Help! Need to hear IVF success stories of highly fragmented DNA in sperm!!

[Northernmonke]

Hi all, I dont think I replied to this in the end but just wanted to say after 4 failed ICSI's my new clinic did a DNA frag test on hubby and found 34% were bad so they used IMSI this time and I am 18+1 weeks with twin girls we also had 2 to freeze for the first time. if only they had done that test at first hey. Good luck ladies xx

 

[dovkav123]

Congrats!!!


Did you do TESE with ICSI?

 

[dovkav123]

Hi all, I dont think I replied to this in the end but just wanted to say after 4 failed ICSI's my new clinic did a DNA frag test on hubby and found 34% were bad so they used IMSI this time and I am 18+1 weeks with twin girls we also had 2 to freeze for the first time. if only they had done that test at first hey. Good luck ladies xx

Thank you, so much for this message.
My hubby is against hormones. We'll make compromise we'll do a stim IVF but only one. It needs to work!
My RE doesn't beleave in DnA fragm test but I do. She has never seen badly fragm sperm and she thinks there is no treatment for the bad one. But I think we have options. I have never heard about IMSI but I'll study more..
Do you mind asking in which country did you have this treatment done?

 

[Briss]

Our urologist did not recommend doing DNA fragmentation test because my hubby has poor morphology so he said this test is only going to depress us as we can more or less predict the outcome without wasting money on it. He recommended Proxeed vitamins to improve sperm quality (basically antioxidants).

I also think that our next IVf is going to be with IMSI. There are a couple of clinics in London that I am considering who are using these procedure. It's basically just a bigger microscope and they can better select sperm but still it does not help with chromosome selection cos even a good looking sperm can have bad chromosomes.

IMSI:

https://www.ivfcliniclondon.com/en/treatments/imsi.html

https://www.crgh.co.uk/icsi-and-imsi.php

 

[dovkav123]

For Dna fragm test dr. needs to kill the sperm first. How pitty. I wish they could select the best sperm and freeze for later. Every month dna fragm could be different Every month SA could be different...

 

[Northernmonke]

Hi all, so I am in the UK and changed clinics on the 4th go, we went to Lister in Chelsea London and would highly recommend them! Hubby had undecended testicles when he was younger so this causes his sperm issues. Basically, low count, morph and the other one (can't remember) anyway lowest count was 2 million but most of those were dud in some way... Anyway we had great embryos transferred on the 4th attempt and they said do the DNA frag test for the 5th they then saw that 34% were bad so they said to use imsi. Again we had great embies and this time they both took and 2 frosties. So for me I would recommend a million times over. The DNA test is £500, nothing considering the £40,000 we spent over all. Hubby was recommended proxeed, took it for 6 months ish, also vitamin C and E, wore no boxershorts, no alcohol etc. This did help but I hold most of it down to IMSI to be honest as they can see a lot better than ICSI which ones are better than others. Honestly ladies I was so worried this would never work for us and after 5 lots of egg collections it is hell but it has worked and I am praying we get our miracles in July xx

 

[Briss]

Northernmonke, thank you! I am also thinking about Lister or maybe UCH, they both do IMSi. H&H the rest of your pregnancy!

 

[Northernmonke]

Briss we have spoken before I think. Where are you in the UK? Im hoping you haven't been to the crap clinic I was at before in Great Missenden x

 

[Northernmonke]

Briss we have spoken before I think. Where are you in the UK? Im hoping you haven't been to the crap clinic I was at before in Great Missenden x

 

[Briss]

Northernmonke. I am based in London and we were with Create. I wanted to do natural IVF and the first cycle was good but ended in chemical, then they decided to go for stims and it just went horribly wrong we had zero fertilisation… heart broken ... both times it was ICSI but I think IMSI is the way forward for us cos of sperm quality. DH is undergoing a hormonal treatment which can hopefully improve his numbers before we can try again. I also need to recover from the stims. we are definitely changing clinics now but have not decided between listed and UCH. I like UCH but they may not take us on cos of my high FSH, they have cut off at 15 and mine can be higher.

 

[Northernmonke]

Ivf is so different for everyone and no set thing that will work for all. I honestly wish you all the luck in the world. Why did you only have mild stims? X

 

[Briss]

stims do not seem to work that well for high FSH ladies, not surprisingly they did not work for me. I really do not know what should have been the right approach: some say we needed the highest stim doses with high FSH; other were saying no point stimulating high FSH ovaries as they wont give you any more eggs, they just need a gentle push. with natural IVF at least you know you get the best possible egg that cycle; with stim IVf you get more eggs but the quality is just not there; with stims we had 3 follicle but most likely only one good quality mature egg which was lost to early ovulation, the remaining two were immature and poor quality. the embryologist said it likely due to stim meds as with the natural IVF the egg quality was good. I personally think the clinic crewed up so I am considering other clinics. If we did not have sperm issue I'd continue with natural IVF but the urologist said with our sperm stim IVF is the best option, ideally we need to get to 5 day blastocyst stage and chose the best embryo which should improve our odds. seems like poor sperm and high FSH is a very bad combination…

 

[bread baking]

Hi,

I am a bit late to reply to your post. However, we were also given the diagnosis of high levels of DNA fragmentation in my hubby's sperm and were told to go straight to IVF or ICSI. However, my OB/GYN said there is actually very little sound scientific evidence of the clinical utility of the DNA fragmentation test. There is apparently a correlation between infertility and high levels of DNA fragmentation but correlation does not equal causation! Although I am 35, My OB/GYN recommended to give it another 6 months (we had been trying for 1.5 years). Well, four weeks later I was pregnant!

We conceived naturally, which according to the fertility specialist we saw, was "impossible" and the baby is healthy and doing well (I am 16 weeks now) from all we can tell. I know that every case is different but I just wanted to let you know that people do get pregnant even with this diagnosis.

Good luck to you!

 

[Northernmonke]

Congrats thats great news, unfortunately for us we tried for 3 years and took 4 failed icsi so imsi was the only thing that worked for us. Others are very lucky, wish I was one of them but hey I'm doing ok now x

 

[1babydreamer]

I agree, everyone is different and what works for one couple may not work for another. You have to get all the info you can and decide together what's best for you.
Like you northernmonke we tried for 2 years with failed IUI`s and 2 MC. We are so very grateful to be finally pregnant and everything going well .

 

[dovkav123]

WE did a sperm dna fragm test and the results will be in 2-4 weeks.
My hubby's morfology from 9 SAin 9 months only two were OK-19%and 20%, the others were only 5 %.
I hope the test will tell a lot about our next step

 

[Baby Me]

Ok so my DH has across the board bad semen analysis (see my sig) about 1% normal forms. We have exhausted free NHS goes and our new private clinic has recommended sperm DNA and chromosome testing. It's £1000 and takes over a month to get results. We've decided to let my DH take vitamins and do lifestyle changes for 3 months before having this test.

I asked the consultant what the point of the test was, as in what would they do if the result was bad. He said he would discuss that with us after. Am I being conned? It seems like there is no point, you ladies above have said your DH results from normal analysis weren't that bad but the fragmentation test came back as high, so what hope does my DH have? Would they refuse to give us treatment in case it lowered there success rate? Why not just skip straight to retrieval direct from the testes instead of going through this expensive test?

 

[Briss]

Baby Me, we are privately with Dr Ramsay who is considered the best urologist in the UK and when I asked about DNA fragmentation test he said in our case there is no need to spend money on that since my DH's morphology is bad we can safely assume DNA fragmentation is not going to be good and is only going to depress us. I think your DH's morphology is not great either so it's unlikely that sperm DNA fragmentation will come as good so why spend the money? we were told to take proxeed and BD often to improve morphology but ultimately it is going to be IMSI. so if I were you I'd rather spend this money on IMSI. I do not think there is anything else out there at the moment that helps pick a good sperm for ICSI.

re retrieval direct from the testes, it's not always necessary. one IVF clinic suggested that we should do it but dr Ramsay after examining my DH said it's not going to be helpful at all and there is a very limited number of cases like azoospermia where he performs this procedure. So definitely get advice from a good urologist before doing this very invasive procedure.