Semen Analysis - irregular results, what next?

[Anonymous]

Just got the results on my husband's SA and the results were below average in motility and possible issue with morphology. I would be intested in hearing some experiences that anyone else has had particularly people that have used Shady Grove. First recommendation by Shady Grove is a retest. What next? What are the chances that the next SA will come back normal?

[Anonymous]

We did a re-test of my husband's SA at Shady Grove and it didn't come back much better. (My husband also had a low count in addition to morphology and motility issues) After the first SA, we were told by Shady Grove that we would need to do IVF/ICSI and after the second SA, we were told the same thing. It was a big bummer for us since we were hoping we could get away with just doing IUIs. (I am under 35 and have no known fertility issues and our insurance does not cover any fertility treatments whatsoever)...we are currently in the process of saving a small fortune to begin this IVF journey/nightmare. I'm not looking forward to any of it. I wish you luck and hope you are able to avoid our experience.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely retest. Also remember that these types of issues w/ sperm can change (improve) in a few months with changes to diet and activity. My DH was tested a few years ago and had subpar (but not completely abnormal) morphology. My OB told me he'd seen people with those results to go on to conceive on their own, and we did too (first time I miscarried and second time resulted in our DS).

[Anonymous]

My DH wasn't willing to do anything to try to improve his results, but I have certainly heard that men who are willing to take vitamins, change their lifestyle, etc, can have amazing results. I would start researching those things, and perhaps even implement them.

[Anonymous]

After we had been TTC for about six months, my OB suggested that my husband get tested. He did two tests about a month apart and had low volume and low motility. From what I've heard, test results can vary widely from one test to another. After that, he went to a urologist who specializes in male fertility issues. The urologist couldn't figure out what is causing the low motility. During this time I persuaded my husband to take a multi-vitamin and we have been trying to cook very healthy dinners. We started going to SGF a few months ago and the doctor made my husband do another analysis and "test prep" which gives them an indication of how many good swimmers there are in there. This time around, the results were much better and the volume and motility more than doubled, but still were not very good. We just finished our first IUI (which was unsuccessful). After the prep, we have less than 5 million motile sperm, which is not great for IUI but "worth a try" according to our RE. Since we were reluctant to go straight to IVF, the RE recommended that we try 3-4 IUIs and then move to IVF if IUI doesn't work. We are lucky in that we have good insurance coverage.

[Anonymous]

My husband's first test came back with pretty bad results-- low count and poor motility. When we retested a month later, everything was completely normal. We ended doing IUIs (due to my issues), and everytime he had normal results. Semen Analyses vary widely according to our doctors.

Some easy things he can do:
Stop riding bikes
Switch to boxers
Stay out of hot baths/hot tubs
Stop smoking (especially weed, if he does that)