Bad sperm

[Anonymous]

My husband went through a number of rounds of testing in the course of originally trying to get pregnant. All of his sperm tests looked really, really bad, and both doctors we saw said there was essentially no chance of us getting pregnant without IVF/ICSI. As I was about to start meds for IVF, I got pregnant with my first child, and my second was born 15 months later. Both were medical-intervention free. My pregnancies were good and I am lucky to have two healthy children. A couple of years after that, I got pregnant again without intervention (although that pregnancy did not last). What I learned from this is that the fertility world is full of uncertainties and the doctors (most of the time, admittedly) can't often predict very well what will happen. One thing that I think fertility practices don't put enough emphasis on (or any, in my experience) is the timing of intercourse, and making sure that is right. Not that I don't think it's right to have the man fix whatever problem he may have. But, just thought my experience may give you some comfort that things may not be as bad as they seem.

[Anonymous]

I really really like this book "Perfect Balance for Fertility" by a CA RE doc who experienced infertility himself. It has a lot of tips for male factor (and rechecking sperm analysis after lifestyle change) before jumping to IVF. Check it out when you're at Barnes and Noble the next time. However, sometimes IVF may have to be the next step.

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds wise to meet with Dr. Shin (we also consulted with him, I highly recommend at least meeting with him). My husband had awful morphology, we TTC actively (tracking ovulation, etc.) for 2 years before getting evaluated as we were young and doing other things in the menatime. At that point we were both 30. After consults (RE and Shin), both recommended IVF with ICSI. Within 6 months we did our first try, it didn't work, we tried ourselves for another 6 months, then did a second round which worked.

I had to have a c-section so we used protection for six months afterwards just in case and then stopped. Nothing has happened yet and I do hope it will, but I assume that we'll have to go back for some of our frozen embryos (from the second cycle) and do FET.

So you can see from these posts that everyone's path has been a bit different. I think it's reasonable to get the consults and depending on your own timeframe, decide what to do. Even though I was "young" compared to many women who do IVF, my husband and I did not want to wait even longer than we had. Even without a (diagnosed, anyway) female factor, the older the woman is, the lower the likelihood of success with IVF.

By the way, I considered natural cycle but had some insurance coverage and we went straight for the "regular" IVF. My RE said that he had me on a "light" regime of stimulation--what he'd use for young, healthy egg donors. I have no regrets. In the end, personally, natural cycle didn't appeal to me (though it had when we first considered it) because it still involves intervention and pain and suffering. I was also glad to have a couple of frozen embryos from the second cycle. I was a good responder but b/c we didn't stimulate like crazy, I never got a huge amount of "eggs" (follicles). Sounds like you are a good candidate for natural cycle if that's where your heart takes you. Best of luck!