Failed IVF and Sperm DNA Fragmentation/ Sperm Washing/ ICSI

[LittleT123]

So I’ve not been on here for a few weeks as my first round of IVF failed, well it was a chemical pregnancy. I couldn’t stop crying for about a week and I’ve been so sad ever since, I’m guessing it’s common to feel like this after a failed round, so much goes into the IVF and we just want it to work so much it’s just deviating when it doesn’t work. Almost felt like I lost my baby and lost a piece of me that yearns so much to be a mum, it’s like that woman, the mother in me is slowly fading away and the failed ivf was another step further away not closer.

Had my follow appointment on Monday and the doctors thinks the issue maybe sperm DNA fragmentation and my partner as to have this tests done to look at this and if it is this I think they will look towards sperm washing and ICSI, as apparently taking the sperm out of the fluids reduces DNA fragmentation 🤷🏽‍♀️

Just curious has anyone else had a similar experience with male factors and had success with treatment?

[MakingbabyN]

Hey, what made them say potentially DNA fragmentation? Was it because of drop off after day 3?

My husband hasn’t been tested for DNA frag, but we were told it was a possibility, so I ordered proxeed which is supposed to help and his parameters improved by 20%

I believe it’s tricky to improve DNA fragmentation but stuff like proxeed helps as does ICSI because there is less time swimming for the fragmentation to occur.

I fell pregnant after ICSI, unfortunately we lost our baby at 16 weeks, but that’s not related to any sperm issues.

Don’t lose hope, you’ll get there. I’d get some supplements ordered. They do take a few months to kick in, but it takes time for fragmentation results to come back. Did you ask your doctor what he would do differently depending on the fragmentation results? Might help you to weigh up if it’s worth doing the tests or not xxx

[LittleT123 in reply to MakingbabyN]

Hey I’mNot sure exactly but the doctor said that everything went exactly as it should up until the point the sperm is introduced to the egg so that suggests dna fragmentation. All my tests are fine and up until now it’s been “unexplained” infertility.

Doc said if it is dna frag then they will look at sperm washing and ICSI pending results.

So sorry to hear you lost your baby at 16 weeks that is heartbreaking 💔 😢 sending lots of love to you xx

[Llizzie]

Hi there. I’m sorry about your cycle, it sounds like your clinic is trying to find a way forward which is positive. My husband had 52% DNA fragmentation which is pretty terrible. We saw an andrologist (Homa) and urologist (Ramsey) and on their advice 1) overhauled our diet, cut out most processed food and we gave up alcohol in January before our cycle start in May 2) took supplements - he took proceive alternated with proxeed, both were equally recommended 3) loose boxers, no hot baths, cut down on cycling, and avoided anything that would heat up that area. In my husband’s case it was quite complex as they found varicoele and hernias in his groin but they didn’t want to operate as he has some circulatory health issues. Surgical sperm retrieval can help some men, so can varicoele surgery - Toby Trice is useful on Instagram on the topic

I don’t know if we budged fragmentation as we didn’t retest it but we did significantly improve count and motility and some additional semen cultures identified some infections which we treated with antibiotics which might of helped. We did IVF with IMSI which is ICSI with a higher powered microscope. I can’t say what led to our round working but miraculously we found one good sperm and I’m 31 weeks pregnant today. What I will say is I’m glad we threw the book at testing - it helped my husband cope with his diagnosis (my numbers were fine) and on balance it was cheaper than a failed cycle. I do hope you find something that brings you closer to your dream xxx

[LittleT123]

Congratulations on your pregnancy and thank you for sharing you have given me hope xxx we have started working with a fertility acupuncture specialist who has also recommended a fertility diet to follow and also the hospital have advised my boyfriend to take Impryl, guessing maybe similar to proxeed? Just have to pray we can get there xxx

[Llizzie in reply to LittleT123]

Yes impryl is the other supplement that’s often recommended. It must be hard when you don’t quite know what the problem is (it took us a while to figure it out). Wishing you all the best with your next cycle - whatever and however you decide to do x

[Seren0119]

My husband also had high DNA fragmentation (42%), but it went down 20% with varicoele surgery. I would make sure you get a COMET test and use IMSI - it massively helped us x

[LittleT123 in reply to Seren0119]

Thanks for your message I will look into these x

[ChloeDE]

Firstly, sorry you're going through this. We put all our hopes and dreams into the process and it's awful when it doesn't work out.

We didn't do DNA fragmentation testing for my partner but his sperm analysis was really bad so the clinic said it might be a factor so recommended using MACS to select the best sperm. The MACS cost around the same amount as the testing I think so we went straight to that.

[LittleT123]

Thanks for your message and I’ll look into it, not heard of MACS before

[Abloured84]

Hey. We were referred for ivf/ ICSI due to a sperm issue - very low numbers/ morphology/ mobility - the lot ! We had two previous cycles and with 8 and then 6 eggs - the sperm only successfully fertilised two in each batch. Even when fertilised they were poor quality and needless to say didn’t work.

This cycle - we only had three eggs which was a shock. They really struggled to find any sperm . Fresh sample was no good , they went to a frozen sample which she said wasn’t good but once they washed it through she got two to use ! They can find swimmers , even with the worst samples xx

[LittleT123 in reply to Abloured84]

Hi thanks for sharing and I hope it’s been successful for you? We are starting another round of IVF in April/May x

[Abloured84 in reply to LittleT123]

In the TWW as we speak 😫🔫

[LittleT123 in reply to Abloured84]

Fingers crossed for you 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 Such an awful time the TWW, hear if you need to chat xx