Hi everyone.

My name is Mandy. DH and I have been TTC our 1st since June 2007.

We had an S/A done today. We were sure everything would be normal with it, it was more or less a formality.

Well the results are in.

No "mature sperm" were found in the sample.

Can you get worse results than that? The doctor said that the "concentrate" does contain what would eventually become sperm and that can be used for IVF.

Has anyone had similar results?

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Mandy, welcome to the board. You will find that each one of us has a little bit differant information to share and lots of support to give. This is one heck of a roller coster you are starting on. We get it so welcome!

Let me first introduce myself, I'm Chrissy and I have a 2 year old DD conceived via SD and IUI. Yes, the results could be worse....here's why: sperm regenerate in cycles which means that the young sperm in your DH's sample will eventually mature and if your dr. said they are good for IVF you are on a great path already!

My DH suffers from azoospermia which is why I say it could be worse. That's the absence of any sperm whatsoever. Thus why we used a SpermDonor.

When you do a follow up SA ask if there is any chance to try IUI before IVF. That may be an option too.
Did they mention anything that could help the swimmers mature faster and in better condition?

Good luck, sorry and glad your're here at the same time!

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I dont have any info, but I wanted to wish you luck with your next sa. My dh has a problem with not enough normal sperm, but he did have surgery to hopefully correct it. SO I know how disappointing that kind of news can be. You go in thinking you are going to get totally normal results, and then they hit you with reality. We already have one child so I definately thought we had no problems. But anyway I wanted to wish you luck and hopefully when you go back you will get great news.

Hey Mandy!

I think I posted on the IVF thread.. but just wanted to let you know that we're all here for you and it really could be worse!! The great news is that your husband has some to work with. It only takes ONE sperm to fertilize ONE egg.. Your doc sounds very optimistic.. The whole process of IVF is amazing.. Its really a miracle what we can do now a days with technology.
We did our first IVF in may/june and had to have ICSI done because my DH's sperm were of poor quality and the count was low.. Well, what they consider low anyways. But, it only takes one!! As long as they can get a few sperm out of there you are good to go!!

I wish you much success in whatever direction you go!!

Good Luck!!

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You probably think I'm stalking you . . . but we seem to be running in the same circles! I post over here sometimes, and on the IVF board, too, since we are supposed to start IVF soon.

I made a list of questions that came up when this started for us. And I either called the nurse or brought my list of questions to each appointment to get them all answered. It does feel like MFI is the worst problem . . . but the good news is that the success rates of IVF with ICSI when you have a MFI diagnosis is actually pretty high. This whole thing is a learning process . . . you will be amazed by how much you learn and how quickly. Once you know for sure what the diagnosis is/what is going on, you can get an IVF cy started really fast. Some REs have been able to use less than mature sperm for IVF w/ ICSI . . . I don't know much about that. I think the genetic material is all there, they just can't swim/fertilize an egg on their own. It may depend on how mature the immature sperm are . . . if they are actually genetically complete, etc. If they identify a fixable problem with DH that you decide to pursue first, then that can take a few months to see results. But you only need a few good sperm in there!

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Here is a good article that talks about the use of spermatids (immature sperm) and ICSI: http://www.infertile.com/infertility...ev/icsirev.htm

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I'm probably going to drive you crazy, but here is a good paragraph from the article that basically said if there are the precursor sperm in the ejaculate, then there are always mature sperm located in the testicle, and TESE will work. It also says using the spermatids is not as effective or safe as using the mature sperm.

The problems with this approach are: (i) in human spermatogenesis, it is widely known that maturation arrest' is a problem associated with meiosis, and not with sperm maturation. Wherever there are early round spermatids, there will also be elongated mature spermatids with a tail (Silber et al, 1996; W.Schulze, personal communication, 1996); and (ii) clinics not aware of this reality are tempted to inject 'round cells' when they cannot retrieve spermatozoa. The truth is, that if those round cells were genuinely spermatids, then a better search would have revealed the presence of mature spermatozoa. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult, using Hoffman optics, to distinguish with certainty a round spermatid from a Sertoli cell nucleus with its prominent nucleolus, or even from some spermatocytes. Where there are truly no spermatozoa, there may be many 'round cells' either with Sertoli cell only, or with maturation arrest, that are not round spermatids.

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Mandy, welcome to the board and sorry you are here at the same time. The ladies are a great support through the hard times. It's nice to be able to talk to people that are going through similar situations.
Sorry about the SA. Did he abstain for a few days before?
Like Chrissy said, it can be worse. At least your doctor says you have some to work with. Have they talked to you about ICSI? That's what we used and I'm now 10 weeks pg! Remember it only takes one.
Good luck with your IVF cycle!

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It's ok, I like you stalking me. I actually feel like I'm stalking you because I'm always asking you questions!!!

Thanks girls for all of your support!!!

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Yes, actually our doctor said that if our second results are the same or not much much better then IVF with ICSI would be about the only course of action.

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