Micro TESA SSR- don’t know what to do

[elsie15]

Had a private consultation with regards to the Micro TESA SSR. We had to pay £200 for the consultation (privately) or would have taken 9 months for the appointment in the NHS.

We were supposed to start ICSI treatment last February but cause they couldn’t retrieve the sperm, we tried to freeze it but could not find motile sperm.

During the consultation, we were told that they found 169 sperm out of millions stating it was severe infertility and none of the speed was motile. They said it has deteriorated a lot since we started our journey.

We were told that they would put us forward for the Micro TESA SSR but we would have a 10% chance of retrieving anything. They said it’s a 12 month waiting list on the NHS or a couple of weeks privately (costing £5,000)

Really don’t know what to do now. To think we’re supposed to be starting IVF last year then have to tackle this obstacle. I feel like I can’t breather with it all.

Really down and don’t know what to do anymore. The consultant mentioned a donor sperm, but I am not ready to even have that conversation 😢😢😢

[Beatrix_K]

Hey love, i don’t have experience of this but I couldn’t read and run. It’s such a difficult process as it is but to have that curve ball thrown at you is tough. 5k is a lot of money (does that include cost of Ivf/ICSI ?) I guess it’s down to your age and finances really. My feeling is it you’re relatively young maybe waiting a bit longer isn’t the end of the world? that would give you both breathing room and time to get as fit as possible. Loads of ladies here have stories of improved sperm after making changes... even after difficult diagnosis. It might not be a magic bullet but even if it marginally improves your chances it’s got to be worth it.

Having said that, if there’s a risk of further deterioration /time is of the essence and you can afford it then maybe go for it. 10% is still 10 times better than nothing.

Wishing you luck with whatever you decide. X

[elsie15 in reply to Beatrix_K]

Thanks for you lovely, positive post. I think I need to do a bit more research. I am younger than my partner but time is not really on his hands by the sounds of it. I’m going to look into a few things xxx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Elsie. If your husband/partner hasn’t seen an andrologist, then perhaps that is the person to see to get an honest opinion as to whether micro TESA has a chance of working, before spending loads. My thoughts. of course. Good luck! Diane

[elsie15 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thanks, Diane. We have seen one and they said we had a 10% chance of it working

[watercolour15]

Hi Elsie, sorry to hear about what you're going through. I have a similar issue, husbands sperm count was zero. We paid privately to have a testicular biopsy- (approx 5k) which showed there were no sperm at all. We were told chances of finding sperm were about 50%. So now we are going down the route of using donor sperm. Took husband a while to get used to the idea but now he is keen to do it. I think even though it was really expensive I would still want to have checked if there was any sperm there. NHS waiting times are so long which is v annoying so we are just starting with private treatment first. After researching a lot we're feeling more positive about using donor sperm.

Wishing you luck x