dh infertility

[leahbucks]

Hi,
We have just found out after 18 TTC that my dh is not producing any sperm. We are being referred to a urologist to see if its obstructed or non-obstructive but I am so confused. We have a boy who's just turned 5 and never had any problems before. I was wondering (as I can't find anywhere), if anyone has had the same whilst TTC their second? All I can find is info on people trying for their first. So worried it's something more sinister.
Would be great to hear from anyone else int he same situation.
BW's
L

[Rumplestrumpet]

I don't have personal experience to share leah, but I just wanted to send some warm wishes. I can imagine it sounds both scary and confusing, especially having already had one DC. I'm sure others will have some good advice, but I hope you and your DH are able to talk about it lovingly and he's not too defensive about it (which would of course be understandable). It may not be insurmountable and it's good your being referred to get more information.
Best of luck

[leahbucks]

Thank you Rumplestrumpet that's really kind of you to send a message. I'm new to Mumsnet and finding it a really friendly place to be. Thanks again for your kind words. X

[NewEraNewMindset]

Just wanted to bump this for you. Hopefully someone will come along soon with some reassurance xx

[Rumplestrumpet]

I'm pretty new here too Leah, and I agree it seems very friendly. That said, I just discovered the "Am I being unreasonable?!" thread, which is a whole different ball game !!

[naty1]

I have seem several posters with secondary male infertility so it does happen. Though mainly reduced nos or abnormal sperm.
dH had very low count (< 1m) but that was from first test and no previous kids. They never did physical tests on him only genetic for CF etc.
maybe yours has a varicocele. Or there could be some in the testicles.

How old is he? Things like mumps affect men and glandular fever.

[leahbucks]

Hi there,
He is 33 and conceived before at 27. He has been back to GP and though bloods were 'normal' his testosterone level was 10 (normal is 8 to 30) so hoping it is a case of zinc tablets or something. Checked foods with zinc in and we eat about 90% of the list regularly. He has his own business and though he says he's not stressed he works long hours and is pressured. The more I've read I know stress can be a factor. We have the urologist appt in dec so hopefully that will give us a better idea. I feel so bad being on here. I've read more threads and have seen how desperate and sad so many peoples situations are. My heart really does go out to them. I thank god everyday for my 5 year old. Though he keeps asking me for a baby brother (I hide in the pantry if I cry), I look at him and my heart melts. I feel lucky to have him and also unfortunate for this time. I can't be selfish whilst at least having one, after reading other comments. I would adopt this time but my dh won't consider it.
Things are difficult between me and him at the moment. After 12 years together this is really testing us. We have soooo many friends pregnant with their second at the moment which I think highlights the issue.
Thank you so much for all the posts. Sending lots of love and good wishes to you all. Thank you for reading.
L xxx

[Cantbelieveimdoingthisagain]

Hi Leah

Is this DH's first test?

I only ask because my partner had his first sperm test (which was just a precautionary measure - we hadn't been trying for long) It came back extremely low, very low. There wasn't even enough there to analyse what he did have, whether there were 'normal forms' or not. We were devastated naturally, as I also have fertility issues. I have a child from a previous relationship and an ex girlfriend of his told him that she was once pregnant with his child but she terminated the pregnancy so we like you never thought we would have any problems ttc.

We too were very healthy but we added the major contenders to our diet, kale, almonds, berries, sprouts, salmon, quinoa etc, also started the probiotics daily as well as multivitamins. We have given up alcohol and caffeine. Also we had an old injury of his seen to that had given him grief on and off over the years. Believe it or not, we increased his sperm levels over 7 times in 4 weeks - not quite to minimum level sperm count guides but what he does have is really good quality - over 70% all headed in the right direction and correct shape and size.

We are still fighting what seems to be a losing battle with my fertlity but with his story, it just goes to show that a lot of things are possible and not to lose hope so quickly. I have also heard other stories of people have bad sperm results and a second test proves otherwise.

Just thought this may help you to see light at the end of your tunnel. Wishing you all the very best of luck x

[BatteryPoweredHen]

Hello, so sorry to hear about your troubles.

We too had secondary MFI problems, and are in the middle of our first cycle of IMSI.

If it makes you feel any better, MFI problems (esp secondary ones) seem a lot easier to fix than egg-related, or implantation ones.

ICSI/IMSI, even with surgically recovered sperm can do wonders these days, have you considered whether they might work for you?

[victoria401]

I hope you have been able to get some answers for your dh's lack of sperm Leah. We too are suffering from male factor infertility. Although with Wellman vits and trying to eat better we managed to increase his sperm morphology from 2% (suboptimal) just into the normal range at 5%. He takes a lot of drugs for his chronic asthma though and i'm worried that has decreased his "normal forms". No happy endings for us yet though, but we are due to start NHS funded treatment early next year as it's both of our first child. Good luck!

[Thelovecats]

My friends DH had results come back containing no sperm at all, and then at the next test there were some. They conceived naturally twice.

In our case we conceived our first DC naturally, then when the second wasn't happening as we thought it should my DH had sperm tests and they were very low. we went for ICSI and at some points the count was

[leahbucks]

Hi All,

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and ideas, they are really appreciated. I've been a bit quiet waiting those long 8 weeks until his urologist appt. Anyway, he saw him on Friday and the urologist has referred him for an MRI in 6 weeks. He thinks it's obstructive azoospermia so the MRI should show up any blockages. He had another semen test and again absolutely nothing. As he's young, not overweight or anything and fathered a child 'recently' he says its a very unique case not to have any sperm at all and seemed, strangely, a bit excited about it. I am assuming he normally sees elderly men with the usual problems! So it's better than we expected and things are moving. I turn 35 next year so my age is becoming a bit of an anxiety for me in truth. But it is what it is and I just want to find out what the problem is and if we can do anything about it. If there isn't I think I can accept that and move on with our lives as 3. He did say if it isn't obstructive it's sperm retrieval at a fertility clinic for us. Hoping not.
Trust us to be unique case but at least someone other than us is interested……
Thanks again for all your posts.
Happy Christmas,
Lx

[KittenCamile]

Hi,

My DP has azoospermia, he has a DD from a previous who is 6. He has no sperm in his ejaculate and has no obstruction. The doctors have not been keen to find out what has caused it as they view that as a waste of time and have concentrated on how we can have a baby so we start ivf with icsi in jan. DP had surgical sperm retrieval in sept and we have 3 vials of sperm that they retrieved directly from the testicles. This is enough for 1 possibly 2 rounds of ivf.

As you have a child already don't be shocked if the nhs do little to find out and solve the problem, they are much more likely to recommend you start on the path to ivf privately. This is my experience anyway and we are 2 years down the line.

Hopefully it's a varicocle and an operation can fix it though. I wish you absolutely all the best and any questions feel free to ask, this is a complete rollercoaster as it seems bad and then good and then there's a two month wait etc. I have everything crossed for a positive outcome from your DH mri

[cinnamongirl1976]

I don't have experience of secondary MFI but just wanted to wish you luck with whatever you decide to do.

My DH has a sperm count of zero and our daughter (biologically his thanks to surgical sperm retrieval) is about to turn 2.

I think some of the Mumsnet forums are friendly - just don't go anywhere near AIBU, bit of a hornets' nest.

Good luck.

[naty1]

I also suspect men's diet and bmi can have something to do with some cases of MFI.
We never had a check for varicocele. Or scan so thats good.

[KittenCamile]

Naty1 I have found that there is so little to be done about azoospermia that doctors don't really investigate it. We got sent to see different consultants but I wished we had listened to them from the start and just done ivf as soon as we found out this was the reason we couldn't conceive as we would have saved years and DP 3 operations. We pushed for them to test blood and do a biopsy but really none of it has enlightened us.

My honest advice would be, don't wait, get some sperm in the bank via sperm retrieval and then invest in ivf because it could take years to find what's happening and your very likely to need ivf anyway. I hope that doesn't seem to harsh. Unless something came up in the MRI I wouldn't waste time on further investigations

[naty1]

Interesting as i sort of feel if they had investigated dP 0.5mil count further we may not have needed the ivf. But also as they dont help once youve had a child.. Its cost 10k for pg with DC2.
I feel his low count and probably quality must have caused our really low fertilisation 25-50% always leaving 1-2 embryos and so ive had 4lots of ivf meds and 3 ops. But ill never know if it could have been improved. It certainly hasnt naturally over 4yrs of his tests. If i wasnt relatively fertile 2/5 embryos implanting we may have had no DC.
Though our situation was unusual icsi usually has high fert rates.

[FloellaDaVille]

My DH has azoospermia. We were only offered donor sperm through our hospital - I wish we'd chased up sperm retrieval but it was never offered as an option. We have two children both conceived through donor insemination with two different donors. Treatment was pre 2005 so they were anonymous donors. All fine at the moment, they know about their origins but who knows what the future holds if they want to try and find their donors ...