0% Morphology and Decisions

[littlered03]

Hello everyone! I am a first time poster here. I have wanted to find a group of people to talk to online since I have no one in my life who has really gone through anything similar to what my husband and I are going through, but I was hesitant about posting until I knew for sure that we had some major fertility issues.

We have been TTC for 14 months now with no success. We went to the doctor once before because I thought it was me that was having issues, so the doctor put me on BC for a month to regulate my cycle (he thought I might not be ovulating).

Five months later, I have ovulated based on my OPK the two times I have tested and we went to see another doctor who specializes in infertility. We are going through a series of tests as of right now (sperm analysis for my DH, blood work, HSG, ultrasound, and progesterone test for me). So far, all we have done is the sperm analysis because my next cycle has not begun yet.

Today we got the results back from he sperm analysis. They are as follows:
Volume: 5.5 mL (good)
Concentration: 59 million/mL (good)
Mobility: 52% were moving (good)
Morphology: 0% (horrible)

The doctor recommended IUI at this point (knowing nothing about what could be wrong with me), but I just don't see the point in that. I've done a lot of research in the hours since I found out that says that IUI's are pretty pointless with 0% morphology. My DH will get retested in two months and will go see a urologist, but at this point, I would like to get some advice or insight into what others would do.

I'm going to go ahead with my testing. At this point, I figure the news can only get worse but I want to know everything we are facing.

We are both extremely healthy. He is 25. I am 24. No history of anything, so all this is very shocking to us.

No infertility treatments are covered (even drugs, IUI, etc.) by our insurance, so anything we do besides popping some clomid (that won't help his issue as far as I know) will be very costly each cycle.

I am in the camp that we most likely will need IVF if we want to conceive our own biological children. We have student loans that we want to pay off by the time we are 30 and unless our jobs change or some financial miracle happens, coming up with $20,000+ for IVF is not in the cards for us in our 20's if we want to pay off debt.

I'm thinking we shouldn't even try IUI paired with drugs because it's likely just throwing money away. I feel that we should try to conceive naturally while we save up for IVF or adoption (since IVF can take so many cycles to work and I don't want to "throw" - I hate that word since it doesn't make sense here - that money away when we could possibly put it toward adoption which seems to have a higher rate for going through). Does this make sense? What are some other options? Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong. I know we are young, but we have been together for 8 years total, are very mature, and would like 3-5 children. I'm not sure that will happen anymore.

Thank you!

 

[Wish4another1]

My husband also has 0 % morph... :another lady on here had success with her husband with a vitamin cocktail... raised her dh from 1 % to 4
Here's the cocktail :

Chewable Vitamin C 500mg 2 x daily
Complete Multi Vitamin with Iron Once daily
Super B Complex 2x daily
Folic Acid 400mg 2x daily
Co Q10 200mg 2x daily

He needs to be consistent while taking these and remember to take am dose and PM dose. My husband's morphology went from 1%to 4% in 75 days! It is possible ladies!

Don't give up !!
My husband takes fertilaid for men - I am having to talk him into the multiple pills!!!
Fertility treatments are not an option for us but we are both taking supplements and praying!!! Good luck!!

 

[littlered03]

My husband also has 0 % morph... :another lady on here had success with her husband with a vitamin cocktail... raised her dh from 1 % to 4
Here's the cocktail :

Chewable Vitamin C 500mg 2 x daily
Complete Multi Vitamin with Iron Once daily
Super B Complex 2x daily
Folic Acid 400mg 2x daily
Co Q10 200mg 2x daily

He needs to be consistent while taking these and remember to take am dose and PM dose. My husband's morphology went from 1%to 4% in 75 days! It is possible ladies!

Don't give up !!
My husband takes fertilaid for men - I am having to talk him into the multiple pills!!!
Fertility treatments are not an option for us but we are both taking supplements and praying!!! Good luck!!

Wow! That's amazing! Thank you so much for this! That makes me so hopeful! Good luck to you as well!

 

[Sparkle_13]

My hubby also got 0% morph on his last SA with everything else good or above average. His 1st SA about 6 months before was 3% morph though so it can change every time. He started taking Fertilaid and has been cutting back on caffeine and alcohol and trying to be healthier (he was already reasonably healthy and is a healthy weight). We think his issue though may be related to varicose veins. He had an ultrasound and does have them, we have a urologist appt in April but are actually going to go ahead with IVF in March anyway as even if he had the varicose vein removed we may still need IVF anyway and we're lucky that it is subsidised here in oz. I felt the same way as you do about IUIs and clomid that if they are not effective for male infertility or endometriosis (which I have) then they just seemed like a waste of time and money. But if ivf wasn't an option I might have considered them further.

Sorry for the essay and talking so much about me I just wanted to share what I had been through to let you know you're not alone

Lots of baby dust hun xx

 

[littlered03]

My hubby also got 0% morph on his last SA with everything else good or above average. His 1st SA about 6 months before was 3% morph though so it can change every time. He started taking Fertilaid and has been cutting back on caffeine and alcohol and trying to be healthier (he was already reasonably healthy and is a healthy weight). We think his issue though may be related to varicose veins. He had an ultrasound and does have them, we have a urologist appt in April but are actually going to go ahead with IVF in March anyway as even if he had the varicose vein removed we may still need IVF anyway and we're lucky that it is subsidised here in oz. I felt the same way as you do about IUIs and clomid that if they are not effective for male infertility or endometriosis (which I have) then they just seemed like a waste of time and money. But if ivf wasn't an option I might have considered them further.

Sorry for the essay and talking so much about me I just wanted to share what I had been through to let you know you're not alone

Lots of baby dust hun xx

I'm really glad you can do IVF! I'm glad to know the numbers can change. We are going to talk to the doctor about what to try in the two months before he has his second SA. My husband has been really into working out and taking supplements for fueling workouts and building muscle, so I'm going to look into those more and see if they can affect fertility. He's very healthy and has never had a history of anything.

Thank you for the encouragement! Positive thoughts sent your way!

 

[CaliDreaming]

littlered . I think it's waaaay to early to be thinking IVF is your only option. Just wait until they do all of the testing on you to determine your next steps. The significance of a low morphology result is debatable. One good thing about your hubby's sperm is that even with the low morphology, a good percentage of his sperm are still moving. A lot of time sperm with poor morphology aren't really able to move fast and straight like they need to. It could be that his sperm is having trouble fertilizing the egg for whatever reason.

If your hubby's sperm is your only issue, I don't think an IUI would be a waste of time. However, the cost (both financially and emotionally) of IUI does add up so . Being young you have the advantage of time so you can take the time to get all of your testing completed and eliminate all possibilities before going the IUI/IVF route.

If I were you I would start researching urologists who have experience in reproductive endocrinology. Most male issues can be fixed so you have a good chance that his sperm can be improved. My hubby's morph was at 0.5% and his count and motility were much lower than yours. We hadn't had a hint of bfp in nearly 2 years but we got pregnant a month after he started taking fertility vitamins. It's definitely possible there is an easy fix but the hard part is figuring out exactly what the problem is. Hang in there and good luck!

 

[littlered03]

littlered . I think it's waaaay to early to be thinking IVF is your only option. Just wait until they do all of the testing on you to determine your next steps. The significance of a low morphology result is debatable. One good thing about your hubby's sperm is that even with the low morphology, a good percentage of his sperm are still moving. A lot of time sperm with poor morphology aren't really able to move fast and straight like they need to. It could be that his sperm is having trouble fertilizing the egg for whatever reason.

If your hubby's sperm is your only issue, I don't think an IUI would be a waste of time. However, the cost (both financially and emotionally) of IUI does add up so . Being young you have the advantage of time so you can take the time to get all of your testing completed and eliminate all possibilities before going the IUI/IVF route.

If I were you I would start researching urologists who have experience in reproductive endocrinology. Most male issues can be fixed so you have a good chance that his sperm can be improved. My hubby's morph was at 0.5% and his count and motility were much lower than yours. We hadn't had a hint of bfp in nearly 2 years but we got pregnant a month after he started taking fertility vitamins. It's definitely possible there is an easy fix but the hard part is figuring out exactly what the problem is. Hang in there and good luck!

Thank you so much! I had my ultrasound today and it went well. I have my HSG on Wednesday. My bloodwork also came back normal. I just really want some answers from the doctors and they tell us that they don't specialize in male infertility, so they won't answer our questions. We have to wait 2+ months to get in to see the urologist. I am hopeful, but just have read so much that makes me skeptical (as well as all the negativity I've been sensing from the OBGYN).

I'm so glad there are those stories (like yours) that worked out! It gives me the hope I need to keep going and not think about the years that we could (or possible could not) be going through this.

 

[morgan16]

Hi I have the same problem with morphology ... my husband takes f ertiliaid and co-q10 .vitamin c and l-Carnatine which was r ecom me nded by our urologist while waiting for my husband's surgery. I know it's hard to wait but
There is a reason they want you to take them. I'm just going crazy waiting for his surgery to fix a vericocele which is on both sides he said even though there deformed we could still get pregnant so don't stop trying because they do swim

 

[morgan16]

Sometimes I wish we would have went straight to ivf with all the emotional waiting but there's a reason for this journey.

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

I hope you don't mind me joining in this thread as I am LTTTC # 2 but my DH's first SA (done last April) showed 0% morphology. He has a very low count and motility issues as well. His 2nd SA showed 2% morphology but his motility went from 44% the first time to 19% the 2nd....which just goes to show how much they can vary.

At this point in time we are waiting for him to see the urologist so I will have more answers after that but we do have a DS (that he fathered) and since I got pregnant roughly 5 years ago nothing has really changed so I am hoping somehow whether by a miracle or some other help that we will be able to get pregnant again since it happened before.

I did buy him 2 bottles of Fertilaid but he didn't particularly like taking them (frustratingly!!) so has stopped now. He does however (and always has) take a daily men's multivitamin so hoping that might help a little and as I said I am REALLY hopeful that the urologist has some better answers and advice/suggestions for what to do next.

Good luck everyone!

 

[morgan16]

White orchid you sound like me I got anxious waiting for the urologist apt too.. and everything was fine with me.. The vitamins were a good choice maybe ask him again to try them.. The urologist will give you more answers what to do next it's all hard.. my husband surgery for varicocele is in weeks and since this all I've been a crazy person. Lol. It's hard. I know I'm suppose to just relax but that's really hard to do and I even got some depression now and they started me on prozac. It's hard me personally wish I'd just went to ivf and all this waiting time would have been avoided because there was nothing wrong with me. I know that sounds bad but waiting is such a emotional toll

 

[scoobydrlp]

Just want to chime in, I know this is an old thread, but my DH had 0% morphology and I had irregular ovulation, and we concieved with clomid (twice actually, although m/c the first time). He didn't take any supplements or anything. It can happen!

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

Morgan - so sorry! Somehow I missed your post!! Thank you for your support though. How did your DH's appt go? Ours is next week so fingers crossed for some answers! How are you doing? Hoping you get your BFP soon and everything works out.

Scoobydrip - thanks so much for sharing that! Great to know there is hope! x

 

[Sparkle_13]

We had our urologist appt and the dr said DH's varicose veins were way to small to warrant surgery or laser removal, he also said it is very unlikely they are the cause of the low morphology... So we are continuing down the ivf route. I'm interested to see if DH's morph has improved since he's been taking so many supplements and cut out caffeine. I will report back in a few weeks when we get to that point in the cycle.

Good luck next week at your appt Orchid, I hope you get some answers

 

[Sparkle_13]

Congrats Scooby on your success your little girl looks adorable

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

Good luck Sparkle!! Definitely let us know how his results are after the changes he has made

 

[CaliDreaming]

Congratulations scoobydrip!!! Awesome news. I guess your experience goes to show that 0% morphology does not always prevent conception

Sparkle, good luck with IVF! I wonder if your hubby's morph has improved too. It's so frustrating when you don't really have any answers why who haven't gotten a bfp.

And WhiteOrchid, I can't wait to hear about your hubby's urology appointment. I'm really hopeful you get some information about what's going on with your hubby's sperm. You've been waiting for some long just to figure things out, so I hope there is some clear issue that is easy to address.

 

[littlered03]

Hi everyone! Sorry for deserting this post. It's been an emotional time and I just needed some time away. We finally got in to see the urologist after over two months of waiting. My DH had a second SA and it came back at 1.5% for the morphology this time after he was taking tons of vitamins.

The urologist basically said that the morphology portion of the SA is very subjective, so we shouldn't cling too tightly to the second results since it might not be that much of an improvement. He also said that about 1/2 of men with low morphology have no trouble conceiving while the other half find it nearly impossible to conceive. He couldn't find anything that could be causing it in my DH (no varicocele, everything looks good, etc.), so he basically said he would label our infertility as "unexplained" since he doesn't know what is causing the low morphology and we don't know why low morphology causes problems in some people and not others (there could be something else wrong with one of us that is not able to be tested at this time). I felt very frustrated that there was nothing the doctor could do, but now we are at the point of moving forward.

We are going to try some lifestyle changes while trying to conceive naturally for about three months. This will involve my DH not taking any supplements (he was taking protein powder and BCAA - another form of amino acids - before his workouts). We will be working on eating healthier as well as all the vitamins he has already been taking. We are thinking of having him do acupuncture at some point as well. Then we will do another SA and decide what to do from there. We are planning on doing three rounds of IUI because we have pretty much decided not to try IVF and to go to adoption if IUI doesn't work. Who knows though. That's just our plan right now.

Thank you all for sharing your stories!

 

[scoobydrlp]

Good luck to you! As far as acupuncture, I do have a friend who was TTC for years with no luck then got pregnant right away after acupuncture! It's worth a try!

 

[messica]

I'm so glad you got in, was waiting to see an update one of these days!

Sounds like you have a wonderful plan in place and you know I'll be keeping fingers crossed for you guys