i, just adding this thread to share our story on TTC and varicocele embolisation in case it can help anyone else looking for answers.
Me and my husband have been ttc our first baby since we got married back in June 2024. After 8 months of ttc and nothing to show for it, we contacted our GP’s in February 2025 to request some tests. I had also discovered I have a short luteal phase through using ovulation sticks and tracking apps, and worried this may be the issue with our fertility. We had basic tests with the GP’s and were referred onto a fertility clinic for and initial consultation and for my husband to have a semen analysis.
Fast forward to the end of 2025, my husband had 4 semen analysis’ during this time, and sadly the numbers of all were really not great. Morphology, motility and count were very low.
With the first one in March 2025, we were very shocked and upset. My husband doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, has a healthy bmi and goes to the gym most days. We both decided to look at our diets and started taking more targeted supplements. By the time the second analysis came around in May 2025, we were hoping his results would be much better. Whilst there was slight improvement, it still wasn’t great. He then had a further two in August 2025 and November 2025 and the numbers had gone down again from what they were in May 2025.
During this time I had a hycosy procedure in November 2025 to check my tubes and ovulation - all was ok. I was prescribed progesterone to help the short luteal phase which did extend it but I still had spotting (the 21 day progesterone test isn’t accurate for me due to the short luteal phase so I’m unsure if low progesterone is the cause).
Following my husband‘s semen analysis in November 2025 and the numbers still being low, he was referred to urology, with the first step being an ultrasound. He had this in January 2026 and they said he had a grade 2 varicocele. He was then referred onto the urology specialist. He had this appointment in March 2026, and the specialist told him it was in fact a grade 3 varicocele and the options were surgery or an embolisation, which was less invasive.
My husband opted for the embolisation which was done in May 2026. It was an outpatient procedure, he was there for 6 hours however that included the prep time before and the recovery period after. He didn’t have pain, he just said it felt achey. He had it done on a Friday and had the day off work, he then had the weekend to chill and was back to work on Monday. He said however he could have gone back to work the next day if he needed (he has a manual job). Two days after this, he noticed the varicocele had shrunk right down which was amazing. He then waited 3 months until August 2026, which was when he had his 5th semen analysis to see if the embolisation had helped his numbers.
He got the results in September 2026 and we were so happy to see that his numbers had significantly improved. Below is what they were in the last analysis before the embolisation, and then what they were after:
NOVEMBER 2025
Total count - 24.8 million
Total progressive motile count - 8.9 million
Morphology - 1%
SEPTEMBER 2026
Total count - 86.4 million
Total progressive motile count - 48.4 million
Morphology - 6%
When I was researching about varicoceles and embolisation on these kinds of threads I couldn’t find much out there. Obviously it is different for everyone, and our goal is to have a baby and we aren’t there yet. However we are so happy that the procedure has seemed to help his numbers, and if we aren’t able to conceive naturally, we hope to at least have a better chance at IUI or IVF 🤞🏼