Azoospermia - Donor Route Support

[Blue234]

Hi everyone!

This thread is dedicated to those of us navigating the azo journey and considering or have chosen the donor route.

I thought it would be great if we could share our experiences, offer support, and help each other through this challenging path.

Looking forward to hearing your stories and supporting one another along the way.

I am happy to start this thread by sharing our story:
-After around 1 year TTC, we were diagnosed with unexplained non-obstructive azoospermia back in March 2024. We were given 30% chances of finding sperm with MTESE but my partner decided he wanted to try all we could before moving to option B.
-We had MTESE done via NHS in August 2024 and unfortunately it was unsuccessful. We had lots of discussion before the surgery and we had agreed that we would good via donor route if the surgery wasn't successful.
-We have now been referred for a NHS funded IVF cycle using sperm donor (funded by us) and currently waiting for the clinic to call us to have implications counselling.
-In the meantime, we are currently in parallel the process of finding a suitable donor.

I’m feeling a mix of emotions right now. On one hand, I’m happy and excited that we still have a chance to become parents and the idea of a future baby brings me so much joy. But on the other hand, there’s still a lingering sadness about what we’re going through, especially when I think about what my partner is facing.

Even though I know it’s not all about genetics, who hasn’t dreamed of having a baby that looks like their partner or a blend of both of us? While I believe I’ve mostly come to terms with this, a part of me still feels a bit heartbroken.

Choosing a donor is challenging. We try not to overthink it and even find moments to joke around while browsing profiles, but there’s so much to consider. One thing that particularly worries me is the possibility of our child wanting to contact the donor when they’re an adult. What if the donor isn’t kind to them? I know this is something far off in the future and out of our control, but it’s been on my mind lately.

Sorry for my long message, I will stop now! But just thought of sharing some of my thoughts to start with!

Looking forward to hear your stories!

@Magix86 @StarJasmine93 looping you into this new thread :)

@Disco24 so in terms of the next hurdle, I've had my final injection of stims last night. My final injection to stop me ovulating this morning. I take my trigger tonight at 9pm and then there's literally nothing I can do until egg collection Wednesday. It's all actually gone so well until this point I'm praying I can get to Wednesday OK without something going wrong. I'm just trying to take it easy, eat relatively healthy and aiming for 2l of water a day, which is quite difficult for me as I never drink that much!
@Blue234 was thinking about you! Glad to see you have your plan and a starting date 😊 hope the symptoms aren't too bad for you but I agree it definitely helps to stay busy and distracted!

Hope the scan goes well today @Disco24. Exciting that you'll have your first round very soon.

Will be thinking of you on Wednesday @Magix86 ❤️.

@Blue234 I will also be on burserelin for down regs but not until 2nd of January. Let me know how it is for you!! Not looking forward to any side effects 😬

@Magix86 I’m so excited for you, such a good point to get to before Christmas too ❤️ sending all the good vibes, and hope your trigger shot was okay. I listened to a podcast the other day that was like at this point anything you do is for your brain rather than it having a physiological effect, which helped my brain a bit.

It looks like we’re still a day in front or behind each other! 😂. My scan was fine, one follicle maturing so far, follow up scan Wednesday hopefully to trigger.

@StarJasmine93 great news you’ll start the 2nd, fantastic start to the new year ✨

Thanks @StarJasmine93 😊 what a lovely start to the new year with finally starting your meds!

Thanks also @Disco24 ! Trigger shot went fine, so that's all my injections done now. Medication free day tomorrow and then in early on the Wednesday. I'm terrified of ovulating early before they get to my egg collection and googling a lot which isn't helpful lol.
Do they say if they want your follicle at a certain size for you to trigger? Pleased for you it went OK today. Will be thinking of you on Wednesday also!

Oh yay I’m glad it went fine, that’s you all done. You can (try to) rest knowing you’ve done all you can now, that includes not ovulating early as it’s out of your hands, I’ll keep my fingers crossed ❤️

So they want at least one, max 2, follicles at 18mm to trigger. But like you it’s a fine balance as they need them to grow, but for me not to ovulate naturally. Hoping we hit 18 Wednesday so we can trigger and it’s not a risk of ovulating myself.

@Disco24 do you take anything to stop you ovulating until a certain point? Or is it just the clomid and a trigger?

No, just Clomid and the trigger, and hope 😅

Keeping everything crossed for you @Disco24.

@Magix86 enjoy your medication free day ☺️

Looking forward to hearing more updates from you both xx

@StarJasmine93 will let you know how it goes!
@Magix86 you are almost there!🙌
@Disco24 keeping finger crossed for you!🤗

Hello ladies! Hope you're all doing well.
Just wanted to update you. Had egg collection yesterday and they got 16 eggs. We had our call today to say that 13 were mature and 11 have fertilised 🥹 feeling very grateful to have got to this point.
They are calling again tomorrow to let us know how they are developing but they won't then check on them until Monday when we are due in for a transfer. I know to expect a drop off in numbers but praying for a good number of embryos at day 5.

@Disco24 how was your scan yesterday? Hope it went well

@Magix86 wowwwww!!! I am so so happy for you, that’s great news. I hope you have some nice weekend plans, but I’m looking forward to hearing how they’re getting on Monday!

So unfortunately it looks like the Clomid has done its job too well. I have one follicle 13, one 14mm and then 3 at 11 so the concern from the nurse is too many will mature and then I’m at risk of multiples. I have another scan tomorrow to see if a few have slowed down, otherwise we’ll have to cancel this cycle and next time do unmedicated.

We also have the issue if I naturally ovulate Saturday the clinic isn’t open on the weekend so they wouldn’t be able to inseminate then either. Will find out tomorrow the plan, but been a rollercoaster 24hrs 💖

@Disco24 ohh gosh. I'm so sorry to hear this 😞 can imagine you must be feeling really frustrated. Keeping everything crossed that the smaller ones stop growing for you! Are you continuing taking the clomid in the meantime? Hopefully your clinic can confirm what the percentage of risk of multiples would be, but I know you said they were looking for 1 or 2 dominant ones. Will be thinking of you tomorrow 💕

Thank you 💖

We knew this was a risk, but I wasn’t prepared for the disappointment. I’ve stopped the Clomid so it’s now just down to see what my body does. I just keep thinking we will do IUI at some point and that will be the right time. The nurse said their aim is one healthy baby so that’s what they’re aiming for.

Regarding the risk, if there’s two follicles released, of the people that fall pregnant, in 30% of those they both fertilise. But that’s 5% of all people who partake in IUI.

Interesting to hear the percentages. I think you're right though in terms of timing, your body will do what it needs to do when the time is right. Have everything crossed for you that it's this cycle, and it sorts itself out and starts behaving lol!
Hope you're able to do something nice for yourself this evening to relax before tomorrow x

Wow @Magix86 that's just amazing news!! I'm so pleased for you 🥰. I can just imagine how elated you must feel to have such good numbers 👌. Congratulations!! How's your husband finding this part? Looking forward to hearing more from you next week.

@Disco24 sorry to hear that your cycle might be cancelled. Hopefully now you aren't on clomid, the smaller two won't grow any further. Will keep everything crossed for you and hope you get the news your looking for ❤️. Sending big hugs.

I don't have much news other than my period arrived today so I start taking the pill tomorrow. The first step towards treatment. It's starting to sink in a bit that I'm going to be injecting pretty much for the whole of January so I'm feeling a bit daunted by that.

Thanks @StarJasmine93 😊 really appreciate that 💕 my partner (not my husband yet haha) is feeling pretty happy about it all, I think today really hit home that it's all happening. He's also had a blood test for testosterone levels, hoping to start testosterone replacement after his mtese.
It's all starting for you now! Honestly once you start the injections they become pretty easy and quick to do so hopefully they won't get in the way of too much for you!

@Magix86 thats great news! Keeping finger crossed for you on your next progress update! How was the procedure overall? Have you experienced any discomfort?
Glad to hear that your partner is coping well with it!

@Disco24 sorry to hear that you might need to postpone the cycle. I cant imagine how you must be feeling. Unfortunately this process is all full of hiccups and completely out of our control which is what makes it so frustrating :( Keeping finger crossed for you to get good news on your next scan! Sending you a big hug from here!

@StarJasmine93 we are both on the same boat! I have been feeling the same but I am okish at the moment even if now it is just 4 days to start injections. Will try to keep myself busy this weekend to not think too much about it.

Thanks @Blue234 😊 the procedure itself wasn't bad at all - I didn't feel anything. I had sedation so I was awake throughout but I must have been out of it cos when I asked if they'd started they told me they were already halfway done 😂 I remember very small bits and pieces but not much. I had a fair bit of pain last night once the meds wore off but today has been so much better 🙂

4 day!! Woop woop. You'll do great, please keep us posted 💕

Oh gosh @Magix86 sorry!!! Very presumptuous of me 🫣.

Good to hear you found the procedure ok as well ☺️.

Good luck with your injections @Blue234 . Keep us posted on your progress.

@StarJasmine93 don't worry! No need to apologise for that lol. I'm not even sure why I mentioned it 🙈 probably cos we've been talking about engagement rings a bit more recently 🥰

Thanks for your understanding ladies, it’s hard to explain the frustration and rollercoaster of it all so I’m very grateful to have you to speak to!

Lovely to hear about your partner doing well too @Magix86, but even more excitingly discussing rings! 😂

@Blue234 wow just 4 days! Definitely let us know how you get on. @StarJasmine93 the start of the next phase for you too! It’s perfect timing to enjoy Christmas and hit 2025.

You ladies are absolute legends smashing all of your protocols, I had a few days of tablets so can’t even comprehend. You’re all doing so well! I thought yesterday, regardless of the process, this is the closest we’ve ever been to a baby so hope that brings you some comfort 💖

@Magix86 oh wow!!! Engagement rings, so exciting! 🥰🥰

Here for you anytime @Disco24 .

Glad to have you all through these times ❤️❤️

How are you getting on @Disco24 ?

I had my transfer yesterday 💕 Sadly out of the 11 that fertilised we've only ended up with 2 embryos. 1 has been frozen. I'm so sad about the drop in numbers and I'm hoping the clinic can help understand why this happened. We were able to have 4 transfers under our nhs funding so was really hoping for at least 4 embryos to give us every opportunity for success.
My test day is 19th December so really holding a lot of hope on this one 🤞🏻

Oh wowwww @Magix86 thats a lot to process!! Amazing your transfer is done, I’ve got my fingers crossed 💖… I hope it’s not required but it would be good for the clinic to find out why the drop happened, did they give you any suggestion?

Unfortunately my cycle was cancelled. I had a positive OPK Friday but I still had 4 mid size follicles, no dominant so they couldn’t be sure how many or what would happen when I ovulated, they didn’t really know what was going on. They took it to the consultant but they just said it could be a wasted cycle as it wasn’t quite right. They’re not open on a Saturday so by Monday the egg would have gone. I then had quite severe ovulation pain on Saturday so god knows what actually happened! They’re going to do unmedicated next time as it seems I’m working fine on my own.

Friday was horrendous. I was heartbroken that I’d done all this work just to fall at the last hurdle, there’s been a lot of tears but I know the clinic just want the best outcome. I’m going to enjoy Christmas, and we go again the end of January.

@Disco24 really feel for you having to go through all that. I'm so sorry you had a cancelled cycle 😔
It does sound like your body is working well without the meds so hopefully that's the answer! Hoping you can enjoy a break over Christmas and prepare to go again in January.
We had a very brief message from the clinic today telling us no other embryos made it. I'm quite hurt at the communication style to be honest and I've asked for a call to follow up and explain the drop in numbers. I'll let u know what they say