Azoospermia support, stories and timelines

[Ljp2022]

Hi All,
Hoping to get a chat going with some advice. My husband and I started TTC 9 months ago but had an inkling something was wrong. We had a private fertility assessment which showed he had no sperm in his semen (azoospermia). We are incredibly overwhelmed and shocked but are keen to explore further testing.

We have gone to our GP however he has explained the wait will likely be several months until we are seen in infertility clinic. We have therefore decided to go privately. My husband has had blood tests for genetic testing and hormones this week (not sure how long it will be until we get results?) and he has a urology appointment in a month’s time for a physical exam.

Id be so grateful if people can share their experiences of azoospermia, outcomes, success stories, other options explored, tests but also timelines if private? How long does it take for tests to come back? How long until he has his sperm retrieval test? What’s next and how long?

sorry for all the questions - so overwhelmed and no one seems to have any answers…thank you in advance.

@lemons44 im really pleased to hear this, so much better just having a plan and January will be here in no time at all! The lovely thing about the start of a year is you’ve got more than 9 months (I’m aware I’m staying the obvious there so go with me) so I feel like it’s somehow less daunting, you feel like it could be your year and timing is somehow back on your side…..or I did anyway.

@IslaO i didn’t but I’m holding out hope for you 😂😂

Thanks @IslaO and @Carla2601 I think we are definitely feeling a bit more hopeful to try another approach. CRGH only do 5 day transfers so it really will be we either make day 5 blasts or we don't. Scary but I'm just trying to remain hopeful and positive!

Not sure if this helps anyone but the consultant was really on it and very specific about the vitamins he wants us to take. Just sharing DH's below in case it helps:

• Wellman conception (or impryl or Proxceed) as long as it's one of them
• 500mg vitamin C
• 15mg Lycopene

I have never heard of Lycopene but it comes from tomatoes and from a quick google it looks like it is very effective for sperm count, motility etc. I bought it from Holland and Barrett.

@IslaO I honestly think it's so natural for you to not feel like you can relax yet as it's been such a long journey and you never thought you'd get to this point. Hopefully after the 12 week scan it will provide a bit more reassurance and help you relax even if only by a tiny bit 💗💗

Sorry @IslaO forgot to answer your question! Yes it will be all new medications again as CRGH don't use Gonal F and Luveris, which was what I was on before. They use different ones. I am waiting for my treatment plan to come through so I can see the names as I can't remember what he called them. xx

@lemons44 that's such great news, Dr Pippa is delightful, you are in good hands. So glad the clinic have a plan and CRGH have a great reputation. I heard you can get more details on your embryos too!

I did some internet research and my husband has been taking a wide range of supplements (including lycopene and high vit c!) since we found out about his issues. And, it actually has made a big difference.
We were told it was super hard to improve his parameters we were already doing the key things and given his issues he most likely will have reducing quality and quantity through time (so any improvement is very tricky).
We don't know exact numbers but the embryologist said there's a big difference with progressive motility up from 9% to nearer 20%! Obviously we still only have a few viable sperm but each 1% improvement helps 🥰. So fingers crossed it works for you too.

After an IVF cycle which hasn't really stopped since August(!) I am finally scheduled for EC on Tuesday 🥹.

Hi all. Have started part 2 as this thread is nearly full. Sorry if I have missed anyone.

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I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice?

Seems a bit of a chicken and egg scenario with the pathways for male Fertility.

OH has been referred to andrology, but from what I gather, this is more to investigate 'why' as opposed to doinv the Fertility treatment.

I've done plenty of research on retrograde ejaculation caused by nerve damage from rectal surgery, and the likely hood of fertility being salvaged is pretty much 0.

He will need tese or mtese (no sperm could be found in urine) and we will need isci.

From what I've gathered, nhs won't fund tese until you have been approved for ivf.

Do do I (the woman) get a referral for ivf, separate to OHs andrology referral?

I'm concerned they'll challenge us on whether we meet criteria, as guidelines only seem to mention azoospermia. And they'll tell us to continue trying naturally, which is absolutely pointless as no ejaculate comes out what so ever. We have had to explain this to so many medical staff. They even took the empty jar for a semen analysis 🙄

We are thinking of contacting pals. As it was a nhs surgery that caused this, and its a very rare complication of surgery. The aftercare has been very poor. OH has made it very clear its infertility that's his concern, the actual retrograde otherwise doesn't bother him. Yet they haven't actually given any advice on how to address this, we have been left to everything ourselves.

Who is your CCG? i.e which council is the female partner’s GP based?

There need to be 2 referral pathways; one for you for women to the local IVF unit and the second for your partner for a surgical sperm retrieval (SSR). There are not many centres that carry out male surgical sperm retrieval and so he can ask to be sent to a specific one.

Some male centres require there to be funding in place for the female IVF, others will do the SSR independent of the women (Manchester, UCLH, Guy’s hospital)

Thanks for reply @MaleInfertilityhelp

We are Newcastle so will be Cumbria and North East I believe.

Apparently there is an andrologist at the centre for life, but i'm skeptical as i've never seen his name listed here.

If centre of life does surgical sperm retrieval that would be ideal as that's likely where I'll request for ivf.

I don't care if we have to go opposite end of country for surgical sperm removal. We are opting for speed over convenience!

Hi New here, found this thread a few days ago and found it so usefull as currently going through a simmilar situation. Could someone share with me the new thread? Thanks

Hello, Azoospermia support - Part 2 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/4925174-azoospermia-support-part-2

Hi all sorry I haven't posted on here for a while or been keeping up to date with all the posts as been struggling alot mentally. We have just been told my husbands azoospermia is non-obstructive and the consultant was quite negative about SSR and almost trying to put us off because of the low chance of it working with his FSH levels. We are devestated as we were feeling quite positive about SSR and now we need to make a decision as to whether to go ahead with it or go down the donor route. We are devestated and have no idea what to do and I'm so scared we will both have different opinions on what is best

Success rate of mtese in NOA is 50% if carried out by reputable urologist.

the IVF rates with pregnancy success much higher w donor sperm so it looks better for the clinic’s advertising if you give with donor sperm

@MaleInfertilityhelp That 50% success rate for NOA is dependent on the cause of Azoospermia though....if it's NOA caused by TRT and the FSH is low then hormonal treatments such as HcG with Clomid is recommended and the success rate of the microtese is almost 60%.

However if the cause of NOA was mumps, illness, etc and the FSH is high then it's unlikely hormonal treatment will work and the success rate of a microtese is at best 20%.

I've spoken to at least 5 of the leading UK microtese surgeons and androligists as well as studying Dr Turek's papers and all seem to come to the same conclusion.

Hello. Hope that everyone is well. Has anyone seen Dr Jas Kalsi. We have been referred to him by our fertility clinic and have an appt next week. The reviews I have seen so far have been encouraging

@MaleInfertilityhelp it's a case of our consultant referring us to a local clinic if we want to go down the donor route or one further away from us in London if we want to try SSR so Im not sure if it's a case of the success numbers for the clinic but that may be the case in some instances. There is so many conflicting views which makes it very difficult to make a decision and our consultant may not be an expert in that field so it may be worth us getting others opinions first. However, our journey so far has been such a long and difficult one already we have to consider whether me and my husband are willing to put ourselves under that kind of stress for the small chance of it working... I may also have a higher chance of miscarriage so there are lots of things to consider unfortunately :(