Varicocele

[Kirstyloop88]

Hi

After 3years ttc and a fresh transfer bfn (one embryo in the freezer) they've finally found a varicocele and cyst in my OHs left testicle. He has 7% motility so what are the chances of numbers improving?

I'm so frustrated this wasn't picked up before. He went to the urologist 2 years ago and they never scanned him 🤔🤔

Anyone been in this position. My amh was 10.7 2 years ago so I feel like time is slipping away. I'm 32 next month and wouldn't be so concerned if it wasn't for my amh level. They got 6 eggs at collection, 5 fertilised and 2 made it to blast (1 was a 6 day freeze blast) which I transfer this cycle.

[Dylan88]

They also found a varicocele in my partners testicle- we had to specifically request a scan after I'd read about the possiblity of them online (my partner has a very very low count so natural pregancy is almost impossible for us). Varicoceles are very common, I think about 1 in 4 men have them, and in the case of low sperm count/ poor motility/mishapen sperm, I think it is rarely 100% clear if the varicocele is actually the source of the problem, for an indiviudal patient. I think there have been studies which have suggested significantly higher infertility on average in men with varicoceles, but I think on a case by case basis it seems the cause-effect situation is not so clear. Often varicoceles are benign- it depends where they sit within the testicle- were they able to give more information on the location of the varicocele?

The cyst is a different issue- I guess it would depend on size?

We were offered surgery but it came with a lot of warnings that it probably wouldn't work and it was not without risks of further damage- the other testicle was unblocked so didn't explain the sperm count by itself so we have chosen to stick with IVF as we were scared of damage- for us low sperm was better than no sperm.

For your IVF, are you doing IVF with ISCI? they should be doing that for low motility as standard.

You could also get a second opinion before making any decisions about surgery. The urologist who saw us was a specialist in mens fertility- i don't know how many different sub subjects there are within urology but it may be worth asking or finding out what your urologists specialism is? If it's not male fertility- I'd find someone else who does specialise in it.

[Kirstyloop88 in reply to Dylan88]

Hi

We did do ifv with icsi and only ended up with 2 embryos one has failed. I'd want his sperm to improve so I can conceive naturally really. As there is nothing wrong with me from tests. I like to think that we can conceive naturally xxx

[Kirstyloop88 in reply to Dylan88]

I've just had a research and microscopic surgery comes with low risk 1% chance of damage and embolization as an outpatient comes with no risk of damage but only has a 90% chance of success xx

[Rain415]

Hi,

We are in a similar situation, my husband was diagnosed with a varicocele last December, he didn't have a scan they could see it during an observation whilst standing as we were told they come in different grade depending how large they are so his is quite large. He was meant to have surgery on this in February but was cancelled just before Covid and now there are delays with the surgery. He has low morphology at 3% and did have low sperm count but this has improved with life style changes and proxeed. We are now going for IVF this Autumn whilst waiting for the surgery.

His urologist told us it would help, however our fertility consultant told us that there is not much evidence that the surgery will help outside of some studies in the US. So we have decided to go for both, we wanted the surgery first to see if it would help us conceive naturally but so happens that IVF has come first due to delays. He was told that the varicocele is now doing damage to the testicle (shrinking) so he is going to have it done anyway.

[Robyn68]

Hi Kirsty

In 2018 my husband was diagnosed with a varicocele. He had a very low count and morphology issues. We found this out privately at the time. We then had an embolization privately as it could take a while on the NHS so we wanted to speed things up. Initially everything decreased further and we were gutted... Beyond gutted but within 5 months his count doubled and morphology got a lot better. He also made his diet really clean, had no alcohol and no protein shakes as he went to the gym a lot and the protein shakes were a thing I saw than can hinder sperm also. He also took a load of vitamins and proceive which you can get from holland and barret. We were due to go for ivf in Feb 2019 and we got a bfp in December 2018. I'm still gobsmacked to this day and we have a 14 month old girl now. The ivf clinics told us our chances were impossible and embolization wouldn't work. I just wanted to let you know it can and does work.

Just wanted to send my best wishes

Robyn xx

[K8dferXdder]

hi all, looking for tips on clinics where to have bilateral varicocele treatment for my husband. Please PM me with a clinic name and cost please. We woukd travel anywhere in the UK to get it treated at a reasonable cost!

Do you think treating it led to your success? Thank you for all the tips!