Hi all,
my husband had his surgical sperm retrieval recently in the form of TESA as well as biopsies. They found sperm in a few different places but plenty of good sperm from the biopsied tissue. We got a total of 8 vials to be frozen which they said is good news.
We don’t really know what this means, just looking for other experience / how many vials did you get and how many did you use during your IVF/ICSI cycle??
hiya it’s one heck of a journey to be on for both of you.
My partner had to have ssr and we managed to get 8 vials 😁. We’ve had our first cycle and have managed to get pregnant with just using 1 vial. So we still have 7 left.
In that one vial they managed to get lots of healthy sperm and we have 7 frozen embryos if needed.
They will use the best vial first and do as much as they can with that. One vial will have plenty of sperm in. So having 8 is really good.
Good luck to you both ❤️
Can I ask you a quick question - did you use AOA/Calcium Ionophore in your round and what were your fertilisation rates? (Obviously only if you don't mind sharing). Our next clinic doesn't use it and I'm really really nervous about that as we had good rates with our current clinic and don't know what to do. I'll be so annoyed if we end up not getting any fertilisation.
😬 not really sure what they are so I’m presuming we didn’t have it.
I had 16 eggs retrieved, 15 injected, 14 fertilised, then we made it down to 8 on 5 day blasts. Used one and froze 8.
Although, due to me having so many follicles they should have done a frozen transfer, so now I’m still suffering with ohss. Just to add that to the mix 🥴.
I don’t mind you asking any questions but I’m quite clueless about anything else other than what we have had or what has happened with us, but feel free to ask away! Xx
Thank you so much for that info, that’s great that they only used one vial and managed to get so many embryos!
Goodluck to you as well!
Agreed on this! Such a stressful journey isn't it. 8 vials is really good. We got 5 and have used 1 per cycle - we have done 2 private freeze all cycles as we are embryo batching to maximum chances and get lots of embryos in the freezer while my eggs are still young before doing a transfer (especially as, hopefully, ew'd love to have 2 children). Our clinic did recommend using AOA / calcium ionophore when doing ICSI to boost fertilisation and we got decent fertilisation rates and embyro progression using that. We have frozen those embyros but are now going to do a third round on the NHS where if it all goes well we will do a transfer.
Thank you for the info! Really helpful and I hope your cycle goes well!!
Hi all! My husband is due to have his SSR in the 2nd week of June. Do you mind me asking how did you husband feel afterwards and what happens after the SSR? May be a daft question but I am really trying to get my head around this process and it’s pretty mind boggling at times! Thanks x
Hi there,
He is literally one day post SSR so here goes. We arrived to the unit very early 8am and they did all their pre-procedure checks. They explained what they will be doing and got him to sign a consent form. It lasted longer than expected ( nearly) an hour due to taking biopsies.
Straight after the SSR, my husband was high as a kite after getting sedation 😂 it took him about half an hour to fully come around and after an hour total after the procedure, we were able to leave. The doctor and embryologist spoke to us after the procedure and told us what was done. The embryologist said they were going to call us in an hour or two to let us know how many vials was collected.
My husband also had a jock strap on which he is supposed to keep for 24 hours to reduce swelling and bruising and we also got some painkillers to take away with us. We got call in the afternoon from the embryologist to tell us they collected 8 vials which was better than expected.
He was slightly sore in the afternoon and had to take the painkillers then. Today, the bruising was much more visible and still a little sore in the area but he’s still able to do everything normal.
Hope your husbands procedure goes smoothly and all the best!! 😊
My partner must have only been in there 20-30 mins.
He had 15 needles in total (he made sure to get that in for sympathy from me 😂).
He had pain relief to come home but no jock strap. He was sore for a while afterwards, but I think it was fear aswel because of his precious jewels had been through this procedure.
He did say it wasn’t that bad, the thought is worse but he wouldn’t want to go through it again.
I’m just glad that we managed to get enough vials so that he doesn’t have to go through it again .
Good luck xx
Ok, that sounds reassuring! I can well imagine my husband being the same. He has already told me he won’t be able to do anything that day so I am preparing for a day of looking after him ha ha! Which is absolutely fine, of course. It’s a lot for anyone to go through - let’s just hope it works out for us. Really pleased you managed to get enough vials. What’s happening after now that you have the vials? Xx
We were originally with nhs, but the wait for ssr was too long so we went private. After that we transferred back to nhs and went ahead with egg retrieval then fresh transfer. I’m now 6+3 weeks 😁, but still suffering from ohss.
my partner did take a week off work, but then I guess it depends on what your job is too. He’s in a warehouse so lots of manual handling.
It’s such a stressful time, we didn’t know if he’d even have any sperm as he has azoospermia, after about 15 mins of him coming back to the room they told us that they found sperm. Massive relief.
I did have to buy him a takeaway of his choice that night for being such a brave boy 😆, but I guess I’m glad I didn’t have to do that 😂
Lol! I love the takeaway idea. I will definitely make sure we have something nice for dinner that night!
Well, we are funding all completely privately as my Husband had a vasectomy and he already has a child from a previous marriage so we weren’t entitled to any NHS funding. It is very stressful and with the financial implications as well it’s a headache trying to navigate it all at times!
My husband works in schools so it can be physical at times but I think he will be fine the following day (hopefully)!
Congratulations 🥳 to you! How did you find egg retrieval? X
I think it depends on what type you have as to how the recovery is- a microtese is just through a needle and not massively invasive. Mine had an open TESE and biopsies which I think is more invasive (full general anaesthetic). He was sore for a couple of weeks, returned to work after a couple of days though.
Hey. Yes, I think I know the procedure you mean. That was offered to us at the beginning but Dr was pleasantly surprised at my husband’s testosterone levels and so we we have a 70% chance of the first procedure working. We will have to wait until June for the procedure. Sounds like your Husband has been through it though, full anaesthetic is never nice - but good he was able to get back to work soon after. X
Thanks so much for replying to me. I really appreciate that. I will let my Hubby know. We don’t have long to go now until the procedure so we will just hope that everything goes smoothly. We haven’t been told (or maybe we will the morning of) how many vials they want to collect or would need to, hopefully we’ll find out. It seems like the results come quickly though which means less waiting around. My husband is due to work the following day and as we are both self employed we can’t really reschedule our work or we don’t earn! Do you think your Husband would have been able to of worked today? X
Hi there,
Sorry I forgot to reply. What does your husband do? My husband works from home and so though he was a little sore, he was able to return to work the same day.
Sorry for my late reply too! My husband is an education consultant so he goes into schools, supporting them. It’s just for the morning though so I am sure he will be ok. The procedure is very early we need to be there at 8am so in a way that’s good as he has more time to recover in the afternoon.
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