Severe Male Factor Infertility

[Cornish13]

I was hoping someone else has been through or going through treatment due to male factor infertility?

When I say severe, in his most recent analysis he only had 9 sperm and only 3 of them were motile. The consultant has recommended we freeze his sperm asap and go for ICSI. As far as we’re aware everything with my body is fine.

I just can’t help but worry about how low his count is and how much it would affect treatment. Or if we’d even be able to conceive at all given there’s so few.

Has anyone been successful with these kind of numbers? We’re freezing his sperm
next month and I’m so nervous 😩

Hi @Cornish13 sorry that you have had this shock. Myself and my partner went through a similar experience earlier this year

Have you been referred to a urologist ? They may be able to help with diagnosis and improvements to the numbers / quality which may not avoid ICSI but may help success rates. Would suggest getting a scan and some blood work done as well if you can.

We havnt yet had success we are due for IVF next month but there are people who have had success with zero sperm tests so don't lose hope.

Also there are some good male fertility podcasts if you like that sort of thing. Myself and my partner found them so useful for knowledge learning !

Hi OP,

We also have severe MFI. My boyfriend started taking men’s conception supplements and the levels improved slightly.

Happy to say we had 18 eggs collected on Wednesday and 12 fertilised through ICSI 🥹 still a long way to go but so grateful to IVF!

Good luck with your journey.

Hi @Cosyseason1234 what great numbers well done to both you and your partner. Wish you luck in the next few weeks !

@Anniekent1 thank you so much ❤️ good luck for your journey,we are doing a freeze all cycle so hopefully see you in a Jan thread!

They have found some, so that is something to work with, failing that they may recommend surgical sperm retrieval which a lot of people have great success with.

Also have MFI. Partner gone today for a sample to freeze some ready for egg collection in a week or so. He’ll also produce a sample on the day. We’re hoping to hear today if sample contained any viable sperm. Fingers and toes crossed!

My partner had zero sperm (Azoospermia) when we first started investigating infertility. I was relatively normal, just low AMH.

We were being treated on the NHS and were given two options, consider the use of donor sperm, or retest his sperm in 6 months after some diet/lifestyle changes. This was specifically to stop drinking alcohol, move to a more 'clean' diet (less processed foods) and to take Co-enzyme Q10 supplements. (After researching, he took the Solgar Co-enzyme Q10 as it was ubiquinone form.)
6 months later and they actually found some sperm (can't remember exact amount, still exceptionally low) but enough to put us forward for ICSI. To us, this was fantastic news and we didn't want to consider using donor sperm.

We had our first round of IVF earlier this year (23 eggs, 17 fertilised, 10 day 5 blasts) and had a fresh transfer, and I am currently pregnant, due spring next year! I like to think all it took was 23 individual sperm to make it happen, (well only 1!!)

Besides just a low sperm count, has your partner been given any reason as to why his sperm count might be low? And recommendations for improving it? I know low sperm count can be from lifestyle, hormone or other factors.

Edited to add, surgical sperm removal may have been an option if his sperm count had only improved minimally, but apparently we had enough for ICSI.

Hi OP. My partner also has azoospermia (no sperm). He was started on anastrozole to help hormone levels and had a corrective procedure (he was diagnosed with a varicocele).
He temporarily started producing 2 sperm per sample and these were frozen (although not great quality). But then returned to 0 count again.
We decided to proceed with surgical sperm retrieval (microtese) where sperm is retrieved directly from the testes (there are several types of surgery possible, some more invasive than others). We had 3 vials frozen from this.
We underwent IVF (ICSI) and I am currently 34 weeks pregnant on our first transfer using the surgically retrieved sperm.

Azoospermia is probably one of the most extreme forms of MFI. We have been incredibly lucky to get our miracle baby but It really does only take one sperm!!! Wishing you all the best in your journey x

@Anniekent1 no they didn’t recommend or mention a urologist. He did say to get my partners hormones tested and an X-ray but my partner draws the line at an X-ray, which is fine as it’s his body his choice. He did do the bloods and they’ve all come back normal. The consultation did say that he needs to basically freeze his sperm asap as it’s gone from 200,000 in 2019 to 9 in 2024.

If it makes any difference we do have a daughter who we conceived in 2020 by some miracle. The consultant we seen the other month was completely shocked.

We’re hopefully freezing his sperm next week. At the consultation I did query waiting 3 months and my partner taking vitamins etc. but the he basically said it wouldn’t make a difference and we need to freeze what we have before it’s too late 😬

@Cosyseason1234 that’s amazing! At the consultation I did query supplements and waiting 3 months but he said it wouldn’t make a huge difference as my partners numbers are so low 🙄 just said to freeze asap, which we’re hopefully doing next week 🤞🏻

@ivfjourneyandme how did it go? We’re hopefully freezing next week. If you don’t mind me asking how many days did your partner abstain before the freeze sample? And how often did he ejaculate the week leading up to it? Personal I know 😂 I just want to make sure we do it right haha

@Goldpanther ah amazing his numbers improved! Congratulations! We are still super hopeful as his count was 200,000 in 2019 and by some miracle conceived naturally in 2020 and now have our wonderful girl. So it definitely proves it only takes 1. But over 2 years later and not a single pregnancy we retested and his numbers have dropped massively. We have tested his hormones and all completely normal. The consultant is concerned how much they’ve dropped especially when he’s stopped vaping since the last analysis, rarely drinks and had actually been taking vitamins. As he was taking ubiquinol, omega 3, Impryl and some others.

I queried supplements at the last consultation when his results were 9 and he said there’s no point taking them anymore as his numbers are so low they won’t improve massively and to just freeze asap 😬

We usually have sex every 2-3 days (still honey moon period of our relationship 😂). We did the same prior to his sample

@ivfjourneyandme gosh 😂😂 we’re beyond that over 10 years in! How many days did he abstain prior to his sample? The clinic have told us 3 days but I’ve seen some how abstained 5 days and got better results

@DippyDuck19 ah congratulations! It really does only take 1, we did conceive naturally in 2020 when his results were 200,000. But since then his results have got dramatically worse, only 9. We are doing his freeze next week so I’m hoping there may be some more and they’ll be ok 🤞🏻 they’re also tested all of his hormones and it was all ok x

2 full days, sample was taken on morning of third day. Ours told us leaving too long can yield poor results.