Low sperm morphology. What are the options?

[Minnie74]

My dh and I have been ttc2 for a year. We have a two year old ds (took 18 months and one mc before we conceived with him) I'm now 39, he's 41. We have been referred to a fertility clinc and have an appointment at the beginning of June.
We've had all the tests and mine have come back all fine (though I'm pretty sure I'm not ovulating every month- well according to cbfm I've only ov'd twice in a year, one being the month my progesterone was tested!)
My dhs results have just come back and his sperm morphology is 1% (he's upbeat about it but it sounds bad to me) Other results were in normal range except viscosity which was low. He has to go for another test in 6 weeks. Can we improve the morphology or is it a lost cause? Does anyone have any idea what we'll be told?

It's definitely not a lost cause. There are definitely things your DH can do to try and increase his sperm count. I've had friends whose husbands have been told there's no movement at all but they've had children naturally! One thing we were told (our 'problem' - for want of a better word was also sperm) was: no laptop in the lap, heat from the laptop is bad for sperm, loser pants, no hot baths, less or no alcohol, vitamin supplements like WellMan are also good. There are definitely things that can help. Good luck x

Morphology is not the same as count or movement.
OP we were in the same boat as you and had IVF with ICSI in January this year. They wash the sperm and pick the ones with good morphology then inject them directly into the eggs.
It worked for us, I am currently 21 weeks pregnant

minibmw2010 and tak1ngchances Thanks for the speedy replies ladies!
Dh is taking wellman tablets and I read something about vit c helping improve morphology so I'm making him take that too! I'm a bit scared about the prospect of IVF to be honest and am trying desperately to avoid reaching that stage although I'm thinking it might be what we're told. Is ICSI slightly different? tak1ngchances Congrats on your pregnancy! You must be over the moon.

There is IVF where your eggs are implanted with sperm, but ICSI is a more detailed form of IVF where they hand pick the best sperm when they feel they don't have a lot to play with. So it's a more specialised version. It's what we had as well and we do have a DS and we are just having it again at the moment.

And yes tak1ngchances is absolutely right, sorry. We had poor sperm motility, not morphology. Apologies. xx

Thanks minibmw2010 does that make ICSI even more expensive? I know we won't be offered any as we have ds. It sounds like it may be more successful maybe?

We paid £8000 for everything at a private clinic in London. I too was dreading IVF but it was really not that bad.

Oh wow! tak1ngchances I didn't think it was that expensive i was thinking maybe £5000. We are in Yorkshire though. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a lottery win!
I'm glad to hear it wasn't as bad as you feared though. I just want to get to the appointment now and see what the options are for us. Did you try other things first or was it a straight to ICSI option? Hope you don't mind the questions x

We've paid just under £7K I think (if I was to count it all up, including consultations, etc.). Getting my medicines from Asda has made a huge difference, easily saved about £1K on the drugs.

My dh had poor morphology but everything else was fine, he was taking zinc, 500mg of royal jelly and pycnogeol. It has pushed his morphology up above the normal range. I know it was the vitamins as he had three sa before the vitamins that said the same thing and then this one after months of vitamins.

Also we did get pregnant through iui, although it ended in miscarriage it is possible. We are just I'm the middle of our first ivf and out of 15 eggs collected, 13 have fertilized so it can be done!

Hope that helps! X

I feel sad at the cost already as that would pretty much wipe us out for just one go. I'm struggling with trying to be happy with my one beautiful ds and appreciating how truly lucky we are, and then so much wanting another baby. (Not helped by almost everyone I know being pregnant)
Happilymarried155 I'll get some of the other vits your dh took too. Good luck with your IVF. X

Sorry for the delay minnie, I was on a flight! Yes we went straight for ICSI as it was clear from our results that the other options would not work. We also had low motility so ICSI was definitely required.
Definitely try the vitamins and lifestyle changes and see how you go!

We paid under 5k for icsi. I have pcos so respond too much to the drugs so hardly given any. The cost of drugs can really push cost up

Thanks tak1ng chances we'll definitely give the vits a go. I'm just a bit worried about how long it might take with almost being 40. I'm seeing an acupuncturist at the mo (my cycle was all over the place for a while but is sorted again now) and she was concerned I might be pushed into IVF as the only option. I don't know though.
naty1 that sounds a little better cost wise (though still a lot) did you self fund or is that private? I'm not really sure what the difference is to be fair! Was it successful for you if you don't mind me asking? Xx

Hi girls, I was reading this and I am now in a panic that I can't get ivf with icsi on the nhs! Is this the case? My husband has antisperm antibodies and we would need icsi. Or is it because its not your first child you're trying for?

Sorry to barge straight in like this, we are newly diagnosed and I'm still a bit of a wreck!

Does your dh cycle or do lots of intensive exercise? Both of these can affect morphology a lot.

Victoria- no we had icsi on nhs. I suppose its possible it could depend on area though.

We paid while ttc no 2

JimBobplusasprog no he definitely wouldn't be classed as an intensive exerciser! He has however been on a low dose of antidepressants for over 5 years which I'm thinking might be an issue. Though he was when we conceived ds so maybe not.
victoria401 sorry you've had this diagnosis. It's all a bit of a scary road isn't it. I feel like I've no idea what to do for the best.

Victoria, our first ICSI was NHS, we are self funding this time because we were lucky enough to be successful with our NHS try and once you have a child already NHS help stops. Try not to panic although it is a scary time. What are your circumstances, eg age, any children on either side already, etc? xx

Hi girls. I'm 34 and dh is 36. Neither of us has ever been pregnant or have any children with anyone else. We have just been diagnosed with male factor infertility after 18 months ttc. Dh has 2% normal forms and 100% antisperm antibodies, something I didn't even know about until a few weeks ago! We need to still have all our tests repeated again before we can be referred to a specialist.

I have not much idea what lays ahead as I naively didn't think things would end up here, as you don't. Me and dh are just clinging on to each other for dear life at the mo and randomly crying! My anxiety is playing me up againand I'm having trouble sleeping as I keep "remembering" and my stomach does a jolt. Do you have any coping mechanisms?

Victoria401, first off, try not to panic. Very much easier said than done I know, but at least now you know there's an issue you can try to deal with it. We have needed IVF due to male infertility also (a different problem but still on the male side). There is a lot that can be done to help you, but the main thing is to try and stay strong together to see it through. Thankfully you're on the path now and hopefully you'll get some answers soon. x

Vitamens and boxer shorts improved DH's low morphology results in 6wand better again at 3months. We did isci even with better results, specialist thought it would be safer bet.

Thanks jenny70 for the reply. I think we'll probably be told that too but who knows. How did you find the ICSI?
victoria401 I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. It's such a nightmare and just what you don't expect. Can vitamins etc help your dh? I don't know much about the antibodies though. Are you seeing a consultant? My doctor seems to have been pretty good in getting my tests and referral through pretty quickly. I feel the fact you can only get pregnant once a month just seems to make time pass so quickly. But that's probably because I'm feeling the pressure of my 40th looming in oct.

Thanks for the replies guys and sorry for hogging your thread minnie!

Its horrible that any of us are having to go through assisted conception. We are here to reproduce so why can't so many of us do it? Do other species get infertile I wonder?!

Vits can't help us. Well they can maybe improve his low normal forms but not the antibodies. Antibodies bind to either the head, stopping it from penetrating the egg, or the tail, stopping them from swimming through the mucus. They also clump together and bind. Doomed really. He has started taking wellman in the hope of improving the quality of the little guys before ivf so he has some good ones to choose from! They can do some kind of sperm wash to get rid of the antibodies too. I've been doing my research!

Good luck to everyone x

The ISCI bit was no stress, just done in lab. The hard bit with all the ivf methods is the drug regime to stimulate egg production. Not nice at all, and the drugs put you into forced menopause then hyper fertile, so hormones all over the joint. Very stressful and whacky hormones were the pits... but at least the effects are short lived.

It is extremely annoying to see others fall pg so easily, one friend had 2 children before we got pregnant with our first, despite her only trying because we'd already started trying. Not to mention the horrendous abuse and neglect you hear about when you know how much you would love and protect a child.,

Wishing you both the best in your journey.