Hi again ladies
Another question for you. I started reading on some of the other posts that low sperm morphology can lead to an increased risk of MC. I am just wondering if any others out there have used IVF with low sperm morphology and gotten pregnant? What I am concerned about is if we do go IVF, then if we do get pregnant then we are at an increased risk of MC because of poor sperm morphology. Thanks for any thoughts. These questions will be asked at our first appointment on Tuesday
Don't worry about asking questions - that's what forums are for
The IVF road is confusing isn't it!
Poor sperm morphology etc is associated with a higher rate of miscarriage for many reasons, it can be indicative of genetic issues, bad looking sperm can still fertilise eggs but embryos don't always develop normally etc.
If sperm is a real issue doing IVF then they will probably suggest doing ICSI where rather than just putting the egg in a dish of sperm and letting the boys do their thing they hand pick good looking sperm and inject it right into the egg. Or even PICSI where they use a protein to attract the healthy sperm before doing ICSI.
But there can be lifestyle factors for sperm issues as well, so it may be that a specialist suggests high dose antioxidants, cutting out drinking, reducing (or increasing) exercise for several months to see if it improves sperm quality.
Even with natural fertilization with IVF they clean up the sperm and only put the good ones in with the egg. I am currently pregnant (only newly) after doing a natural fertilization IVf cycle.
Low morphology can also be an indicator for other problems (sperm DNA fragmentation and/or chromosomally-abnormal sperm). If you're concerned about the risk of m/c, I'd discuss with your FS whether they advise doing the advanced sperm testing. The tests aren't cheap (we paid about $500 and they're not covered by Medicare at all), but at least you'd know the full situation.
DH has low morphology (2%), but it was only recently that we found out he has a high rate of aneuploidy (chromosomally-abnormal) sperm (because it was only our third FS that ordered the testing). Unfortuantely, ICSI can't help with this, because sperm with normal morphology can have aneuploidy, so aneuploidy sperm may be selected for ICSI, resulting in a non-viable embryo. However, that said, we did get a BFP in our one and only ICSI cycle, so we clearly got lucky and the embryologist chose a normal sperm.
Natural fertilisation is where they put the nice clean sperm in a dish with a lovely egg and they do their thing where as icsi they inject a single sperm into the egg.
DH has 96% abnormal morphology plus 45% DNA fragmentation. We found out about the DNA prior to our final cycle and we thought we were doomed but he took CoQ10 and loads if vitamin C and E which is meant to decrease the incidence of fragmentation. We did ivf with icsi, it may all have been sheer luck but we now have beautiful twin daughters. So please do not lose hope, good luck
IVF with low sperm morphology
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where as icsi they inject a single sperm into the egg.
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