What is a realistic normal sperm morphology %?

[fluffystar]

Hello ladies,

We have just got the results of our SA and all was good except morphology at 8% (they like to see more that 15%). I have had a look on the web (as you do with these things) and found some interesting bits of info that I thought that I would share..

The first was on a doctors blog click for link which said that when testing sperm they like to see more that 14% but that the average is 2-6%! He says that "over the past 20 years, the andrologists (those who look at sperm)have been getting pickier and pickier, and now a man is lucky if his morphology is over 5%, and almost everyone is less than 14%. Obviously this has all gone too far. We are telling almost all men that their sperm is abnormal, and that just can’t be.""

The second was a study of sperm quality with varying periods of abstinence, which I know comes up on various threads. click for link This showed that "the average numbers of sperm with normal morphology also peaked from between 1 and 2 days of abstinence, then fell, so abstinence beyond 4 days should not be recommended so as to contain the deterioration in sperm morphology related to a prolonged abstinence period"

So, my question is, if the average is supposedly 2-6% and you are lucky to have over 5% what values have people reading this had and how long had they abstained for? Im begining to think that 8% is not too bad, or am I just being naive?!?

 

[babyloulou]

My OH's is 13%. Doctor didn't seem too worried by it. Said it was lower than "the average of men he sees" but it should be OK.

 

[Sabine]

Great post, hoping lots of people answer. We have 8% too and my FS said:
"The sperm sample was not great but not so bad. There is definitely a chance of spontaneous conception. The morphology was indeed 8%, it should be 14%. If is more then 5% then there is still a good chance of spontaneous conception."
I like how he said "good chance", so I am going with that!

 

[FBbaby]

I have read too that everything over 4% means that conception is possible especially if the count and motility is good. Ours came back at 4%, but then I read that if you don't bd for more than 2-3 days, this will affect morphology. We did bd for 5 days before we did the test, which is typical as it is very rare that we would not bd for that long normally! We are doing another sample next month and hope that it will come back at a bit higher, although in our case, count did come a bit low too. Saying that, I did get pg last May, so it is possible!

I would say that with 8%, it might take a little longer but it is not a problem.

 

[ReikiBaby]

My DH's morphology was 4%, which our RE said was low. I totally believe if you abstain too long it will affect morphology. We got that number after abstaining for more than 4 days. Unfortunately we didn't have another test after abstaining a shorter amount of time.

 

[babymaybe]

We were told all SA results were normal and weren't given the numbers. It wasn't until I asked for the print out a few months ago that we saw the DH's was 6%. I don't think it's too low but am going to check with the FS next month. The conclusion of my research so far is that it could be higher but not to worry!!

 

[fluffystar]

Oooh thanks for all of your replies, it will be interesting as more people add to the post x

We abstained for 5 days and got the 8%. We have been asked to repeat in 6 weeks so plan to leave it 2 days before taking sample this time to see what that gives us.

 

[DragonMummy]

we're 6% also - FS just asked us to repeat the test again before our next appointment. His secretary didn't seem too worried though.

 

[FBbaby]

Thank you very much fluffy for the link to this study. Very interesting. We abstained for 5 days, and although motility was good at 65%, count was a bit low at 18m and morphology 4%. I'm not expecting miracles, but this is encouraging that if we abstain 2 days, we might see a slight improvement with count and morphology. We will know next month.

 

[MummyIwanabe]

OH SA result was 2% and that was after 6 days of abstinence. We don't usually leave it that long either but after numerous opinions from docs and clinics I was told abstinence doesn't affect morphology. That was the one thing I was clinging onto was the fact that maybe that affected it. We were told with 2% it was possible to get a BFP but how long that would take could be anything from a month to 10 years!

We decided we couldn't wait that long and endure the stress so we're on the journey to starting ICSI in April.

xx

 

[brumbar]

DH has a low morpology - 4 tests different result from 2% to 5% (all done after 72 hrs of abstinence). The doc said that naturall conception is possible ( and most men nowdays have low morphology) but it may take longer. So we gave ourselves until April ( as we have been TTC for 2.5 years) starting ICSI in May as I had endo removed in January and we don't have much time.

 

[Chloe1]

DH has 7% morphology but everything else was way above average. His count was double what it should have been so FS said its not an issue as it balances itself out. Do you think that makes sense?

 

[MummyIwanabe]

I truly believe we would all get BFP at some point with morphology being lower than average however how long it would take is a different matter. I believe if it's under 5% then it's even more likely to take a long time. Luck may happen and it can happen any month but I noticed one lady who's OH had 7% took 3 years to conceive. It's all hit and miss really I think. I was told although my OH had good amount of sperm and motility the chances of us getting pregnant were possible and slim but would almost certainly take a long time. Most docs and clinics I spoke to were quite pessimistic about it and advised again ivf and advised ICSI. I think that says something when if you put the sperm by the egg in a dish they didn't think it would have as great a chance as actually putting the sperm in the egg. And for us girlies the sperm has an even greater journey up the cervix etc rather than a dish!

Not trying to be negative here, just letting you know what advice I was given and I personally think that if you can wait and are prepared to let nature do it's thing you will conceive at some point, we just don't know when and it may take longer than expected.

lots of love xx

 

[Jem88]

It doesnt say the word morphology on my OH's SA so i'm not sure what his % is, but we have a really good count and motility's not bad either, and we were told based on his 1st SA which was alot lower than this 1 that we could get pregnant but it may take a while, and it did, it took us a year & half so most of the time it can happen it just might take a while.

 

[Toptack]

Hi

We're in a similar position to Chloe, I think. OH's morp was 10%, but he had a very high total count etc, so the number of 'perfect' sperm actually worked out above average. I think you need to crunch all the figures together to work out whether there's an issue or not. Mind you, I have visions of large numbers of stupid sperm swimming round in circles and getting in the way of the decent ones!

 

[Bella's Mamma]

Hi everyone,
We just got hubbies SA back and he has a low morphology of 5%. His doc is sending him to a different hospital for a retest. Count and volume were both more than double the average though (motility was ok too) so with that in consideration should it mean the numbers of normal sperm are actually ok?

I am waiting for my own referral due to spotting and a LP defect so am feeling a bit shocked now. We had no idea hubbie has issues.
We did get pregnant in September after 5 months ttc which I thought was about average. Unfortunately it ended in MC at ten weeks.

 

[- Butterfly -]

Hi

We're in a similar position to Chloe, I think. OH's morp was 10%, but he had a very high total count etc, so the number of 'perfect' sperm actually worked out above average. I think you need to crunch all the figures together to work out whether there's an issue or not. Mind you, I have visions of large numbers of stupid sperm swimming round in circles and getting in the way of the decent ones!

The idea of the stupid getting in the way of good did make me laugh!!

My DH morph was 7% but again they said nothing to worry about as his count was 70 million and motility 77%.

Good luck everyone

 

[brillbride]

my dh has 8% morph-- and i just dont know if it is good or bad?? he has a brilliant count etc and consultant wasnt worried but I am worried (he had mumps in adulthood) taken us forever to concieve....i have normal cycles and ovulate each month
Just dont know what route to take....can anyone advise....do I need clomid? do we need IVF?ICSI? just dont know what to think....xxx thanks

 

[fluffystar]

Hi Brillbride,
Have you only done one SA? We got 8% and the gp recommended repeating the test in 6 weeks. It came out exactly the same and all other factors ok. Our gp spoke to the fertility specialist at the local hospital who suggested that 6 weeks was too soon to repeat and wait 3 months as this is the time taken to make new sperm. He said if it was still less than 19% then he would be happy to see us at the hospital.

They werent too worried about 8% but wanted to see what another would be. We waited the three months and the third SA came back as 4%. We went to the fertility specialist, he said it was mild male factor and sent me tp have mytubes checked before recommending IUI. So off we went and on getting to the fertility clinic the consultant said that 4 or 8% was unlikely to be the cause of not getting pregnant and that we were therefore in the unexplained category! Its surprising the difference of opinion!

We were told that IUI was unlikely to help and recommended IVF as the process provides you with more information that you wouldnt have got if you did IUI. We are in middle of that now so are keeping our fingers crossed.

Sorry that was a bot long but I hope that it helps you
fluffy x

 

[MariaF]

My DH's morphology is 8% with all other parameters way above average. The new WHO minimum is 4% hence the NHS in the UK won't do anything else for us because he's in the "normal" bucket.
But naturally Im worried because 8% sounds so low