Need advice on a semen analysis & also would luv any TTC stories in similar cases

[Nat777]

Well, I should start by saying that I am 42 & have been blessed with 2 beautiful, wonderful children, 1 boy 1 girl, the youngest is 7 (both from a previous marriage).

My current spouse and I (together 5 yrs) had been taking precautions to avoid pregnancy, & then boom! found out I was pregnant back in Mar of this yr. That unfortunately ended in miscarriage at 10 wks.

Since then we got the baby bug. I went in last month (July) & had some fibroids removed, so they won't interfere with the implantation process, & then my OB recommended that he get his sperm tested (as he is a bit older than I). So just this month we started ttc. Now we got the results back from the semen analysis and my OB (via phone) made it seem so dire & wanted to refer him to a urologist. Problem is my DH & I decided we would just try naturally on our own & not do any sort of IVF, fertility treatments etc. The only exception is I am/continued taking prenatals & he is on a multi-vitamin along with a fertility vitamin (he's been on fertility blend for men for about 2 1/2 months now, got a 6mo supply). Beyond that, I was lucky he went for sperm testing at all. Needless to say I turned down the appt & asked her concern. She stated that his sperm morphology was low & this would not only make it really hard to get pregnant but this greatly increased my odds of miscarriage again as well as possible health issues for the child if we were to conceive. Upon doing some research with mixed results & receiving the actual test results in the mail, it doesn't seem that dire to me or I could just be naïve. His results w/the exception of morphology all seemed pretty good to me. Ah the end result is I am totally confused and really bummed out, don't know what to think. I have listed the results below as they read on the report & would love some feedback &/or stories of your own or people you know in similar cases, good bad or ugly. By the way the sperm count was just under the normal value but he was only 2 days abstinent, now I am hearing it would have been better at 5-7 days. So perhaps he could of had a higher count!??..oiy..feedback PLEASE!

HIS RESULTS- concentration-17… the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 15 M/ml or greater
HIS consistency-1…. the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 1-2
HIS volume-2.7 ml… the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 1.5-5.5
HIS ph-8.4…the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 7.2-8.5
HIS total count-45.9 mil…the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 20-250mil
HIS motility-76%...the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 40% or greater
HIS forward progression-3…the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 2 or greater
HIS total motile sperm-35.1mil/ejac…the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 39mil/ejac or greater
HIS morphology 1% ...the CONTROL/REFERENCE VALUE is 4% or greater
HIS semen appearance & liquefaction were both normal

 

[rachy28]

Sorry you've had no reply but i can tell you all of those results are just fine. Yes morphology is on the lower end of normal but definitely nothing to panic yourselves about. Also, values Change with each ejaculation just because morph was lower that time, doesn't mean it would be the same next time. I definitely think you can get pregnant naturally with those figures xx

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

I agree - I wouldn't panic at all especially since he has a good count. It might only be 1% but that's 1% of a good count as opposed to someone with 4% of a much lower count. Considering you also got pregnant without trying before I'd have to say I would be tempted to just keep at it and ignore your Dr for the time being. It's important to remember SA's vary massively from time to time. I tried to read up on morphology as my DH's first SA came back at 0% and it seems to be a very misunderstood and very poorly researched area that even most Dr's don't understand it so the fact she said it can lead to miscarriage and complications with a child is to me a bit over the top and honestly I don't know how accurate that is. The main issue with morphology is that the sperm is badly shaped so most likely it just can't penetrate the egg. Still it only takes 1 good sperm and he certainly seems to have more than a few of those!

Stay positive, keep on your vitamins and enjoy TTC! x

 

[Nat777]

Ah, you make a very good point with the count & morphology. I hadn't thought about it that way, but it makes sense.
Thank you so much for your reply. I can use all the support and good vibes I can get! Congrats btw on your pregnancy! Wishing you the best for a healthy pregnancy & baby!

 

[victorial8]

I don't have any major experience in this area, we are still waiting for my DHs results but I do know that I takes 3 months for any changes that are made to show in men's semen, so that result was done and the full effect of his multivitimin he is taking may not have shown in it!
And like others have said, it's one result over a number of ejaculates and not all will be the same 😜
Good luck xx

 

[Nat777]

Thanks Victoria for the encouragement. BTW did you get the semen analysis back yet? I'd love to know what the results were and if you were able to pick their brain for anymore info!!! Please do share! Best wishes! : )

 

[victorial8]

My hubby phoned for his results and he was told they would be looked at by the clinic, not the GP so we won't get them until our appointment in October! He is going to try to go down there and either get the figures or ask for a GP to look at them so that he knows beforehand hand to start making any changes he may have to. I'm leaving it down to him though, it's not too long to wait for our appointment now.