Semen analysis — should we be looking at IVF instead of IUI?

Question

Hey ladies! I’m asking this because it’s been on my mind and I’m honestly worried that my doctor is suggesting <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IUI</a> purely because it’s the cheaper option for us. But I don’t want to waste money on multiple <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IUI</a> cycles if there is no hope. I have PCOS (responding really well to Femara) and we also have male factor infertility. We have conceived before but now we are trying for our second child and going on 22 months with no luck.

My husbands first semen analysis results are below...

These are his next semen analysis’ results below (this was about three months later):

I’m worried that things have gotten worse and not better. He’s added fertilaid supplements specifically for men but there’s no real improvement.

Post wash for our first <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IUI</a> we had 4.5 million sperm. It failed. So does anyone have experience with this? Does <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IUI</a> have a chance at working for us? Or should we be looking into <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IVF</a> at this point?

Sorry for going on so long— I’m just feeling a bit hopeless and worried right now.

Answer

My husband first sperm count and 4.5 and the next was 2.1. Our dr. Took one look and recommended IVF. He said he would not waste time/money on IUI. I started my injections this morning.

Answer

Wow, I'd be taking a second look at that doctor . IUIs offer less than a 10%chance of pregnancy in a normal, healthy couple,  so the fact that they would even suggest it is sad. We had no MFI,  and I checked out perfectly too, and 5 iuis were a waste for us. I'd head straight to IVF w icsi and don't bother with anything else. Good luck to you!!

Answer

Fertile aid didn’t help us one bit either! You aren’t alone there. We had 1% morphology but normal counts and motility. We tried iui 5x with no luck. After we tried ivf, we also learned my eggs have a genetic defect with really fragile shells. Up until then, we thought we were only dealing with male factor. We went through 4 retrievals and 2 transfers before I got pregnant. I think trying iui 2-3 times would be ok for you, considering how different the sperm analysis were.

Answer

I would be going directly to IVF. My husband had fairly normal results from his semen analysis.. I think the first time was 90 million and 68% of them were motile, no real problem with anything else. For the IUI we did we got 192 million and 90% were motile after the wash. It didn’t take and we are now looking at doing IVF. My RE says she recommends us to do IVF with ICSI, because if there’s any problem at all it’s the best option.

Answer

All I can offer is that we have similar results and the specialist has recommended straight to ivf with icsi. Best wishes to you x

Answer

We had similar results and did one iui and went straight to ivf. I am starting my injections Thursday. I didn’t any to keep doing iui with failed results. My dr said iui is fine for numbers 15 mil and over. We were ranging from 1-8 million from different samples.

Answer

Personally, I’d also go straight to ivf with those numbers. IUI has a horrible success rate anyway, and with both male and female issues (and those numbers aren’t fantastic) I think your money would be better spent trying ivf.

Semen analysis — should we be looking at IVF instead of IUI?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey