Low Sperm Count - what are our options

[beanyberry]

Hello ladies, we are busy ttc our first, im 35 and hubby is 37, my husbands first SA was low at 11 million, he is due to give another sample in the next few weeks. Our first consultation at the hospital indicated that IVF would be the way forward if the second is also low .....As i aire on the side of caution - if the second DOES comes back low - is IVF really our only option?? surely there has to be another way?? (all appears to fine with me at the moment) The thought terrifies me! Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

They reckon 20million to concieve. We had ICSI DH's sperm count went from 2million to 6 to 10 to bloody twins, thanks.

I blame the zinc.

Buy Zita West's book, she has lots of detailed info on low sperm count, there's lots you can do about it.

yes there's meant to be lots you can do about it. for example, being too hot is meant to be detrimental to sperm so loose fitting boxes/trousers is something easy you could start with.

Have they checked his prolactin levels? My DH had a similar result and it turned out he had high prolactin causing problems. High prolactin causes low testosterone and therefore a low sperm count. I would double check they have looked at that.
They did say to us iui would be an option - they could spin the sperm to concentrate it before delivering it. Definitely worth pumping him full of vitamins!

We have a similar problem. There is quite a lot you can do about low sperm count in addition to what organixboy has said

• radically cut down alcohol
• take anti-oxidants including high dose Vit C and zinc
• Don't work with a laptop on your lap, put it on the table
• Try to not sit down most of the day if work in an office, get up regularly and have a walk around
• Have acupuncture
• Avoid hot baths and saunas
• Eat a 'clean' diet - avoid processed foods and anyting in excess. Try to stick to organic meat if you can. lots of fruit & veg.

Apparently sperm takes about 3 months to fully 'mature' so changes made now will probably not show up in the result for 3 months. If you can wait that long to start ivf, I would.

If your AMH/FSH levels etc. are all good then you can probably afford to wait a little while before jumping in to IVF. Yes of course the younger you are the better but a few months either way probably won't make a huge difference, and may mean you don't need to do it at all.

Good luck !

Just wanted to but in if you dont mind.
My hubbys count is 3mil. We were told ivf as we would never conceive naturally.
We had ivf to have my 11 month old girl and found out the clinic was wrong and im now 10 weeks pregnant.

I just wanted to say ivf is never the only option. We were made to feel that...

With whatever you decide i hope you get your bfp