Anyone trying after varicocele treatment?

[Luz192]

Hello,

My husband and I paused TTC after we identified MFI, and in November he was treated for a varicocele. It's been just under 3 months since the procedure so this is our first cycle of trying again (oh the joys of ovulation sticks and the 2WW are back!)

Has anyone been in a similar situation and managed to get pregnant? I'm half really optimistic..because lifestyle-wise everything is ticked, and this was the only thing that was identified.. but I'm so used to it not happening that I actually can't picture it working..

Hi all, looking for an update on all of you to see whether you had success. We managed to book embolisation for my DH next week and will see what the results will be in 3 months. Please share your success stories 🤞

Hi K8dferXdder,

We didn't go through with the embolization. After seeing the amazing Dr Ramsay (found him here in the MFI forums) between Sept-Dec 2021, my husband count improved from 1.2 to 4 million & his fragmentation reduced good enough to try IVF. Dr Ramsay recommended to begin IVF/ICSI sooner rather than later. We thought A LOT about having his varicocele embolization prior to IVF but, after a lot of research about healing time (most cases of success were 6months - 1 year+), our age- I was 36 and hubby was 37 - we decided time was not on our side & of course cost. I was also so anxious about how many rounds it would take for us to be successful. I thought perhaps saving the money to put towards IVF might be better.

We took the risk & started our first IVF/IMSI cycle in Feb 2022, we thankfully resulted with 3 embryos frozen & I had 1 fresh transfer. Ironically my husband had the absolute worst sample he has ever had - 750,000 on egg collection day. We suspected this was a result of being sick with the flu two months before. I still dont know how I did not lose the plot after the news from the embryologist.

First transfer did not work but the frozen transfer was successful 2 months later. I am now due in a few weeks🤗.

Wishing you all the successful post healing😊! Please let us know how you get on. Keeping everything cross for you🤞

P.s. I have also been following Phil and Alex on YouTube since I started trying in 2021. The husband had his embolization a couple months ago and they're also hoping for improvement in his motility for a natural conception. If you care to watch them.

My hubby had the varicocele correction. Count was still rubbish but quality was better. Had a round of icsi and I now have a 6 month old daughter. No embryos in the freezer as only one made it! But it only takes one!

Wow congratulations both 🎉🥳 that is soooo encouraging! I love your stories! Thanks for sharing!

Hi @K8dferXdder

Sorry to intrude on this thread - my husband has just found out he has a similar count. I just wondered what steps you took to increase it? We are willing to try anything at this stage!!!

@alt22 hi 👋 no worries, we are here to help and support each other 😊 we actually did tests through the NHS ivf clinic and they found with X-ray that my partner has bilateral varicoceles (meaning on both testicles) and they gave him Clomiphene which kind of increased the parameters a bit. His testosterone was at the lower side but Clomiphene improved this too. But we had still 2 failed ICSI cycles and 1 missed miscarriage. So the private ivf clinic suggested he has appointment with a urologist. We cheated a bit and said to our private medical insurance that he has pain when he is sitting down. So we booked a urology appointment with one of the best names and he will do an embolisation for him… the doctor prescribed him still Clomiphene which he is now taking but we will see what will be the actual improvement after 2-3 months. The urologist wants him to do a semen test in 2 months and DNA fragmentation test. And his suggestion is to do a multi ejaculation cycle, we maybe freeze few sperm samples and do IMSI.
Even the embolisation may not fix entirely the sperm issue but at least if it decreases the fragmentation, it will hopefully help in our future cycle.
The GP didn’t do anything and even if they sent him to urologist, if it is not reproductive urologist, they may say embolisation will not solve the issue… so better to see reproductive one. Hope it helps, let me know if you need any info. Good luck 🤞

Just to add here that it took us a while, but we did get pregnant naturally (I’m currently 4 months pregnant). My husband had varicocele embolisation Nov 2020 (I think that was the date). We did a round of ivf in June 2021 where we got 8 blasts. His morphology was definitely a little better at that point. But our first transfer failed. We then paused TTC/IVF for a little while & in that time got pregnant naturally :)

good luck to all!

@K8dferXdder I am not pregnant but DP had embolisation just over 4 months ago. He had Azoospermia (no sperm) prior to this. Exactly 3 months after the procedure he did repeat SA which he had 2 sperm. The consultant said this was great as still very early days. DP has been going back to clinic to do a sample every 2-3 weeks to freeze whatever is there and pleasingly we do have some frozen. Although his numbers are extremely low, it's a step in the right direction and made the embolisation worth it! DP had an allergic reaction to the contrast dye used in the procedure and so had an unpleasant 3 weeks after that, so he's happy now all the discomfort was for something.

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 thanks for the info and that’s a great news and progress for you! Wishing you all the very best and soon to have the result you deserve!
Thanks for letting me know about the possibility of feeling discomfort after the embolisation. Will have this in mind!