Azoospermia

[MrsHA]

Hi everybody, I hope things are moving in the right direction for you all going through fertility struggles. I wanted to add my story and situation, as we too are in the same boat as many with DH having Azoospermia.

DH had blood tests in 2003 with his first wife showing serum Inhibin B level of 49. He then had a normal NHS biopsy which showed mostly Sertoli Cell Only with a possible small area of germ cell production which didn't progress to the lumen and had no nucleus. (I had to google what this all mean't!) DH never had sperm retrieval. He sank into depression, his marriage broke down and infertility basically hit him really hard. Interestingly, DH brother also is infertile and many many male cousins, far more than normal, so I strongly think this is a genetic issue.

All DH's sperm samples aside from 1 came back with no sperm. One in 2016 showed 1 mobile sperm and a handful of non motile sperm. Lastest SA in 2018 showed no sperm and 200,000 round cells.

Hubby has always had significant pain in his testicles and also has a varicocele. We had an NHS Urology Apt and they are undergoing tests. Consultant said he could only feel one vas deferens but isn't sure .... DH also has prostatitis. We've been recently to see Dr Ramsay in London who was one of the nicest understanding empathetic men I've ever met. He asked for DH to lose a stone (we've also seen Mel Brown for that which helped too) and he gave a 'more than 50%' chance of finding sperm using MTese. We are going back to see him next week to give a sperm sample and maybe DH will be prescribed medication to balance out hormones to see if that kick starts sperm production.

We got DH's blood tests results today and Dr Ramsay will interpret them when we go.

Can anybody shed any light on whether these are promising or worrying? No wonder the Doctor will be explaining them - its double dutch to me, but in the meantime, patience is not a virtue of mine lol

FSH 14.6

LH 7.5

Testosterone 8.1

Sex hormone binding Glob 38

T:E Ratio 21.3

Prolactin 301

Oestradol 57

AMH 28.4

Anyone at all?

Good luck to everyone whatever stage of your journey x

[Caza2009]

Hey, I didn’t want to read and run! I have no advice as to what that all means so can’t help there. But wanted to wish you luck and show my support - my OH has azoospermia following testicular cancer treatment (& for timing reasons didn’t freeze any sperm before treatment), he also has a varicocele in his remaining ball which they didn’t think would cause a problem...but is has!

Anyways, to cut a long story short. We too saw dr ramsey - the nicest man on the planet - he managed to extract enough sperm for 3 rounds of ivf! 😊👍🏼 I hope this gives you at least some comfort and hope. Good luck - will keep my fingers crossed for you! Xxxxxxxx

[Sharonl75]

Hi-I’d probably be googling the results but with a note of caution as Dr Google isn’t always the most reliable.

My husband and I were told several years ago he had no sperm-countless samples given and like you -all of them had 0 except for one that had one lonely sperm. I tried to see the positive that if there was one then they must be being produced somewhere. At this stage though my OH put a stop to treatment. He refused an op (I think couldn’t deal with a negative so buried his head in the sand and thought better not to know at all) He also refused donor sperm. Fast forward 2 years and he’s eventually agreed to proceed with donor sperm but we get tested one last time before we proceed and they find sperm! Hopefully they’ll find some in your OH-if there was one there hopefully will be more somewhere and they don’t need many for ICSI.

Good luck.x

[Billywhizz10]

As a husband who had low sperm count, I feel for you.

From our experience, I would freeze your eggs now if you're over 37. We spent so long doing tests and taking vitamins and oxidants to improve my sperm count, then a long wait for a NHS cycle, then more tests and private cycles. In the end egg quality became an issue as the years went by.

My sperm count was low and the quality wasn't great neither, but it still worked first time with a donor egg. We became fixated on the sperm issue when we were still trying with my wifes eggs, ignoring our private doctor who said the egg was the most important thing, a good quality egg can even repair a faulty sperm to make a perfect baby. I wish we had just gone straight to IVF and ICSI, they need only 1 sperm for every egg,

If I were him I'd be going straight to extract any sperm direct, in the one operation they usually can get enough for a few cycles and also you should discuss sperm donation, which is a biggie and needs time and counselling again, against a ticking clock for egg quality!!

We did a few rounds with a sperm donor before switching to donor egg and my sperm, none of the rounds with sperm from a proven , young healthy sperm donor worked with my wife's eggs.

I hope you don't take offence by my message, I'm not preaching or trying to patronise you, but I saw my wife and I in your story and just giving you our story - because we had a cause for why we weren't making a baby, we got a bit too focused on that when, (to be blunt) good sperm isn't as important as a good egg. I'm sure you wont be like us, anyway.

best of luck and I'm sure you'll get there, just don't give up hope xx

[MrsHA]

Hi, thanks everybody, just a quick update but hubby had a comprehensive SA and it showed some swimmers, so off tomorrow to Reprofit (Brno) to freeze some, in preparation for an icsi cycle next month. We only had 60 motile sperm, but anything is better than nothing.