Alcohol and TTC

[Anonymous]

DH and I (currently am 32) stopped using contraception in January 2022 and yet failed to conceive. We took some fertility tests, and his semen analysis was abnormal and I had some factors suggesting PCOS. We decided to stop drinking in February and three months later have a positive result! I’m convinced that we were drinking too much and am glad we tried quitting before anything else. Not sure if anyone else has had similar experiences. Just wanted to share this journey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I (currently am 32) stopped using contraception in January 2022 and yet failed to conceive. We took some fertility tests, and his semen analysis was abnormal and I had some factors suggesting PCOS. We decided to stop drinking in February and three months later have a positive result! I’m convinced that we were drinking too much and am glad we tried quitting before anything else. Not sure if anyone else has had similar experiences. Just wanted to share this journey.

Yay, great news! How much were you drinking? I think I will have a similar journey when I begin TTC so I'm just curious.

[Anonymous]

Great news! I knew someone else who was having male-factor issues and removing alcohol and cleaning up his diet also resulted in pregnancy. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

It didn’t work for us. What worked was a year of fertility treatments (after 18 months trying/treatments for our first), thousands of dollars, running out of insurance and cash. First cycle without any treatment I got pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Great news! Regardless of whether it actually helped with conception, not drinking will make for a better pregnancy and make you better parents

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but if he has abnormal semen analysis and you have pcos, you’ll likely need IVF.

[Anonymous]

That's great but my DD (only viable pregnancy out of 4) was conceived on a wild night out. Going completely cold turkey on all alcohol and anything possibly unhealthy for the embryo was stressful for me when TTC, not because of the lifestyle change but because it resulted in me telling people we were TTC before I was comfortable. You never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, but if he has abnormal semen analysis and you have pcos, you’ll likely need IVF.

I don’t think you can do IVF on a pregnant person? /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great news! I knew someone else who was having male-factor issues and removing alcohol and cleaning up his diet also resulted in pregnancy. Good luck.

Male factor is increasingly common. I really do not understand why most TTC couples do not think to simply get the husband tested first.