DH and I are going through similar things right now, although not quite up to the IVF stage just yet - we're waiting on the test results, and we're booked in for an ultrasound each on Tuesday. Something interesting the FS said to us was about DH's testosterone level, and I was wondering if any of you have had the same worries? He said if DH was low or borderline, then the biopsy to get some sperm might effect his production of testosterone and - worse case scenario - he could be on hormone replacement therapy for the rest of his life. It's something we're taking seriously before considering the possibility of IVF. We've got another 4 weeks of waiting to go, so I suppose I'll find out then but I do think about it occasionally, and havn't found out much online about it either.
We don't yet know the cause of his zero sperm counts, but it's IVF or nothing at this stage - and we're not keen on donor sperm.
It's so nice to read others have a similar experience, and we're not alone in this!
GL with your IVF cycle hun! My DF had a 'snip' a long time ago (was married then and had 3 kids already the last one almost cost his ex her life, so decided to have the snip) so when he got divorced and met me we wanted children of our own (as you often do!). We tried for 3 years w/o protection thinking maybe a sneaky sperm might find its way into my eggie, but of course no luck. My DF had a vesectomy reversal done which was very expensive, and surprise surprise, the count was zero!!!!!! Hello!! What a waste of money. They did say that if it's been longer than 5 years since the vesectomy the chances of the revesal working is pretty small. Anyhoo, we had the biopsy done on the day of EPU, I was really worried that there will be no sperm, but luckily they got some good ones as we ended up with 7 fertilized embies. That was back in 2008, so I'm now wondering if it's a good idea to get DF to get some sperm taken out for when we're ready to have another go (I don't have any frozen embies) as he'll be 46 this year???? Sounds like you have a clever urologist, ours actually told us to go straight to IVF before he charged us the 4 Gs, he just knew we were probably wasting our money on the reversal. The microsurgery in NOT cheap....
Hi, we just found out that my DH has zero sperm count. We are both devastated and especially I am not coping very well at all. It is encouraging to see that others have been / are in the same situation and that there is some hope we may be able to conceive. We are booked in with a FS next week. The waiting and not knowing is the worst and I am sure there will be many more weeks of waiting to come.
Does anyone of you has thought about using donor sperm? Do you know if there is a waiting list or so? I know that this is still a long time away and I hope we never have to go there, but I just have to know that there are other options if worst comes to worst. I read a lot that it is more difficult to get donor sperm since the change of regulation.
I am wishing you all best of luck!
Kristine - Initially DH and I were against IVF (before his diagnosis).. but we changed our minds. I guess the donor sperm issue is a really hard personal one to make. I told DH that I would almost consider using his brother's but he lives OS, and it's not an option really. DH gave me "the look" and said NO WAY! We both laughed about it (our coping mechanism for all this mess I think) and agreed then and there not to use donor sperm. I understand why couples choose it, for sure, but it's not for us.
I'm trying to stay positive and I'll go with the FS's assumption that there'll probably be sperm hiding in there somewhere. I doubt he'd get me to get ready for IVF if he didn't think it was a good chance. We've seen him only once so far, but I agree, the waiting is the worst!
I'm not doing any IVF stuff until we get the biopsy results, I guess cause DH is so 'unique' they are not sure what they will find so no point in starting anything until we have some sperm
I have just found out biopsy is considered 'necessary' surgery from our surgeon so should be covered by our private health which is just the hospital excess ($250 in our case) and the gap for the anethetist (think $50). I think all we will have to pay is the initial $250 on the Monday of surgery then everything else is billed and goes through medicare and our private health insurance before we pay what is left over.
I will let you all know what that turns out to be for anyone going through this later that wants to know
Wishing everyone luck on their TTC journey, its nice to know were not alone!
Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has any updates. We are still waiting for results and we already have been told that the next step will be a biopsy. I am just feeling a bit down in the moment and it would be nice to hear some more experiences from others in the same situation.
Thanks
Just wondering are they doing a biopsy to see if they might find any sperm before you do any IVF stuff? Our FS isn't going to, saying it would put him in a 60-40% or a 40-60% chance "group" (I think I got the percentages right? Head swimming with figures, I guess you know. ) and asked would it really make a difference to our decision to go IVF or otherwise. I wasn't sure, but he seemed to be pretty confident of finding sperm even without doing a biopsy. Has your DH had a genetic test yet? I wonder if that makes a difference to doing a biopsy or not..? Lots of questions, and only fluffy statistics of answers given so far..
Hi frugal, I am not sure. My understanding so far is that he is thinking about doing a biopsy first to identify the reason for the azoospermia. We are still waiting on the blood test results, which also include a genetic test. We only talked to him on the phone about it and it didn't sound like the biopsy is such a "big thing". Of course it isn't nice for DH, but he said that DH would not need to be admitted to hospital and that it would be done as an outpatient surgery. He even would be able to go to work the next day. My understanding is that with a biopsy they can find out whether or not DH is producing any sperm. It's all so confusing. Have you already got any results back from your DH? What other tests did your DH so? What was the reasoning of your FS to NOT do the biopsy before ivf?
Kristine - With the biopsy, they're going to do what Amy_jellybean's doing and getting sperm at the same time as the pickup. The reasoning seems to be that it's another risk for DH that they can avoid if there's no absolutes in the answer anyway. It might be different for my DH as it appears they're going to actually REMOVE some part of his testies when getting sperm! (Sounds terrible but...) he's about 1/3rd of the size of "normal", so I guess they're concerned about removing any more and risking testosterone production etc.
DH has had bloods taken for lots of tests, but to be honest, I don't know which ones exactly - at least the genetic test and testosterone.. and we both had bloods taken last time for Hep and HIV too. No results back yet. The genetic test takes about a month to come back, so a couple more weeks to go hopefully.
Amy - Good luck with everything! I hope they find lots and lots of sperm at the egg retrevial! Might sound like an odd question, but, how is your DH coping with the IVF stuff you're going through? The meds etc? I'm worried my DH will get a huge case of the guilts.
Thought Id pop in here again... Not great news for us DH has 47XXY , aka Klinefelters.
Absolutely shattered to be quite honest He has it in 20 cells. I dont know what that means, and google has been of no help.
He doesnt have all the "traditional" characteristics, weight problems, breast tissue, hip fat etc.. Its mainly the atrophy, height and verbal expression. And the passive, shy nature.
We have opted for a biopsy... the FS wasnt too keen on it at all, he only mentioned it begrudgingly after I questioned him. He wanted to send us home to think about it and see us in 2 months.... um yeah... NO! So we got the ball rolling. Now its just a matter of doing all the counselling and police & CPO checks. (I wont start on that!)
There's only a 25% chance of finding anything in the biopsy... but we are taking the chance. We arent going to use a donor so this is our last hope.
Belizeli - I'm sorry to hear of your news. Some of those symptoms sound like my DH - and that was where the FS was leading us to, but didn't say the name of it, just described the genetics getting mixed up. I hope the biopsy finds sperm for you.
Our FS just called DH and said he wants him to have another ultrasound for his clot and come in and see him late October, early November. What?! That long? That'll put back our chances of IVF for ages.. DH said it felt like he was seeing this as a different issue altogether. What if it isn't? What if the clot is causing his zero sperm count? Then again, many of the symptoms of Klinefelters describes DH (a bit pear-shaped, slightly enlarged breasts - he says that not me - bad teeth, small testies..) but not others (not lanky or tall, his libido is pretty high). Lots to think about... but we should probably wait for a diagnosis before stressing out too much (this time! ).. Waiting sucks.
Belizeli - so sorry to hear the diagnosis. It is very though to deal with. There have been pregnancies with Klinefelters. I know that the chances are a bit less than with other reasons, but there is still hope. It has happened before.
Frugal - Why does the FS wants to wait so long. That seems like a very long time just for an ultrasound. Are you considering getting a 2nd opinion?
Amy - Good luck, I really hope that they will find lots of sperm at the retrieval and that you get a BFP real soon
Kristine - DH mentioned getting a second opinion today and I'm thinking it might be a good idea if we can't get this FS to move at our pace. DH is going to call him on Monday and ask some questions.
As for above.. just ignore that. I took a good look at DH in the shower when he got home and no, he's not pear shaped at all, and his chest isn't anything like the ones I saw on a website about the issue.. so I think my imagination was playing tricks on me for a while there (thinking the worst!). It's put my mind at ease a bit, but I guess it doesn't mean that there isn't a genetic issue just as the FS thought. Argh.
good luck girls
the stuff on the web about klinefelters is scary- but remember they are going to show only to worse cases on here!
remember it is a syndrome so the degree that you are affected varies cell to cell
you arm could have XXY cells in it but your leg might not!!! same as your mouth where take the swab from may be xxy but there testes may be XY!!
the 20 means that out of 100 cells they counted- 20 were xxy- that is a really low count- that is good!! or it could mean that 20 were xy and 80 were XXY- either way it means he is a mosaic as well- which is more chance for sperm to be present
also it is one of the most common genetic condition there is and most people go dx until fertility issues present themselves- its like 1:40 are affected!!!
hang in there girls!!
Thanks you for all the goodluck messages girls...it so lovely!!!
Frugal - Hubby is going ok as far as I know. He works away though so im actually kind of glad he is away while im doing the needles etc. He will be home when I do the last couple and the trigger so I think that will be testing times. Ive just pretty much told him straight that he is not to blame for this happening and that we are a team and in it together.
Belizeli - So sorry to hear about your news sweet. Im with you, if there is anything that they could do then I would want them to do it.
Hi all, I thought I give a quick update. We just had an appointment with our FS and we have scheduled DH's biopsy for 23 Aug - so only about 10 days away. They seem to be quite confident that they will find sperm, but I will feel much better when I actually know. We got his hormone levels back and they are all normal, which is a good sign. We haven't got any genetic tests back yet. Really hope that they will be fine too. FS seems to think so, as DH has fathered a child before (that's however quite a few years ago) and his testis size is normal. Anyway, we won't know for sure until we have the blood tests back and the biopsy done.
We had the option to wait with the biopsy and go ahead with the IVF process and then have the biopsy on the same day as the egg retrieval, but we decided it would be better this way for us. We just want to know and we probably won't start IVF until towards the end of the year due to work commitments with travel involved. I don't think I can wait until then to know (im not really patient).
If they find sperm during the biopsy they will freeze it for when we do IVF.
Also, I asked the FS if the success rates with testicular sperm are the same as with "normal" sperm and she said yes. So that is a good thing and I thought I let you know in case you have wondered about this too. Once the egg is fertilised then the chances are the same.
Anyway, sorry about this long post.
Amy - that they find some sperm next week. Remember they don't need many!
Thats fantastic news!!! Im almost at the end of my injections, I have to go for another blood test tomorrow (ive had one almost every day this week eerggghh!!!) My ER and DH sperm aspiration will be early next week, will jump in and let you know how we go.
but I do think about it occasionally, and havn't found out much online about it either.
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I doubt he'd get me to get ready for IVF if he didn't think it was a good chance. We've seen him only once so far, but I agree, the waiting is the worst! 
He has it in 20 cells. I dont know what that means, and google has been of no help.
and no, he's not pear shaped at all, and his chest isn't anything like the ones I saw on 
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