[IndyMommyWannabe]

Hi guys! I haven't been on this board for a long while because we were not in the neighborhood of using Medical Assistance yet...so I hopped over to the TTC #1 board where I've met some incredible ladies.

I'm back here now though (if you'll have me) as we are FINALLY taking steps to see what medically assisted options we will need.

DH has MFI. He had two SA's done one in May and one in June of last year. From those two, the biggest concern (asides from low count, low motility, low everything...) was 0% morphology (the shape of the sperm).

So the doc has had him on clomid for the past 6 months. He finally had his third SA yesterday and his morphology has gone from 0% to 5%!!! That is very promising - but of course, it should be over 15%...

the "normal" perameters should be:
volume >2.0
Motility >50%
Morphology >15%
Total cc >20 million

DH's is:
volume 1.5 (needs to be over 2.0)
motility 66% (up from 31%)
Morph 5.3% (up from 0%!!!!)
Total cc 5.1 (needs to be over 20 million...)

His doc wants him to have the varacocele surgery - which ONLY has a 60% chance of working...and of course DH doesn't want to exactly have surgery down there, if we can help it!

Here's the other thing - I had an hSG test done back in June, which showed one blocked tube. My doc really hasn't said anything about it since I had it done, and from what I read on line, it CAN be unblocked - but there's also a chance the test could have been wrong...

Of course, his doc is also saying that as of right now (just knowing DH's stuff) we are ONLY candidates for IVF - which I'm not against, except that insurance won't pay...

He said that IF DH has the surgery, then in about 6 months, there COULD be a possiblity of us being able to do IUI - but right now we can not and IVF is the only option without the surgery.

I called my doc today to discuss this with her (and of course she's Out of the office for the new year...) so the person I spoke to there said she'd talk to the other doc there and ended up calling me back to let me know she's calling in a referral to the Midwest Fertility Specialists to see if I can get in next week to talk to an actual fertility specialist.

so after ALL of that...

has anyone's husband/boyfriend had the varacocele surgery? did it help/make a difference?

Have any of you ladies here had to deal with a blocked tube? IS it a possiblity to have it unblocked?

just looking for some encouragement.

[babylove83]

Well i have some good news and bad new. My dh had The surgery four years ago and we have not been pregnant. He had no sperm and I'm not sure what his count is now. The doctor said our best shot is IVF. He had the surgery because he had a feeling of having to pee all the time. I wanna try colmid so see if it will help. We stopped trying and went on with life because after 6 years I became okay with it. Now I'm ready to tackle it. Then, a week ago a friend of mine inwity our issues got pregnant.

[*JenJen*]

I'd definitely talk to an RE(Reproductive Endocrinologist) and try and get your DH in to a urologist as well, as sometimes they are even better equipped to deal with those issues. An RE will be able to do further testing if needed to determine if your tube was truly blocked and find out exactly what is going on.

Surgery won't help us, we were told our only option for a biological child was to do IVF with ICSI, PGD, and TESE because of DH's sperm issues. We chose to go the donor sperm route since our insurance doesn't cover anything once you move to IUI. With the costs at our RE's office, a donor sperm IUI cycle ends up being pretty reasonable vs. 15K or more for IVF.

good luck!

[IndyMommyWannabe]

DH has been under the care of a urologist (who suggested to him the varicocele surgery).

I am extremely excited to finally talk to an RE though...which I've not been able to do yet and have felt pretty much helpless since it'sll all been just DH going to his urologist trying to figure stuff out...I like my OBGYN - but she's not a fertility specialist...so to finally talk to one really excites me! As far as I'm concerned, I do have fairly normal cycles and per my OPK's I do O on / around the 14th of the month (or I get positive OPK's then...). But of course I wonder - having the blocked tube - can I / do I still ovulate every month?

My cycles tend to be 25 days one month, 30 days the next month. and it's been like that for the past 6 months or so...(I quit actually charting/temping a long time ago because of DH's sperm issues...and my doc said it really wouldn't be of any use right now)...BUT I do still keep my start day / spotting / end day information in my phone app).

I look forward to posting more on this board again. I REALLLLLY hope that IUI is an option for us in the future...but from what his urologist said, without the surgery right now our only option is IVF, which again I would totally go and do - but my insurance (as many won't) won't pay for it...and while they don't pay for IUI at least it's cheaper...

I do have a feeling he's going to have to have the surgery, but I am trying to cover all of our bases first. IF he has it and it IS successful we can at least then try IUI in about 6 - 8 months.

I am optimistic, though, that the clomid has really helped DH since his morphology # and motility # jumped so much !

it really does get frustrating though...2 more months and we'll hit the 2 year mark.

[KMH]

Welcome back!! I don't have any advice for you, unfortunately, but I do agree that seeing an RE will definitely help give you more information to help you make these tough decisions.

I hope you stick around...the ladies here are amazing, and we'd love to cheer you on as you work towards that BFP!

[kayakr]

My DH also had <2% Morphology. He has a small left varacocele that does not bother him and he doesn't want to get the surgery either.

I've been told by our RE and his urologist that the varacocele doesn't help to often with morphology. Your DH is low on everything. There are things he can do to improve count and motility. If DH count is high enough then the morphology isn't as important. Moph is hard to fix, or change, but you can imback the other two. FertilityAid, I think it's called, from GNC helps. There are many ladies on this board that DH has had improvement just from suppliments.

For example, my DH has 200 million count but only 2% morph. Well I've been told those are good odd still and they moved forward on IUI because his count is so high.

Good luck to you.

[wishfulgal]

My DH did have varicocele surgery, almost 16 months ago. His pre-surgery count was 1.3 million/ml with 36% motility and very grade of motility and his morphology was also low (we had conceived our son naturally, and without knowing there was an issue, just 2 years before that). After the surgery (and tons of vitamins, so who knows what helped?) his count was up to 12.8 million, 50% motility but still low morphology. We conceived naturally just 3 months after the surgery...but miscarried and nothing has happened in the year since. We've tried 3 IUIS without success, and in between them have been trying the old-fashioned way. We've also moved on to adoption.

Honestly, I just asked Dh and he said he does not regret the surgery. We did it knowing it may or may not help and it seems to have helped somewhat. It was definitely worth a try. And if I hadn't m/c, and had given birth a year after the surgery, we would probably be giving it rave reviews right now. Like you, IVF was our only option before the surgery (and it truly was not an option for us), and now we at least have the option of IUI.

[joanna26]

You could be my IF twin Short(ish) version of my story. We have been TTC #2 for over 18 mths now with nothing but a very early m/c to show for it (BO likely due to DH's issues). Went through all the IF testing a few months ago. HSG indicated that I "possibly" have a blocked tube - otherwise I am fine. I also have alternating cycles of 24/25 to 28/30 days. DH has low counts, motility and 0% normal morphology. He is seeing a top MIF specialist. He started taking two hormone drugs in November and just had the varicocele surgery before Christmas. His Dr. gave the combination a 50% chance of "working" - the hormones were to help with count and motility and the surgery to help with morphology. So right now we are waiting to see if everything he is doing helps. First SA is early April. If his #s are not materially better, then we will do IVF in the fall.