Dealing with azoospermia?

[Deb111]

Thinking of SB today. Haven't seen her on here since her awful news. Hope she is doing well... if you are lurking quietly!

She's posting the odd post in her journal snd - they're obviously grieving and finding it all incredibly hard, but they're strong and are getting through it slowly x

 

[wibble wobble]

I must say, we had had a tough week dealing with the reality, but I know we will get there.

For the Donor girls. I have a couple of basic questions (i mean really basic and probably silly)
Initially, what was your first step once you decide this is what you want to do?
What tests will I have to carry out? Do i do these before hand or do they carry them out at the fertility clinic?
What is the difference between IUI & IVF? in relation to donor sperm (am I right in saying, IUI is if I am perfectly healthy?)
Also have you any tips for me? What to think about etc?
A personal question? Does the hurt subside when you have a plan in place (im sure it will never go but at what point do you move on and get excited -or does this happen)

I'm in the Uk (I'm being treated at the Hewitt Centre in Liverpool womens) This is 'my donor journey' so far. (Everything's been done at the fertility clinic) First off we both had to go to a counsellor. I had blood tests on day 2 (amh,rubella,fsh,lh)then again on day 21 (progesterone). I've just had a donor screening blood test (Hiv,cmv,hepatitis b&c,karotyping,cystic fibrosis and something else that I can't quite remember) I would have had a hsg only my consultant has said that I'm best off doing divf as my amh isn't brilliant, so no need to see if my tubes are patent. There was loads of different forms to fill in (legal responsibility to the child/child protection/donor anonimity etc) I have to go back in roughly 2 months for the screening result and then I'll have to get an appointment with the donor co ordinator

I found out in oct that we'd need to use a donor. It took maybe 4 to 6 weeks for the worst of the pain to go (for us to start accepting it properly) I think there will always be some hurt there,that I wont be getting pregnant naturally by hubby,but you have to move on from it if you want to have a baby. I wouldn't say I'm excited about the treatment yet, but then it doesn't feel like it's ever going to happen at the minute.... we're just running through the hfea checklist of to-do's


IUI is where they put sperm inside you,IVF is treatment with daily needles so for long (down regging and stimming) having your eggs collected and fertilised in a dish then they put 1 or 2 back in.

 

[wibble wobble]

I'm just heading to bed, but wanted to C&P an email I sent to a friend tonight. I'll be back for personals tomorrow.

Quick version:
He is concerned with my LH being high. Prolactin is borderline. Cycle day 3, 8 and 21 blood work to be done. If prolactin is high, I need it drawn 3 days in a row and a MRI.

Chris needs hormonal testing and genetic testing. The genetic test results take 4 months to come in. We have to wait for them before seeing the urologist. So, if the hormones are off, we can be pretty sure it's a production issue. If the genetic tests are off, they will not do IVF with us since he would pass the sterility onto his offspring. So, in late May, we will see the RE again and then wait 4 weeks to see the urologist.

They didn't even talk about IVF yet. We may not be candidates. If we do, the fall is the earliest we would have our ducks in a row.

She said the donor sperm is so common, she is sure we know someone conceived that way, we just don't know it. She said they do a ton of those.

So, we have a long wait ahead of us. I knew the first RE appointment would be bittersweet, but I didn't expect it to be so hard.

It's so hard having to do lots of waiting I really can sympathise with you there, it's been 10 months since we started out with all the tests and it could still be 12 months until we are matched to a donor (we're nhs patients and our clinic has a shortage and we don't have the funds to buy our own sperm)

 

[moonhippie]

New girl
Me:30 DH: 30 He was diagnosed with Maturation Arrest Azoospermia last November. All genetic testing came back normal, but rare mature sperm were found on his testicular biopsies. We opted not to do TESA as they told us it would be rare if any mature sperm good enough for freezing and later ICSI IVF could be found. We asked his brother to be a donor, but after testing he came back with a super low count and horrible motility. After speaking with our fertility dr we opted to use Anonymous Donor Sperm to have our dream baby.
Deaf: My hubby is on Clomid right now. 50mg a day. It is quite pricey as generic is not available in Canada right now. His Endocrinologist put him on it as a last ditch effort to see if his testicles just needed a punch to get them finishing the production of his spermatocytes. So far after 6 months of being on it there are still no sperm in his ejaculate. However, we were dealing with some ED issues. His testosterone levels before clomid were 28 which is low normal now however it over 60 and the ED...is no longer an issue LOL!!! Our Ob/Gyn thinks he can probably stay on a low dose with routine bloodwork, but we will have to wait and see what the Endocrinologist says in April when he has his next visit with him. We were hoping to get him down to either half that dose or half that dose every other day and see how his testosterone levels do.
Where we are at with ttcing...we are doing at home AI with frozen semen through a sperm bank. We started in may 2011, conceived our second cycle in june, but lost it in august. we took a few cycles off and started again in November. We are currently in the middle od doing our last AI before moving on to IUI's with our dr. Babydust everyone.

 

[mumanddad]

Welcome to the group hun and sorrh you are going through journey, you will find some greag support from this group.

Sorry i wont be on now for a few days they are going to try induce the baby today but he keeps turning

 

[silverbell]

Aww, thank you for thinking of me, snd, and for answering for me, Deb.

I'm OK. Doing a lot better than I was earlier in the week that's for sure. DH is doing amazingly.

We had our gynae appointment today to discuss referral for DIUI. Here's a cut and paste from my journal just now:

Oh my goodness.

I'm floored.

I had absolutely no idea that IUI wouldn't be funded in our area ... none at all. What a shock I thought we'd have to pay for the donor sperm, but not for the actual IUI. I'm sure I read somewhere that you get 6 tries, but apparently that's the recommended guide, but the South Strategic Health Authority does not offer any IUI funding. I honestly had no idea. I feel stupid now.

Gynae guy is going to join forces with our GP to write to commissioning and get them to look at our case and see if they'll make an exception, but he did say that there are absolutely no guarantees and it'll take at least 3 months to get an answer. When they booked my follow-up appointment to be reviewed in 4 months they booked it for .... wait for it .... 1 June. Unbelievable. Exactly 1 year to the day we found out about DH's 0 SA.

DH and I have told him to go ahead with the letter just in case.

In the meantime it looks like we'll be going privately ... and probably having to get a loan

So, does anybody in the UK know how much it costs (really roughly) to get donor sperm imported? Only I know that the waiting lists for donor sperm can be really, really long here in the UK. I keep reading 12 to 18 months everywhere. I know we can't wait that long. We just can't.

Thanks in advance!

Hope you're all OK and I will catch up soon, I promise.

 

[snd80]

Aww, thank you for thinking of me, snd, and for answering for me, Deb.

So, does anybody in the UK know how much it costs (really roughly) to get donor sperm imported? Only I know that the waiting lists for donor sperm can be really, really long here in the UK. I keep reading 12 to 18 months everywhere. I know we can't wait that long. We just can't.

Thanks in advance!

Hope you're all OK and I will catch up soon, I promise.

Life can be so cruel! Can't you enough!

I'm not from the UK, but we are going through xytex.com. The have an international link on their site too. Might be worth checking into! Stay strong my friend!

 

[wibble wobble]

I had absolutely no idea that IUI wouldn't be funded in our area ... none at all. What a shock I thought we'd have to pay for the donor sperm, but not for the actual IUI. I'm sure I read somewhere that you get 6 tries, but apparently that's the recommended guide, but the South Strategic Health Authority does not offer any IUI funding. I honestly had no idea. I feel stupid now.

Gynae guy is going to join forces with our GP to write to commissioning and get them to look at our case and see if they'll make an exception, but he did say that there are absolutely no guarantees and it'll take at least 3 months to get an answer. When they booked my follow-up appointment to be reviewed in 4 months they booked it for .... wait for it .... 1 June. Unbelievable. Exactly 1 year to the day we found out about DH's 0 SA.

DH and I have told him to go ahead with the letter just in case.

In the meantime it looks like we'll be going privately ... and probably having to get a loan [/I]

So, does anybody in the UK know how much it costs (really roughly) to get donor sperm imported? Only I know that the waiting lists for donor sperm can be really, really long here in the UK. I keep reading 12 to 18 months everywhere. I know we can't wait that long. We just can't.

Thanks in advance!

Hope you're all OK and I will catch up soon, I promise.

Hi silverbell I had a look at DS prices when we first got our diagnosis, the european sperm bank was cheapest but even those prices were massive. For 6 vials of sperm,delivery,pregnancy slot etc it was going to cost around £3000, you could make it cheaper by ordering less sperm (but what if you wanted another baby,would you be ok with another donor you'd have to pay for another pregnancy slot... some clinics you can share delivery costs with other patients to make it slightly cheaper)

Do you know which clinic you'd be having the iui with? It might be worth emailing them (or ask on forums) how long the wait is. Some clinics have no wait at all.... I'm just one of the unlucky ones that has to wait.

 

[Deb111]

Well I've started spotting this afternoon, so will be here tomorrow. Looks like MFS clinic were bang on with the scan - I'm only on CD 25 today so if CD1 is tomorrow that's only a 24 day cycle very unusual for me - no wonder we missed ovulation!

So, scan is booked for Tues 8am Had a panic about it earlier - the money, just the one embryo in the freezer and time running out

Had an reply from my consultant today

"Debbie, Sorry for delay.
I would stick to a natural cycle.
It is always sensible to use ovulation kits from mid cycle but perhaps the small size of the follicle on the scan on the 13th was what stopped anybody suggesting them.

Let me know when you start and I will keep an eye on the scans myself.
Best Wishes
James"

 

[MJ73]

Deb, so glad you are feeling a bit better. Interesting that you've had such a short cycle. I always find that stress messes with my cycles big time. So you're going straight into the next cycle, keeping FX for you both

SB, good to see you back. That sucks that there is no funding for your donor IUI, that must be so tough on top of everything else. FX that your Dr's letter will carry some weight for you guys.

Hi Wibble, how you going with all the waiting? Hang in there.

SND, thankyou so much for sharing so elequently about yours & hubby's feelings/journeys to donor. Even though we're not at that point yet (our specialist has told us that because of DH's small testicular volume we only have one TESE left) I can see my DH & I going through the same process. Accepting that donor is a definite possiblity for us.

Welcome :wave:Moonhippie, wishing you all the best with your at home IA, FX for you guys.

CM, for you with all the waiting. That's basically where we're at at the moment. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

AFM, just feeling a bit down today. Trying to decide what is the best way forward for us & feeling time tick, tick, ticking away (I'm 38). Knowing we can't make any decisions till we can see our RE on Feb 15th, feels like forever away (we've been waiting since Dec 10th last year). for all.

 

[Deb111]

Sending MJ - I will be 38 in 2 weeks so I'm with you on feeling like the clock's ticking! xx

 

[Deb111]

Well I've manageds to lose 3lbs this week and that's with arriving yesterday too!

How's everyone else doing? xx

 

[deafgal01]

That's great news,Deb! Keep up the good work...

I haven't managed to lose a single pound. I've been maintaining it this week though. No gain is good. I'm still waiting for AF to show... She's not due for another eh, i think 7 days. Not sure, I'll have to look at a calendar and figure it out.

 

[raelynn]

Congrats on the weight loss Deb! I'm down 2.5 lbs this week after gaining back the 2 I lost back on week 1.

 

[wibble wobble]

I've lost 2 lbs again this week

 

[Deb111]

Well done WW and raelynn Maintaning is good too Deafgal xx

 

[snd80]

Good job on the weight loss girls!!!! I weighed Fri and have lost 4 lbs since 1/15! (well, that includes the gainback I had, but now lost) I am now 2 lbs lighter than I was in Nov when I went to Jackson! But who knows what has happened since Fri! LOL!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

 

[silverbell]

Well done on all the weight loss, girlies.

Just a tiny update - the private clinic couldn't tell me how long the list would be. They said they can't really say without having seen me and discussed what we want etc. DH and I have decided that if we have to wait longer than June then we will be using the European Sperm Bank and getting sperm imported. We just cannot wait any longer to be getting on with things and properly 'trying' if you see what I mean.

Thanks for all the answers to my questions

 

[Deb111]

Great news on the weightloss this week snd xx

 

[SunUp]

Hey all...
I would really appreciate some thoughts/prayers/vibes this way. We are awaiting DH's genetic results.
I will keep you all in my thoughts! Hoping for lots of baby dust to each of you!