On our last round of IVF we had zero fertilisation from 8 eggs. Could be egg issue as I have low reserve and cant be sure of egg quality. I’m having extra tests etc.
My partner has ‘great sperm all round’. Im wondering if people have been told great speed count etc but then gone on to complete DNA frag test and been told sperm isnt actually as good as they thought?
I just dont get why we would get 0 fertilised if sperm was all ok and we know 2 eggs were mature.
Experiences/ advice much welcome 🤗
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Mlove12
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Hello, sorry to hear of your recent fertilisation failure. I have had similar but with icsi. It is not entirely uncommon and if you only had two mature eggs that makes it much much more likely. Was it icsi or ivf? You’ve had previous fertilisation so there’s lots of hope. We had a fragmentation test done and it didn’t show anything for us but gives peace of mind. Whilst egg quality is critical it’s also simply numbers, particularly with a small number of mature eggs. Best of luck with whatever comes next for you 💙
DNA fragmentation test is a must prior to starting IVF. It's a simple, non invasive test providing valuable information on sperm quality, which basic sperm analysis won't cover. Don't assume that 0 fertilization is caused by bad eggs. I had non existent AMH, diminished ovarian reserve...you name it but my fertilization rate was 100%. Low AMH means low reserve (egg quantity) not necessarily low quality. Half the time the problem is with the sperm, not egg, so I would get that stuff checked asap if I were you. Good luck!
We had 5 miscarriages which led us to ivf and husband (2 previous kids) had totally normal initial sperm evaluation but he did DNA fragmentation and it was bad - he went on some supplements for 3 months and we did ICSI with 12/13 fertilised and got 9 blasts 😊
My husband and I will be starting our third cycle of ICSI very soon.
I have low AMH and always felt as it was my eggs. As my husband sperm quality was perfectly fine.
We moved to another clinic and we did some more investigation as I couldn’t understand even all the factors were fine why was there no fertilisation. So the consultant suggested for my husband to do a DNA fragmentation test. It wasn’t good.
He went to see a specialist and did more testing. They have provided him with some medication and to take proxseed.
We're going for an in-depth investigation in Greece including Semen analysis, Sperm DNA fragmentation, Semen Maturation and Semen Oxidation tests while I'm getting Microbiota test and Chicago tests and potentially hysteroscopy.
The standard semen analysis for my husband came back fine for him too, but as time is against us (I'm 43) we don't want to waste our time, energy and money by shooting in the dark and putting ourselves into emotional rollercoaster of IVF cycles and potentially failing them before we've turned every stone. The above sperm tests cost approx. 500 euros in total
there are a number of drugs that can wreck sperm dna including all SSRI antidepressants. I suggest both you and your husband google any medications you’re on with the terms “fertility” and “dna fragmentation”. The good news is that for sperm to “heal” your partner only needs to be free of the meds a month or two. Also, antioxidants like NAC, vitamin E and vitamin C can provide some protection against damage to sperm and egg dna. Good luck! ( :
Hi, We retrieved 12 eggs. Embryologists were happy with the sperm quality and they recommended to go with IVF. The following day we had only 2 fertilised. 11 were matured. None made it to blastocyst. Our consultant told us to do the DNA fragmentation test and it unfortunately came back with poor results. We went with ICSI, IMSI and PICSI all together and got 6 blastocysts from 13 eggs (12 matured, 9 fertilised). With or without the test doesn't change the treatment plan honestly because the next step after IVF failure is ICSI. If you are financially ok, it doesn't harm you to take the test but it took 6 weeks for us to get back the result. We essentially wasted a cycle. After we discussed the next step with a consultant my husband was taking superantioxidant tablets from H&B for a while to improve the quality.
From my experience, we recommend unexplained infertility couple to do the test prior to IVF treatment or just go with ICSI instead of IVF or some with IVF and others with ICSI if possible.
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