Any DS users out there?

[hopingforbaby1]

It seems that most people on this board are here because they're using DE, is there anyone here using DS? We have gotten our SA results back and Dh's SA was not so great... it turns out he has pretty good count of 60million/mL but his motility was 28% rapid progressive/20% slow progressive and morphology was only 3% normal forms.

Our RE told us that our only options were IVF/ICSI or DIUI. I've left it up to my husband to decide which he would like to do and he's still making up his mind. We have a unique situation and knew beforehand that dh's SA was probably going to be terrible, so we talked about DS before we even saw the RE and agreed that it would be okay if we needed it. We expected dh to have zero sperm giving us no option of IVF, so the fact that there are a few there and the RE offered IVF/ICSI to us is making the ultimate decision a little more difficult for dh. I've told him that I'm supportive of whatever he chooses. He says he thinks he wants to go with DS because he wants to have a baby more than he wants to have his own bio baby and he doesn't want to see me have to go through IVF. (I really have a wonderful dh)

Those of you using DS, what were your dh's SA results like? I think it would be helpful to my dh to know while making his decision.

Thank-you in advace,
Krysi

[AngelDog'sMom]

Krysi,

We are pursuing DS--in fact at the end of this month will be our 1st DIUI.

I would be curious as to why your RE says IVF/ICSI as an only option. Have you already gone through IUI's?? With such a high number to begin with---what are your numbers post-wash? Has your DH been DX'd with anything (high FSH for example)? I am just curious as to why this as an option.

My DH is in Testicular Failure with an elevated FSH level. Last SA was at .4 milllion with very bad numbers all around. The RE believes his sperm count will go to 0 before long. We were told 5 million was the minimum needed for an IUI so IVF/ICSI was our only option for a bio baby.

We are military and nowhere near a military hospital (which significantly reduces the cost for IVF). With travel to the nearest mil hospital---the cost would be about the same as what we were quoted here in Michigan. We just cannot afford it (already too far in debt and I cannot find a full-time job here).

So, my DH was open to DS before I was even ready to pursue it. As I said at the top of this post---we are aiming for this month for our first DIUI. I am nervous and excited all in one.

keep in touch!
Amy

[Monchhichi]

children ment

My dd's are the result of DIUI.

We knew my dh had a low count. He had had a SA done previously because his brother was having fertility issues and he had reason to believe he might as well. At the time, he told me that the count was ok but there was some other problem. This was years ago when we were dating, so I didn't really know all of the details.

Well, when he went for his first SA when we decided to start TTC, I was shocked that his count was 0. He went for another and his count was "less than 1", then a comment of "3 sperm seen". We still aren't sure what that means. One fertility expert said it meant "less than 1 million"; another said it meant 0, another suggested the 3 live sperm seen might have been a lab error. At that stage, he went for a needle biopsy. No sperm and no sperm-producing cells were found.

We were given the option of IVF/ICSI with an open biopsy and donor sperm back up or just DIUI. We decided that based on the previous biopsy results, it was unlikely that they would find any sperm through an open biopsy, so we decided to move onto DIUI.

We have conceived two girls through DIUI and are "in negotiations" for #3. We may be going ahead with it next summer...

[hopingforbaby1]

Amy ~ Those ARE his post wash numbers! We've never done anything besides TTC at home, and dh hasn't been diagnosed with anything. Should we be considering trying something else before DS?

[notreallyme]

Just my $0.02:

If my RE was giving me the option of IVF with ICSI, I'd go for it and try once, maybe twice. If nothing worked after trying 2 times, I'd go to DS.

I think I would forever regret never trying with my DH sperm.

I knew when I tried IVF with my own eggs that it was a long shot and after the 2nd time and negative betas, we moved on to DE. I would forever regret never trying with my own eggs and always wonder, "What if..."

Now that I know my eggs are truly bad and I did my best both times, it is ok to move on and while I hate the fact that we spent $$ we don't really have, I have peace knowing we tried and I have moved on.

[AngelDog'sMom]

Hello again--

I was trying to do the math with your DH's numbers---I apparently can't think straight enough to figure how many "good spermies" your percentages leaves you. I would ask if IUI with your DH is possible though--it can't hurt to ask.

I was curious though ---did the RE say if your miscarraiges were tied at all to poor sperm quality? I thought maybe that is a possible reason for the RE to lean toward IVF right away.

I do understand "notreallyme's" post though also. If we were financially able; we would have seriously considered IVF/ICSI. It just wasn't even a remote possibility though. I have prayed a lot over it also and feel that DS is the route for us---possibly it is God's way of pointing us to success (I hope ). If you must do IVF/ICSI (not IUI at all) you will need to ask yourself if you and your DH are OK with not trying first for a bio child.
I feel, in a way, that I am giving up completely in ever having a bio child with my DH--but miracles have been known to happen even after using DS!

Amy

[fetch]

I have a 21mo old from donor sperm
DH has severe male factor w/ zero motility and our RE said we could 'try' ICSI, but IVF and IUI probably wouldn't work for us.

I can't remember DH's specific rx, but there was a likely chance to pass on his infertility issues to any male sons and possibly since he has such severe issues w/ his sperm, that we were afraid if we were lucky enough to conceive, it wouldn't be a healthy child.

It took us a while to decide and it was the best thing we ever did.
We have a healthy son and even though he's not biological to my DH and doesn't really have similar characteristics, people are always saying how he looks more like him than myself.

Good luck!

[Kylie]

I'm confused. You have gotten pregnant three times on your own, why would you need IVF to get pregnant again? Unless you were going to do PGD testing. Is there a genetic factor causing the miscarriages? Have you had testing after your miscarriages to see why they occurred?

I have four children via DIUI. My husband has zero count, elevated FSH, maturation arrest and sertoli cell only syndrome.

[shopgirl]

My husband has a count of 5 million after being washed with low motility and morphology. We have a daughter from several attempted at IVF with ICSI. However, when we decided to have more children my husband was completely open to DS because I really had to endure a lot through the IVF process not to mention several miscarriages.

With one attempt at DIUI we got pregnant and I didn't even use clomid. We had a lovely son. Several month ago we got pregnant again on our own, a natural cycle! I miscarried at 10 weeks and had to have a D&C because the placenta kept growing even though the fetus had died.

We are currently persuiting another baby with a different donor then we used before because there are no more vials available. If your husband is open to DS great! But, if you can afford to travel down the road of IVF for a shot at a biological child from you and your husband and are willing to handle the emotional ride as well then go for it.

Really, either way you win as long as you get to hold your healthy baby.

Best of luck.

[maria_27]

I think we have the same dilema. DH and I have been trying to concieve for almost 3 years now. DH had 2 vasectomy reversals but neither was succesful. The Dr. recomended that he have a biopsy done to see whether he was producing any sperm at all. They recomended IVF/ICSI if they could find any sperm. The problem is that we really cannot afford IVF and DH is doesn't really want to get the biopsy if we can't really afford the IVF anyways. DH is the one who actually suggested using a donor first and it took me a little while to get used to it but it really is our only option and I really believe that this is how we are suppose to have a child. So far we have tried 2 DIUIs. I have been on a break since March but we are going to start trying again next month. I start Provera next week and then I will be doing 50mgs of Clomid again and 1500mgs of Metformin just like before but we are going to switch to a different donor than we were using for the first 2 IUIs. If this next IUI doesn't work I will have an HSG done just to make sure that my tubes aren't blocked up or something. Anyways, I know that it won't matter to DH the fact that our child will not be his biologically. He has bio children already and I love them as my own children and I know he will love any children that we add no matter how they were concieved. I just hope that IUI works for us because we realy can't afford to do IVF.