hormones causing it but if not we will have to ICSI. After some research, we decided to visit Dr Johnathan Ramsay but he was on a 3 month waiting list, in the meantime though my husband worked incredibly hard by not drinking, cutting out caffeine, eating healthy, lots of tomatoes, taking impryl and vitamin D. We then visited Dr Ramsay and his count was 15m per ml!!! Dr Ramsay explained that his hormones were a little low and put him on medication and he did have a larger varicocele which may need to be treated by operation. He also said it was slightly sticky which could be caused by a varicocele or a certain germ which are very common, he did further tests and we returned in 6 weeks. The tests showed that we had a common germ called Gardnerella vaginalis which was stopping the sperm from swimming free. He gave us some antibiotics and also told us to book the operation in. We took the antibiotics and a few weeks later we booked the operation in but on the day we booked it, I got a positive pregnancy test!!!! The best day of our lives!!! Please try Dr Ramsay, he is honestly the best in the business after two visits to him, our dreams came true!!!

Hi OP! How are things going for you? In a very similar situation xx

@OneHeapedTeaspoonOfSugar hello- sorry that you’re going through this too! Unfortunately, we’re now in cycle 14 with no luck. Only positives have been that my last scan during my hycosy showed that my lining was good for the stage and my husbands sperm count has improved through diet, cutting out caffeine (a big one for him) and supplements. But mainly caffeine.

I do still get a lot of spotting which I believe is my downfall as my progesterone tests come back good early and mid cycle, but I spot either 3-5 days before my period and now I have a short period for me (2 days proper bleed and then more spotting). I’ve tried reflexology which unfortunately hasn’t made a difference to my spotting but lessened my period pains which is unusual. But I’ve now started weekly acupuncture and after a lot of research in hopeful that it’ll help my spotting (well, fingers crossed!). Which is needle treatment and herbal supplements but it is expensive.

I wish you all the best- it’s a tough journey to go on x

We got pregnant within a few weeks of being told my husband's sperm count was too low for us to naturally conceive. Miracles happen and all that.

My partner had terrible sperm analysis results across the board, everything came back low or abnormal, his count was 5M so a bit lower than your DH's.
I also have a few issues on my side that meant we went straight for ICSI which worked for us first time!
Since then we have also conceived naturally much to our surprise as with such terrible odds we thought it'd be impossible.
For us to concieve naturally I do think the fact that I'd already been pregnant helped, sort of giving my body a nudge in the right direction and also because we thought there was 0% chance of it happening naturally for us there was absolutely no pressure or even thought on TTC whereas before when we were actively trying we were both so stressed and worried that it wasn't happening.
Hopefully it happens naturally for you but if you do go for ICSI know that there are plenty of success stories such as my own :)

Male factor here, following testicular cancer. My husband had 100,000 sperm count (and majority were deformed), so your 7m seems amazing to me! We went down IVF route and fell pregnant naturally just before starting the drugs. This happens a lot apparently! In our case, with the awful sperm, it was bordering on a miracle! We weren't lucky again though, and had 2 more children via IVF ICSI. I still can't believe we have 3 children (and the eldest is 9!). Infertility was the lowest point in my life so far, it can be a rough road (emotionally more than physically), but there is often light at the end of the tunnel. You have to keep the hope. And male factor has great success rates with IVF. Good luck x

This is reassuring to me that you had a healthy child naturally despite your dh's diagnosis. My partner is similar and was told his only option would be IVF. We tried for 8 months last year and I did fall pregnant naturally but unfortunately lost her at 19 weeks. Tried again since (December last year) fell pregnant again last month but it turned out to be a chemical. My worries have been maybe his sperm are faulty in some way? I'm just really praying for 3rd time lucky now 🙏