Sperm quality after covid

[Eswyn]

We’re looking to do Donor Egg IVF, working towards my partner providing his sample for ICSI in a couple of weeks so that we can do a FET in my Oct cycle. However, he’s just tested positive for Covid. How long should we wait before he provides his sample? Clinic is suggesting 3 months, which feels like a long time.

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Edwin. I wouldn’t think it would be that long. Have a check with your GP for guidance. Good luck. Diane

[CarlottaD27]

Hi there. Not the same but my husband had covid just before we were about to start a medicated cycle. He was asked to re test his sperm and the results came back pretty much the same (or within the same ranges) as the month before and it was concluded that he was one of the lucky ones whose sperm wasn’t impacted, and we went ahead with the cycle.

Of course your Dr will have a much better idea and it sounds like the right thing to do to wait to be in the safe side, but just sharing my experience as it goes to show covid doesn’t always have an impact and it may be worth testing again before making decisions x

[Trytryandtryagain84]

My husband and I had covid at end of February and we did DE FET transfer at end of May. The good thing about frozen DE was they could test his sperm before they did ICSI (all ok). If you are doing fresh transfer it might be worth waiting as you'd not want to waste the opportunity but with frozen there's a bit of flexibility. Good luck!

[Lamagarden]

We were told to wait 3 months as well last year. It’s probably a standard precaution but not essential. Best of luck whatever you decide xx

[Meliana]

I understand completely about not wanting to wait, I'm on the IVF journey too and waiting is the hardest part when you so much want to have a baby as soon as possible. I have read though that what your clinic is recommending is in line with current research about covid and fertility. It has been shown that having covid as a woman prior to transfer could significantly lower implantation l/pregnancy rates and for a man similarly negatively impacts sperm count and quality so it's recommended to wait three months after recovering from Covid. After all your hard work- whether it's using your eggs or donor eggs- the quality of the sperm is equally important. I personally would not push my clinic to do fertilization of eggs earlier because you want to have as many embryos as possible. Rushing could result in very few eggs being fertilized or even worse total fertilization failure of quality of sperm is severely impacted. Wish you had your husband the best!

[minnesota_girl]

I think I remember someone telling me 3 months is how long it takes to have a completely fresh regenerated sample of sperm generally - so that's probably why it's indicated - however agree with the others that this is probably a general stated precaution guidance and I also wonder if you're doing ICSI if this allows for a bit of flexibility also (as part of ICSI is choosing the best sperm?)

That all being said, I know 3 months feels like a long time but if it provides you the best possible chance it is worth it.

[Eswyn in reply to minnesota_girl]

It’s so tough because I’m impatient. They suggested repeating the semen analysis after two months, but by the time we then try and line the FET up with my cycle, we miss a month anyway so might as well wait to give ourselves the best possible chance. So frustrating when you’re desperate to get on with things.

[Eswyn]

Thank you so much for the replies. Heard back from the clinic and it’s not actually about Covid, it’s more to do with having a fever. The raised body temperature can damage sperm quality and although they’ve said we could try after two months, we’ve decided to wait for three to give ourselves the best possible chance. We’ve been TTC for a sibling for years, so what’s a few extra months? Still very disappointing to face even more waiting, but I’d be heartbroken if it reduced the number of embryos or the possibility of a live birth xx

[soccerkt6 in reply to Eswyn]

Hey lovely, I'm glad you've gone with the decision to wait. My husband got covid with a fever last year and when he did a semen analysis about 2.5 months later the results were pretty rubbish and worse than any of the previous semen analyses he'd had done. However, we then ended up getting pregnant 2 months later, so it seems that the sperm recovered after about 3 months and all returned to normal. Good luck! xxx