IVF Questions/Help!

[nursejo19]

Hi all :)

Have recently had an appointment with our gynae consultant who says husband's sperm analysis shows poor morphology, male factor infertility. We've recently been referred for IVF. I'm 30, husband 38.
What should I expect from the process? How long does it take once referred to a clinic? Should I do anything to prepare? BMI 30, take daily vitamins and excersie regularly. Should my husband be investigated any further, scans etc? Any help on the process from start would be appreciated.

Hello! Im in a very similar position, after not getting pregnant for 9 months my husbands sperm parameters came back very low on all counts, including 1% morphology. We got a private diagnosis of a severe varicocele. This is quite common and can impact sperm so we tried to have it embolised before having IVF, to increase chances of healthy sperm and also to hopefully get pregnant naturally, but unfortunately the consultant couldn't find the right vein so it didn't work :(

I would say find out a bit more about why your husbands sperm morphology may be low, but in the mean time you can prepare for IVF if that is the eventual cause. I'm BMI 29.7 and been advised to try and get nearer 25 if possible. When my husbands surgery failed he did all he could life style wise to improve the sperm. He took wellman vitamins and then proxeed, ate lots of nuts and upped protein intake, stopped drinking alcohol and caffeine and wore loose shorts rounds the house. We were terrified of DNA fragmentation after reading so many posts on this forum about varicoceles and how many embryos die off before day 5 transfer etc, but in our ivf cycle we got 7 eggs, 7 mature, 7 fertilised and 7 made it to day 5! Three top quality and four good, though one of those four slowed down too much on day t to be frozen. Despite being a top grade hatching blastocyst the cycle didn't work, but we have 5 frosties to try :) we also did ICSI, so it looks like my husbands efforts really paid off as well as the embryologist choosing the healthiest sperm.

Being 30 your eggs should still be good quality but while your husband has more investigations I would get your AMH and AFC checked, just so you know how well you'd respond to IVF, as if they come back low you would need to do it sooner rather than later. At your age that shouldn't be the case though:) good luck on your journey! X

Also just to say I'm not sure where you are but if you haven't been weighed yet (I'm guessing you have if you know BMI though) 30 is the cut off for most NHS ccgs. I went private for my first cycle as the waiting time here is long, but I'm concurrently going through the NHS referral process myself in case this doesn't work, so not sure about timings unfortunately.

Thank you for the reply :)

I'm continually loosing weight so hopefully by first app my weight will be down even more. Had bloods done mine were all ok. Had a HSG and clear, just seems to be on husbands side which the consultant said is good and IVF should be successful. How long was the wait if you were going NHS? Just worried about this and getting time off work etc.

@nursejo19 we haven't got through the NHS referrals yet so not sure but we found out about the problem in Feb and had that's and consultations on NHS between then and July, and only got the letter for referral/funding application last month. Depends on your area too I believe. Even with private from the initial tests and consultation it was still a few months wait as timing has to be right with cycles and meds ordered etc x

A lot has been answered already but in terms of timescale. You can call your clinic that you are referred to and ask the timescales they will give you an idea and it’s usually quicker than this. For example they told me 9 months and we waited 7 months. The treatment cycles are a bit of a pain, waiting for period then another period then it starts. Each attempt is about a 3 month process. Frozen cycles can be longer if downregulating first.

It sounds like yous are going to receive ICSI. Hopefully you have a positive outcome when the time comes. In the meantime I would do research on supplements that help. I’m sure I’ve heard selenium is important for mens sperm. Also behaviours 3 months prior to his sample is important as sperm develop over a 3 month period. Hot baths/ hot tubs also aren’t supposed to be helpful. CoQ10 also. I’ve listened to podcasts and sperm samples have went from 1% to 3% (average) and urologist says it happens all the time and mens fertility shouldn’t be based on one sample as so many factors affect it on the day.