IUI and poor sperm morphology

Just wondering if IUI has been successful for anyone whose fertility problems are due to husband's poor sperm morphology (e.g., 1%)?

[camfran]

Hi, I have the same problem with my husband...we did 6 IUIs  and never got pregnant...we did get pregnant our first try with IVF ICSI...I was 26 and my eggs were good and so was my lining...you should talk to your doctor about IVF ICSI

[Trusting77]

Yes, I read a lot that IVF with ICSI is typically the best way to go in the cases of severe male factor infertility.  However, our doc still still thinks we should give IUI a shot first.  He says this has been successful with other patients with similar circumstances as ours, but I just don't feel very confident about it.  I don't know if we will do IVF.  I'm concerned about the expense and about multiples (won't do selective reduction & don't want to have multiple embryos frozen indefinitely).  This is why i'm worried.  

Hope your preg test tomorrow is positive! Thanks for your reply.

[LandM2009]

My husband has double varicoceles and was told he would need surgery. On a regular sperm analysis his morphology was between 14-18% normal forms, but when we did the more extensive test of morphology it showed he was at 2% normal forms. Anything under 4% is not good. We decided against surgery b/c our RE said it doesn't really help morphology. We put my husband on a healthier diet, cut out caffeine, took a multi-vitamin, and 2000 mg of Vitamin C. We did two iui's and it took the second time. I also have PCOS. Good luck.

[Trusting77]

Thanks LandM2009.  We can't find any reason for the poor morphology and the doc said there was nothing he could do to improve it.  Have you found those things (poor diet, too much caffeine, not enough vitamins) influence morphology? He's willing to try anything.  He is slightly overweight so he started exercising.  He's also taking a multi-vit now.  Not sure if that will make a diff or not.

[brandiw13]

my husband had low morphology as well (along with low count and low motility). he was first put on medicine by his doctor and did everything he could think of to boost his sperm quality, etc. when we went to the fertility doctor, we were never even given the option of IUI (which we had thought would be our first step), our doctor wanted us to go straight to IVF w/ ICSI, which thankfully it worked the first try because it's not cheap!

Good luck w/ your IUI and if you end up doing IVF, good luck with that as well :)

[nmenyo]

Hi there, We also have the same problem. 1% morphology. My DH went for a 2nd SA 2 days ago and we are awaiting results. Our RE put him on 1000mg of Vit C and a MVI. He also said that IVF and ICSI was our next step. I went for my blood work to start IVF and found out that I have a high E2 level of 110 but FSH of 7.7. They are making us wait another whole cycle to retest my estrogen level. If you are paying out of pocket I would suggest going straight to IVF. I have heard the success rate is much higher with male factor infertility.

Good Luck!!!!

[LandM2009]

Everything I've read says that caffeine is bad for sperm in general b/c it slows down your sperm. If he has morphology issues his sperm needs all the help it can get. As for Vitamin C I read that it also improves the health of the sperm. I've read others adding in a zinc supplement, but I'm not sure what that does. Our doctor told us IUI might not work, but that we could try 3-4 and then we may have to look at IvF. We are very blessed that it took after the second try. We are due in October with our first. Good luck!

[Trusting77]

Thank you for sharing.  I was hoping to hear something else, but this was my suspicion all along.  I did question our RE about it and he said he thinks IUI is worth a try.  He did say my husband's analysis was "borderline" in terms of those he would rec IUI for, but he seems to have a process of treatment that he wants to follow rather than jumping into the most aggressive form. I feel like I'm running out of time though.  We'll see how this IUI goes (likely next week) and decide from there.

Thanks everyone and blessings to you all.

[Trusting77]

Thanks for the tips LandM2009.  My husband doesn't drink a lot of caffeine but we will try to reduce even more.  I did have him start to take a multi-vit, but maybe we could supplement with more vit C and zinc.  Our RE also recommended 4 cycles before looking at a different treatment.  I'm so glad to hear a that your IUI was successful...it gives me some hope.