DNA fragmentation Test UK

[Rainbow_23]

hello all.

I’m wondering if you could all possibly offer some advise.

Because I am so confused.

a quick story on my partner and me, both late 30’s (gosh I hate saying my age these days)

Been trying for 3 years.

1 IVF cycle, 4 eggs collected and 4 fertilised.

only one stage 2 blast and one morula.

double transfer December 23, chemical pregnancy.

My partners stuff has been marked as fine so it’s my AMH and low egg quality that could or is the main issue.

Due to start out 2nd round soon, but our doctor suggested a sperm DNA fragmentation test at an additional £500 😱

I am so confused, because this isn’t male factor. Why would they offer this?

does anyone else have any similar stories?

I’ve not had the best experience with our NHS clinic, I’m sure many of you feel the same and feel just like a “number”

any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Heart broken every day x

[Cuppppatea]

I wish we had done it sooner. Dna frag can stop embryos developing or fertilising and cause early miscarriage 😑

Granted - we still don’t know the cause which is frustrating but looking at Imsi or another method for next round.

[Rainbow_23 in reply to Cuppppatea]

Cuppppatea, thank you. Would you mind elaborating a little? Did you have low AMH? Did your partner have abnormal sperm?

Did your eggs fertilise etc

I just don’t really understand it, from my research it’s generally only used when eggs don’t fertilise or it’s male factor.

sorry to hear you’re going through this as well 😢

Thank you xx

[Cuppppatea in reply to Rainbow_23]

Yes I have low amh (3 ish ) in my first round my embryos didn’t develop past day three and second round only 1/4 fertilised and became blastocyst ( was not successful) this of course could be down to egg quality, but there is a high chance a sperm with dna frag was used as there is no way to tell with icsi.

Our semen analysis is now normal but high fragmentation

[Rainbow_23 in reply to Cuppppatea]

thank you.

I am sorry 😔

It’s this just so hard.

Do you get 3 rounds with the NHS?

We only get 2, this is our last one.

I really need to have a think about things and see if we are to have the test or to just wait and see what this round brings.

My AMH is low for my age 9.2.

I didn’t respond as well to stims so this round have higher doses.

I’m so so scared.

Did you have to have ICSI on any of the rounds?

Xx

[Cuppppatea in reply to Rainbow_23]

Yes we had icsi. I only got two (supposed to be three but my amh and fsh were out of range) I would have the test … but can they offer anything to combat it their end ? Macs / picsi / Imsi etc ?! Otherwise it’s seeing a urologist and finding the cause

and don’t worry 9 is great !

[soccerkt6]

Hey lovely, if your clinic has recommended that he have the DNA frag test you should definitely do it. They may have noticed something during your last cycle (like embryo development slowing down after day 3) that indicated a problem with sperm.

It's possible to have high DNA fragmentation even with a normal semen analysis, which is what happened with my husband. It took us 2.5 years of ttc and a failed IVF cycle before we found out about his high DNA frag because after his semen analysis came back normal no one gave him a second look. 😑

I know the cost of the test seems high but when you compare it to the cost of a potential wasted cycle if he does indeed have high DNA frag, it's a drop in the bucket. xx

[CyclingAddict]

If it's your last cycle the clinic is probably trying extra hard to identify potential problems. I moved from the NHS to private because I wanted extra testing carried out. We paid about 3.5k for additional tests (Alice, Era, and Emma). It was worth every penny as they adjusted my medication and I'm now 14 weeks pregnant after multiple failed transfers on the NHS. It's really confusing but a man can have a healthy sperm count and high DNA frag. I understand your hesitation though. I suggest doing some research to see if it's for you or not. Good luck! X

[finup0321]

definitely do the dna frag test! We had a normal sperm analysis so proceeded with multiple cycles. I asked for the frag test when we got low blast rates, and it showed high fragmentation! I wished we’d done it sooner, £500 is cheaper than unsuccessful rounds of IVF.

For reference I have very low AMH and mild endometriosis.

[Cuppppatea in reply to finup0321]

Can I ask what you changed once you got the frag diagnosis please? As my husband doesn’t want to see a urologist it’s down to what can be done in the lab for us i think.

[finup0321 in reply to Cuppppatea]

We were already doing ICSI, so paid extra for PICSI. Hubs finally agreed to start taking supplements like coQ10 and multivitamin. He also added in healthy snacks like walnuts, cut way back on alcohol and keeping laptop off his lap! Our consultant also recommended ejaculating every other day for 3 months. Can’t say if all of it or one of those things helped, but we saw a clear improvement in blast rate within 3 months.

[Cuppppatea in reply to finup0321]

Seems to come up a lot - the abstinence period. Husband is already on all the vits. I fear alcohol at weekends and caffeine is the enemy here. He won’t listen 😟

[finup0321 in reply to Cuppppatea]

I get it. Mine didn’t listen until we had multiple failed/bad outcomes and £50k later. He didn’t listen until the money talked (insert eye roll here).