Secondary Infertility - low sperm motility

[MandaM24]

Hi, I was hoping someone on here might be able to give me some information/success stories. We were lucky enough to conceive in the first month of trying with our first, who is now 3.5. We have been TTC for about 18 months now, and my husband’s sperm results have come back with really low sperm motility (less than 5%). We have found there has been really little support and even less sympathy as ‘we already have one’ 😡. We have no idea if we are realistically able to improve his motility or not? We are doing everything suggested.... vitamin supplements, no alcohol, no caffeine etc. My husband is very healthy otherwise so it has come as a real surprise. We are hoping this could improve it naturally, but we have no idea if that is possible?

If it isn't, then what are our options? I know there isn't any NHS funding for this so we are willing to pay.... but have no idea how much it could cost?

TIA for any info!

I've been checking ABC fertility's price list for costing. They're known to be cheap though and have tougher criteria

I'd try a supplement like Proceive Max for Men which has more "stuff" in it - other than that and the lifestyle changes you've already mentioned there is little you can do - just bare in mind it's very much luck of the draw - my husband probably did about 7 samples in 2 years whilst we did 5 rounds of IVF and the sperm quality varied hugely from 1% Morphology to 6% (and that was after a very boozy Xmas!). So unless he's had multiple tests 3 months apart all saying the same thing in terms of low motility it may just have been a "duff" sample on the back of having had a cold or something?

IVF Costs vary wildly - we spent £35k on 5 rounds....

But our "cheapest" ones which actually gave us our twins was a 3 cycle package of natural modified IVF with Create which was £13.5k including all drugs and ICSI

OP, I was unexplained infertility when TTC DS - he was conceived naturally after 2 years TTC. We have been TTC #2 for nearly 18 months, we’ve had tests done and all appears to be fine.

I started to research IVF costs and our nearest clinic (Glasgow) is about £4K for a cycle. My question to you is, have you broached the subject with your husband yet? I think my DH assumes we wouldn’t consider IVF as we are lucky enough to have DS. But I don’t think I can give up on #2 that easily.

Hi. Just had a failed cycle with ABC and one frozen. Going to try naturally for some months.

Trying no 2 for nearly 3 years no luck. Turned 35 this month. Any natural remedies if you ladies know ? Low sperm count, motility.

@Queenoflondon Hi. I really wouldn't givrle up. I had a terrible experience at ABC. Absolutely money orientated with inexperienced nurses. No tailored medicine for individual cases and a one size fits all approach. Do not give up I am at a much better clinic who have identified reasons as to why I may not be concieving and are thorough with everything.

I've heard lots of good things about Create but definitely don't go through ABC.

Thanks! Which clinic are you with ?

At the moment... I have got some blood test done to find out implantation failure cause.

@Shinebright21 which clinic are you with ? Didn't tag you in my previous comment

This was me and my DH. DS conceived first cycle. A couple of years trying, all my tests were normal, then we found out DH sperm count was below average (11mill). We went to ABC, planning ivf but on the day he gave his sample his count was only 2million and looked pretty bad so we ended up having ICSI. Conceived DD and we have 3 waiting in the freezer.

I had a great experience with ABC and would recommend them to anyone. Ivf with ICSI was about £4K plus £1k to freeze the others for 2 years, after that there will be an annual storage fee.

Not sure why it didn't work. It was 5bb embryo. What grade was it when you conceived your dad ? @DobbieFreeElf

I mean dd*

Because sadly it’s a complete lottery. I’ve made lots of friends with people at all stages of their ivf journeys and most of the time there is no reason why one round is successful and another fails sadly.

DD was a 3bc embryo

Yeah I agree it is a complete lottery. Thanks for your message :-)

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies. Update on the situation... it turns out that the doctor read my husband's results incorrectly (twice!!) and actually both samples came back good - excellent. So essentially the fertility clinic said there is no biological reason why we can't get pregnant naturally. Which is obviously GREAT news, but just so hard to understand why it hasn't happened?! I should be having a HSG scan & an X-ray of my tubes soon to confirm everything is ok there, which they expect it is. The doctor said that just having the HSG scan itself can increase fertility rates... anyone know of any success stories around this? Thanks!

@MandaM24 sorry my doc never recommended getting HSG scan done.

They did advance scan for me and didn't find any reason why I should go for HSG scan. I have been told to get some blood test done to check my immune levels.

Is this scan you getting done through Nhs or private?

@Queenoflondon I'm getting totally mixed messages from the fertility clinic and it's really frustrating! The consultant that said that I could have both the HSG X-ray and the ultrasound scan is on 2 weeks leave, and another consultant has said that I should have the scan before the X-ray... but at first refused to do the scan due to covid restrictions. I called them back, and just cried down the phone and begged for them to do something this cycle. I couldn't stand the thought of going another month without things moving forward in my head, and I've recently started to suffer from panic attacks due to this. So they have agreed to book me in for a scan next week, but they did warn me that it could get cancelled 😢 xxxxx