What is a realistic normal sperm morphology %?

[brillbride]

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

hi fluffy--thanks for the post we actually did the SA in april and concieved that same month --(2nd MC) the FS wasnt worried at all with 8% but i myself think it is a concern (esp saying as he had mumps etc) the FS also didnt even think a repeat SA was necessary!!! mad or what.....Fingers crossed for you sorry for being nosey--but do you have to pay for this IVF?or on NHS? id say the next step is to check my tubes--something i dont want to get done

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

im the exact same as you Maria---all the other parameters where way above average too..... Iv had MC testing and all came back normal--i def think it might have something 2 do with the morph

 

[fluffystar]

Brillbride you're not nosey at all! It is on the NHS. We are lucky that our PCT are still funding 3 cycles of IVF. For how long though im not sure.

 

[brillbride]

Fluffystar that is fab that u get 3 cycles free.. Had you a long waiting list or not?? xx

 

[fluffystar]

The waiting list depends on the clinic that you go to. We had a choice of 5 and three of them were more convenient than the others. I called them all to ask about waiting times for both the initial consultation and to start treatment. One of them said a 4 month wait and then 6months to start and the other two said 1 week and start on your next cycle!!! I couldnt believe it.

I read up on those two (leicester and Herts&Essex) and went for H&E in the end. They have been fab. It was the beginning of sep that we went to the fertility specialist at the nearby hospital, had an HSG, got referred, chose a clinic, had first appointment and then started IVF cycle in november. A bit of a whirlwind but I think myself lucky that im still not sat on a waiting list.

Have you been given a plan for whats next? Checking your tubes is not that bad so dont worry about it too much xx

 

[brillbride]

The waiting list depends on the clinic that you go to. We had a choice of 5 and three of them were more convenient than the others. I called them all to ask about waiting times for both the initial consultation and to start treatment. One of them said a 4 month wait and then 6months to start and the other two said 1 week and start on your next cycle!!! I couldnt believe it.

I read up on those two (leicester and Herts&Essex) and went for H&E in the end. They have been fab. It was the beginning of sep that we went to the fertility specialist at the nearby hospital, had an HSG, got referred, chose a clinic, had first appointment and then started IVF cycle in november. A bit of a whirlwind but I think myself lucky that im still not sat on a waiting list.

Have you been given a plan for whats next? Checking your tubes is not that bad so dont worry about it too much xx

OMG--how exciting for you that was brill---that you got taken straight away-.EXCITING. We are going to consultant on wednesday--- a town consultant. We are going to try to push things further. Im 31 now and dont want to be waiting any longer. Was going to suggest clomid but not sure that is a gd idea as i temp and know i Ovulate etc..so dont really know if i need it--but will try anything at this stage...might suggest putting us on a nhs list for IVF....(im in N.Ireland)..I think he might suggest getting a HSG next. Im glad you said it wasnt that bad! Thanks again and il be keeping an eye on you to see how u get on...

 

[MariaF]

No NHS fertility treatment for us...at all...ever We are in Sussex so have to fund everything ourslevs.

So much so for all the tax and NI contributions we make! Wish I could stop all that and have the American structure where it's all private insurance!!

 

[sugarlove]

We get bugger all in York PCT either, but half an hour up the road in Leeds, they do

 

[fluffystar]

I think its so unfair how it differs across the country. I bet the people who make those decisions have never had fertility problems. My sil has had her 1 free go and also 1 she saved up for, both were unsuccessful. I feel guilty that I get 3 free, at present. Its such an unfair system.

 

[brillbride]

alot of people go to Spain etc...where it is supposed to be alot cheaper!

 

[MrsJA]

Hi girls,

It does depend on what the other counts are like, as well the morphology. If you have lots of swimmers and decent motility it's less of an issue. My DH had 2% morphology, but a really low count as well (varied between 2 million and 14 million in the tests we did.)

Based on that, our FS told us we had about a 1% chance of conceiving each cycle. So if you multiply that out, I guess he's saying it would take us about 8 years to conceive on our own - unless of course we got lucky, which people sometimes do!

It's all a question of how old you are and how much time you can afford to wait and keep trying. DH and I are both in our 30's so we went straight down the IVF/ICSI route (with success )

Good luck to you all!

 

[MariaF]

That's what I think too. My DH has 147million swimmers with 67% motility

So I figured the 8% of perfect ones out of around 100 swimmers can't be that bad!!

 

[CFarley]

Hey ladies, not sure if anybody is checking this thread anymore but I had a morph question

Hubby got tested and everything was higher than average except morphology - it was only at 40% normal using the who standard - he wanted to see a urologist but it's not covered by insurance and we're still paying for my course of action. I read that, at least until 2005 or later, who considered >30% normal but sometime after that, they changed it to >60 % - so, on one hand my hubby is ok and on the other hand, he's not. Any opinions on this? He started taking vitamins and limiting his caffeine intake and started drinking more water but I also read that morphology cannot be changed ....

 

[MariaF]

CFarley - the latest guidelines from World Health Oragnisation on morphology is 4% so your hubby's results are superb!

Mine has 8% and the Dr said that was fine!

 

[brillbride]

if they changed it to over 60 %---(morph) ---then we are totally infertile with 8 %..lol

just looked up the rest of DH results---what does anyone think of them?????

morphology--8%
volume---6ml
motility-- 54% --rapid progressive
sperm count--57 million

 

[CFarley]

See, I read about that too - but the clinic who administered his test recommended him and even scheduled an appointment with the u and marked on his report that the normal was 60% - why would they say something like that if he was fine?

I thought about it and it dosnt make much sense that the numbers be as high as 60% because that would make ALOT of men outside the range - do clinics give they're clients info like this just to make more $ off treatments? lol - between the incorrect info I originally got from my OB and this, I'm beginning to really distrust the medical community

I hope we're all in the "good" range

 

[fluffystar]

Were they using a different classification system or something? I cant believe they are looking for more that 60% normal forms. You dont mean motility do you by any chance? as that is usually around 60%

fluffy xx

 

[Tomo]

Just to add my experience to the mix..
My husband had 2 SA's taken last spring, the best one being:

Volume: 3.2ml
Count: 72 milllion per ml
Motility: 42%
Normal Forms: 4%

Criteria vary according to your clinic/doctor ours followed the WHO criteria which likes to see 20mil per ml >count, 50%> motility, 5%> normal forms. Basically we were classified as unexplained infertility despite having what I thought was low morphology.

We cut out coffee, reduced our alcohol intake right back and put my husband on Pine Bark Extract (supposed to help improve morphology) He also took a general fertility supplement and Vit C and Zinc tablet. We were about to have him tested again when I finally got my BFP after 16 months of trying. If it was any of these things that helped I don't know...maybe we just got lucky.

Best of luck to you all and try and keep the faith that it can happen despite low morphology.

 

[CFarley]

As far as I know, the criteria they used for morphology was the WHO standard, it's written in the footnotes on the exam. And I'm pretty sure she was referring to morphology because each thing (motility, morphology, etc) had its own line and she drew a star beside the line for morphology and said "Problem, should be higher than 60%" ... so I don't know

he was also a bit high on the liquifaction being at 30 minutes rather than 20 .... but, because of some miscommunication, he saved up his sample for over 5 days which is way longer than he normally goes ... and I read that men who release more tend to see faster liquifaction so ... I'm hoping that his extra long wait was what contributed to it taking 30 minutes

anyway, he started taking a multivitamin and replaced his caffiene with water so ... I hope that helps ...

I'm trying to have a good outlook on the new year despite my misgivings ....

 

[needshelp]

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

I'm looking at my husbands as well...I'm not seeing where it gives me an actual morphology percent...anyone know what a good count number is?? My doc didn't give me much information,j ust that it is "good" seems to be a common pattern around here where I'm from!!!

 

[mrs_lukey]

My hubby had a test in August -

Count 28 million
Morphology 11%
Rapid progressive 10%

He repeated 3 months later and the results were -

Count 131 million!!!
Morphology 5%
Rapid progressive 34%

We were told that as I keep having miscarriages and his SA's are quite random then he thinks it's a male factor problem. We have been referred for an advanced SA at a private clinic which should confirm this and if so then we will have to have ICSI. I was told the morphology factor is probably what is causing the MC's.