has your partner had a semen analysis?

[HannahJ]

Hi there, ladies

I posted this in the trying to conceive forum, but haven't had much of a response. My guess is that most of those women haven't been there long enough to have had to even think about an s/a. I thought i'd see if anyone here might know more about this...

My partner had an s/a a few months ago. The results came back great for everything but the morphology. It was 25% normal and 75% abnormal morphology. This was outside the range this lab used for normal (I can't remember right now what their range was). oh, and it did not specify whether or not they used the strict criteria.

Since doing some research, though, i've found a lot of conflicting info about what really is normal and what really is problematic for conception. Anyone have any thoughts? And especially from those of you who have male partners who have had an S/A done, what were your (his) morphology numbers? What did your doc think? I'd love to hear other people's experiences.

We're down to do some of the nutritional recommendations (and have been since getting these results) for morphology problems to see if that helps us, but it would be helpful to know if this is something we should attribute our problem to or not. It's so frustrating not knowing where to direct our energy.

Thanks for any help you can provide!
and good luck to everyone else on this road.

[lifeguard]

Dh did have one done before we conceived ds but I honestly don't remember much about the results except that they were within the normal range.

Are there other factors to your struggles?

[Kinza]

I think the new guidelines say that 4% normal morphology is considered normal. Even some of the research from 2 or 3 years ago considered 15% to be good. My DH had an SA and I don't remember what his morphology percentage was, but I believe it was in the 10-15 range.

[bcblondie]

We haven't. We're pretty sure the problem is me. I don't ovulate. But when clomid gets me to ovulate I eventually conceive.

I do think that 25% is pretty good.

I think the conflicting info comes because it really depends, and you really need the whole picture. For example, a man could have a very low percentage of normal shaped sperm, but if his count was really high it could make up for it. The total number of good sperm might be the same.

[Kinza]

Originally Posted by bcblondie

I think the conflicting info comes because it really depends, and you really need the whole picture. For example, a man could have a very low percentage of normal shaped sperm, but if his count was really high it could make up for it. The total number of good sperm might be the same.

This makes sense.

[no5no5]

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I recall that I was pretty worried when I saw the % that did not have normal morphology. It was at the top end of what my RE considered to be the normal range. But everyone I've ever talked to about it says that DH's SA is fabulous and not at all the problem. I can look his numbers up if you want.

[scarletjane]

x-posted

Edited by scarletjane - 11/11/10 at 10:06am

[no5no5]

I don't mind posting.

DH had 77% abnormal morphology, and the lab said that 85% or less was within the normal range. So I guess it's not really at the top of the range the lab wanted, but it was close enough to make me nervous. Like your DH, he had a total number that was really stellar (more than ten times the normal baseline). I recall the first RE saying that I shouldn't tell him his number or he'd get a big head. But when I looked online, I saw a lot of conflicting information about the normal range for morphology.

The thing that freaked me out the most was that he had 66% with a "severely amorphic head." I have no information about that at all, but we do have a healthy DD (pre-SA). I wish there was more information out there.

FWIW, we are pretty sure that DH is not the problem, given my many health issues and given that we have a healthy DD (pre-SA).

[BethHH]

My husband has had several SAs.  We were at one fertility clinic that gave us one set of numbers, then switched to another clinic on the advice of a friend.  The second clinic wouldn't accept the first clinic's numbers and sent him to a specialist.  I guess each lab can have a different method for assessing the sperm, and the second clinic wanted a 'hand count', whatever that means.

The results were miserable in both cases.  We needed IVF with ICSI to get our daughter.  Keep in mind, though, that every man has bad days.  That's why an SA has to be repeated in 3 months to mean anything... one bad SA doesn't mean anything without that follow up.

Good luck!