IUI, IVF and Natural Pregnancy due to Male Infertility? Varecocele?

[Sam771123]

Hello Everyone...
We have been married for 17 months now, i'm now 33 and my wife is 27, we have been ttc since day 1, and went through alot of emotional distress once she get her period every month. Back in September we started seeing an infertility DR. My sperm count is low (12-18 mil) with 4-7% normal, and 54% motile, I have a moderate bilateral Varecocele, where DRs still argue that it has no effect on my count and said no operation is necessary. She is all clean, HSG is clean, nothing is blocked, regular period, she had an ultrasound and we saw her "egg of the month", one thing though the DR said she had a "tight" cervix. So he suggested IUI, we did our first cycle yesterday, i was only able to give 2cc sample, and they were only able to get 10 million out of it for the IUI, he said they like to see this number 20-30 million as ideal. So we are going to wait and see...So here are my questions:

With these low counts, shall we stop wasting our time with IUI? and go directly to IVF?
And if we do IVF, is there a chance she might get pregnant naturally later?
Any thoughts on the Varecocele Operation? will it help my count later? i saw a male specialist and he said it will probably take 6-9 months to see count increase, but does not mean she'll get pregnant..

In a nutshell, the infertility is all because of me, they could not find anything wrong with her, and i'm starting to depress over the fact that there is nothing i can do and have to put her thru this...your thoughts and encouragements are greatly appreciated....

[mhv]

Sam,

Thank you for taking the time to update me!   I am sooo glad you were successful!  April 15th is a great day! (my birthday)!  Enjoy this time, and spoil your wife!  I am so happy for you!  Let me know how the u/s goes!  How many did you transfer?  

[Sam771123]

Well i fell off the face of the earth for a while, but just wanted to let you know that the first fresh IVF cycle we did in March failed, it was very emotional, but we didnt give up. We had the second IVC frozen transfer on April 15, we had the pregnancy test on Monday 04/25(day 10)  and it came back POSITIVE, her level was at 92, it was another emotional day but it was more tears of joy than ever, we had another blood test today and her level is at 214. The nurse just called me and told me "she is sooooooooooo pregnant"... our ultrasound is scheduled in two weeks and the doctor said we'll hear the heart beats.
Thank you for all your support
I pray for every one out there, may they never have to go thru this, but if they do, patience, patience, patience and be strong it will eventually happen, never lose hope.

[Sam771123]

Thank you so much dear :) will definately let you know...

[mhv]

Feel free to "lurk" anytime you'd like! : )

[Moma_Cher]

Sorry, I was lurking on this post.. I wanted to see how everything turns out! Sam, you are going to make a GREAT dad, and your wife is lucky to have such a good hubby! I know IVF will work brilliantly for you.

20 is an amazing number!! With numbers like that, you will be able to grow your family as large as you like!

Saturday is the big day, best of luck. You will be in my thoughts. I can't wait to see you update that your wife is pg with twins!!
Best wishes!

[mhv]

Yep, he did!  haha!  He was in quite a bit of pain for a while...  but, it def. made "things" better afterwards! haha!   My husband, to this day, still has an occasional "pull" from his surgery... but all is great!

It sounds like you got a Great deal on your IVF!!!  3 tries for 21,000 is awesome!!!  
20 embryos is awesome too!!!!   Let me know how many they get to freeze : )   I can't wait to hear about your transfer on Saturday!  How exciting!!!

[Sam771123]

OUCH... DID your husband have blue balls for a week after the surgery (no pun intended :) :) :)  Well the surgery went well, but i was bruised for a week, it is just starting to get back to normal, i am still have some pain though, it wasnt till last couple days i was able to sleep on my side, lets just hope that its worth it..

We started IVF, ofcourse like any business deal, they make you choose a "package", we chose a 3 cycle package (hopefully we wont need it) and the total cost was $16800 for the doctor for 3 cycles, 600$ antestesia, 1500 Lab work + Medication which was about $2000, so all in all was about $21,000.. ofcourse paid in front... We had the egg retrieval yesterday they got 18 Mature eggs and 6 not mature for a total of 24... Got a call from the DR this morning, 5 of the 6 matured and 20 of the 23 fertilized, so we got 20 embryos, transfer is set for Saturday. Again fingers crossed....

[brandiw13]

like someone else said, I can't offer medical advice, but at least share my story with you :) I just turned 28 & my husband is 25. We were unable to conceive naturally because my husband's sperm count was very low, motility was practically 0% and he had very poor morphology. He went to a doctor, tried meds, and did everything for close to a year before we went to a fertility doctor. When we did, we were told our best chances of conceiving was IVF w/ icsi since his sperm doesn't move. Like others have said, it's not cheap, and our insurance didn't cover it, so we were really counting on it working the first go around....thankfully, I responded amazingly to the medicine, had 30 eggs extracted with 23 fertilizing. As of Dec 24, we are the proud parents of b/g twins :D

I wish you nothing but great luck & I hope you and your wife achieve the goal of parenthood.

[Lemenna]

I wanted to offer some hope.  I have a friend whos husband had virtually no sperm count and since they could not afford to do IVF were given no hope on conceiving.  It took 9 years, but she is pregnant naturally.  I guess anything is possible.  Beings that you are doing the IUI route you are even a step ahead and I know your count is higher to begin with.  I believe it will happen for you.  

[happynifer]

good luck with IVF.  it's a tough route to take, but so worth it in the end when it works.

[mhv]

Wow!  I didn't even know they could give guys clomid! : )  You learn something new every day!  I wish you luck on your surgery.  Please let me know how it goes!  I will be thinking of you!  Tell your wife to take good care of you during your healing : )
Best wishes!!!  
Let me know how your wife is progressing with the IVF also! : )

[Sam771123]

Well here is the latest, i was put on Clomid on December 29, 25mg/day, within 10 days my semen analysis jumped from 12mil/cc to 69mil/cc.. We did 2 additional IUI cycles (3 total) and my counts were 69mil and 55mil/cc, unfortuantely that did not work.  One month after being on Clomid, my testosterone jumped from 166 to 600, and I have my Varecocele surgery tomorrow.

We are also starting IVF tomorrow.

Will let you know :) wish us luck.

[mhv]

Oh Good!  It sounds like they have progressed on how it's done!  Much Much better!  And my husband is standing here in envy!  His was not good!  He still has not recovered all of his stomach muscle,  and as a work out fiend, he cannot stand that! I won't worry about you as much now : )  I felt soooo bad for my hubby when he had it done.

Ya know, my hubby went off test. for a while this year from April to Oct I think.   He just felt more tired, less energy.  He gets it every 2 wks.  Most of the time, sometimes we're lax on it tho.  I think it hurts.  

Good Luck!  And Please!  Update me afterwards!  I would love to hear the end result after surgery.

[Sam771123]

The doctor told me it is an "easy" 2.5 hours micro surgery, he said to lay down with ice for couple days, then return to regular office work. but no heavy lifting, exercise, or sex for 1-2 weeks after surgery. a small incision in the stomach...

as for Testosterone Shots, i' would not be worried  about the needle as much as i would be worried as doing it weekly or so for the rest of my life. What happens if I stop? Crash? is there any chance that the T levels will go back to normal after you have been on T shots and stop?

Things we do for the people we love.. I guess your husband loves you too :)
Thanks for the good wishes...

[mhv]

Surgery was done first... increased counts... found low test. a while later.  Started shots... still does them.  

Surgery was very hard on him.  I don't know if they still do it the same way, this was about 6 years ago.  They cut on each side of his stomach about 2 inches.  Through muscle, and all.  He couldn't (honestly) get outta bed for a few days.  It was a really hard recovery.  Just being honest.  I think he was off work for a full week.
I  have heard that some places do it by laser now??  
But, it is the permenant choice.  But, don't know if it raised his test. or not, as we found that problem after the surgery

Like I said the test. lowered the counts again.  back down to around 18million.  But we do IVF w/ICSI... so not much of an issue there.  

But he hates the needle!  It is huge!  I actually give him the shots myself.  He has been on those for a few years.

I wish you luck and a speedy recovery : )  
You, Like my hubby, are wonderful for enduring this for the "cause" : )

[Sam771123]

You said your husband did the surgery and it increased his sperm count, even though you did not get pregnant, but did it affect the Testosterone levels? or was he already on Shots? The urologist called me this morning to give me the results and suggested the Testosterone Replacement therapy, but said that would be an ongoing thing, i really do not want to be taking shots for the rest of my life, he said that the varecocele surgery MAY (50%) increase my T-levels and its a permanent thing, and gave me the choice...

I think i will do the surgery for what its worth, it can only make things better right? I am goin to schedule it for the first or second week of January.. will let you know how things turn out... meanwhile we will try another IUI cycle with Clomid this week.

[mhv]

haha... funny thing, my husband as low testosterone too.  The thing about taking testosterone is, it actually lowers your sperm count.  So, you have have the varicoecele and low test.  Well, there is a debate between urologist and fertility doctors... my RE wants my husband to come off testostone shots to raise counts, and the urologist wants him to stay on because we do icsi, and you only need as many sperm as you have eggs.  I can gell you he feels better on the shots... improved energy ect... but it's a  catch 22.... sorry.  

[Sam771123]

By the way, our first IUI cycle (natural) was negative... doing another cycle this week but this time with Clomid.

[Sam771123]

To add insult to injury, the doctor had requested to check my Testosterone Level, first time it was 193, second time it was 166.. I'm only 33..

Does low Testosterone levels cause infertility? low sperm count?
Will a Varecocele surgery improve both T-levels and Sperm count?

[mhv]

OH BTW....The surgery did help with the "getting to the finish line" portion of things, if you know what I mean.  He had a very bad variocele.

[mhv]

My husband had the surgery, it did improve counts, but was VERY Painful, and NO we did not get  pregnant.  Went on to IUI, low counts around 18 million... didn't work either.  I think IVF is a great choice!  If you can afford it.  They take the best of the best of your sperm and if they do icsi, you only need as many sperm as eggs.  

My husbands counts did go up from about 18 million to about 40 million... so for what it's worth...

[happynifer]

my husband also has a variocele and the urologist said that current studies show no improvement in pregnancy rate with the surgery.
his counts were lower than yours, so we went straight to IVF and are now 37 weeks pregnant with our daughter.
if we had not had insurance that covered IVF, we would have done 2-3 cycles of IUI first simply due to cost.  if your insurance will cover going straight to IVF, then that is something to consider.
and jsut becuase they cannot find a problem with her does not mean it is all your fault.  i TTC'd with my ex-husband for 5 years and both of our tests came back completely normal across the board.  so something is clearly wrong with me too, they just don'tknow what it is.
good luck and don't beat yourself up.

[oct2011]

Hi Just came to say nothing useful in medical sense - because I dont know. But I want to tell you that there are lots of options for you and you are both very young. Your wife is also blessed with such a thoughtful husband who is so involved , please dont beat up yourself about it. Keep doing what you are doing trying the IUI, then if you need it IVF. My husband also has Low S-C and we are told to carry on trying with Clomid  for 6 month and IUI and maybe IVF if we have to. All you need is a consultant that is comptent and has social skills to consider both make and female physical and emotional needs.

Best wishes

[sweetbabes]

my husband also have a varicocele which causes infertility...unlike your case, my husband has azospermia, meaning to say, no sperm at all...

way back home, urologist recommended him to undergo varicocele operation & gave a 60% chance that i can get pregnant...but my husband didn't agree to the idea of operation so we undergone IVF w/ ICSI after he had TESE...luckily, they extracted 6 tubes that are now cryopreserved and waiting for my eggs to be fertilized...

anyway, we had our 1st round of ivf last october, but unfortunately, i got BFN...so now, i'm on my 2nd round...i'm not losin' hope...as long as there's a chance & a way that we could get pregnant, let's not lose hope...my husband is so positive over this matter & me too...i didn't even thought that he's to be blamed that i can't get pregnant naturally...
i'm only 34, healthy, has regular period & ovulation...produced good eggs during our 1st cycle of ivf, so i think, if the 1st time was unlucky for us, maybe this is it for us, so fingers crossed....

Goodluck & remember, stay positive always & have faith & trust to GOD...