ICSI with MFI: success stories needed

[Viletta]

Hi all,
I'm 31
Ttc for more than 18m
Looks like we have MFI, very low count, last semen analysis showed only 0.1 mln (previous only 1 mln).
We are declined any NHS support as I am in the U.K. on a spouse visa (despite paying NHS surcharges and working full time), so had to go private. The doctor said ICSI should work for us even with such small numbers, said I have 28 follicles and all looks good on my side. However I read a lot about high risk of MC or not developing blastocyst as chances are the sperm quality is not great. But the doctor was very positive about ICSI and said even if we find a reason of MFI and try to fix it, numbers rarely improve. I think we should see a urologist for the follow up and try to improve the sperm before going ICSI. If you had similar issue, do you have any recommendation? Did you follow up to the root cause of MFI?

My husband also has 0.1 million, along with 0% morphology so pretty atrocious results. He is incredibly fit and healthy, fertility supplements, no alcohol, non smoker, no hot showers, no cycling, no laptops on knees etc etc. His numbers are always the same since having testicular cancer five years ago (his levels are regularly checked). We had a miracle natural conception and healthy daughter in 2015 (so it really only does take one!) and have since had icsi and currently 18 weeks pregnant (failed fresh, first fet worked). To my utter amazement we had 100% fertilisation rate, so just shows poor count and morphology doesn't tell the whole story. You have a really good chance of success, icsi essentially solves mfi and you have enough sperm to play with without trying to improve numbers. As long as a blockage is ruled out I'd crack on with icsi if I were you, even improving numbers by 100% would still be incredibly low count. We went abroad for our icsi to keep costs down. Good luck xx

Just to add, you should both get yourselves on fertility supplements if you're not already x

@Scottishgirl85 thank you for sharing your amazing story! DH takes multivitamins and trying to improve his overall lifestyle. I would like to get to the root of his low count to make sure he's healthy. Will go with ICSI. I heard FET is actually better than transferring same cycle as collecting the eggs.

I agree with Scottish (congrats Scottish!) that if only takes one.

DH count, motility and mobility were all bad. 0% normal morphology. We conceived on our first round of ICSi (2 out of 3 eggs fertilised, both went to blast).

Honestly I probably wouldn't bother spending time trying to fix it unless you just really don't want IVF

If your husband's results have dropped so much, I'd get him to see a urologist specialising in fertility. I wouldn't trust a fertility clinic to treat him as they tend to treat women only and often have limited knowledge of MFI.

I also second the idea of supplements, especially Profertil or Proxeed, obv no drinking or smoking and lots of fruit and veg, loose pants etc. And get super-healthy yourself. Unfortunately, the success is largely down to the eggs.

DH has MFI but count and motility are normal, only morphology 0%. Similarly to yourself, I have very good egg reserves (although antral follicle count varied between 18 and 24). With ICSI, we had very good fertilisation and got lots of blasts. I'm currently pregnant after a FET (but didn't have a fresh transfer so it's actually the first embryo that was put back).

Jonathan Ramsay (www.jonathanramsay.co.uk/about-jonathan-ramsay) is meant to be the guru of all things male factor.

We have male factor, but didn’t see him as we’re told ICSI/IMSI should overcome this. If you do want to see a urologist about the male factor he’s the person to see.

The other thing which would be worth looking into is whether the clinic you’re planning to use offers IMSI as this may help.

Just a note about imsi, we were told my husband's count was too low and abysmal for imsi or picsi (give them a Google), hence my advice to crack on. If I were you I wouldn't waste time or money investigating it too much beyond hormone imbalance (GP will do this for free) or blockage (which if treated could improve numbers). If someone has count of five or ten million it might be worth trying to improve it, but when it's as low as 0.1m you're going to need icsi even if you managed vast improvement.

Hi all,

Thank you for replying. This whole thing made DH give up smoking so hopefully this will make a difference. I don't mind ICSI but think improving the sperm quality is a good idea anyway even with ICSI. We will seek urology consultation to ensure there is no underlying condition and see what happens. Defo will ask about PICSI. Congratulations on your success stories!