Infertility Support Group
In vitro fertilization is one of the most common and utilized ways of treating conception problems. This support group is dedicated to those beginning their journey with IVF and needing support. Join the community and share your experiences, advice, and story with people going through similar challenges starting a family.
Hi all. I'm very new to this but today after a pretty bad panic attack I figured I had to try to do something or I will go crazy. I just turned 34 (female) and my husband (41 male) and I started trying for a baby in May 2022 when I was 33. From the beginning when I saw that it was taking longer than I thought I had a bad feeling that I couldn't really explain but was always told to wait and just "relax". In September 2022 i insisted we both get checked, I went to my doctor and he went to his to get any and all tests done to see if something was wrong. I did a bunch of hormone analysis as well as blood/urine tests and everything came back normal. I also have a very regular cycle and have been tracking ovulation and always ovulate on days 12-14. His semen analysis came back and basically he has very little sperm. The quality/motility are not bad, but the quantity is severely lacking. This was a really hard pill for me to swallow because my husband always thought I was being paranoid and so did our respective doctors but turns out my gut feeling was right (unfortunately). IDK why but getting that news made me extremely angry, because it confirmed that I was not crazy and my intuition was correct, but I had to put all that aside to support my husband. Around October/November we went to an andrologist that did an MRI on him, and turns out he has a cyst (calcium deposit, not cancer) in his prostrate that it blocking most of the sperm to come out of the tubes connected with ejaculation. Surgery is not an option as it's a very delicate area and no guarantees it would work/it could come back in a few months as cysts can be cyclical in nature. So this andrologist prescribed him a low dose antibiotic and anti-inflamatory to try and reduce the prostate inflammation. He just finished his first 3 weeks of that medication cycle (it's 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off) and had to do another semen analysis to see if it helped. If it didn't then he repeats this medication cycle until basically I get pregnant. If I'm being honest I'm not too optimistic that this will work because although he follows the treatment to a T he still drinks alcohol regularly and has a terible diet and I feel like that is contributing to this issue. He used to smoke to until October 2022 and only stopped because I finally just had a huge meltdown about it. I'm growing more angry and more resentful of him every day that he isn't doing more in his power to fix this issue. I want to be a mom more than I want to breathe and he is the one holding me back but I can say that out loud because I would sound like such a terrible person. At this point I want to go straight to some kind of infertility treatment to see what my options are. Before I was super against this but now I honestly don't care. Im thinking about trying to see my doctor this week but I don't even know the questions to ask in this case. Should I try for an IUI or go straight to IVF? What would be the success rate for both? What additional tests would we need to do before either one of those things? If anyone has been in this situation or something similar before and can advise me of how to start and what questions to ask and what to look for that would be really appreciated.
Also, I have heard time and time again that I am young, I am healthy, it hasn't even been a year so I should just relax and wait it will happen etc and I have to say those comments infuriate me so please don't tell me that. When you want to have a child you just want it to happen, you don't want to delay it indefinitely until someone else's health problem is fixed which is exactly how I feel about my husband right now even though I feel really guilty for thinking that way. This situation is eating away at me and slowly ruining our marriage. I'm also losing sleep, losing my appetite, losing interest in things I used to love like benigma active in the gym and being with friends, because trying to conceive is consuming me and my life and crushing me. And I just feel so sad and angry all the time because I don't see my husband affected by this at all, but mostly i just feel really alone because all my friends are getting pregnant easily and I am not. So I don't know what else to do or where to turn to. This morning a friend of mine who wasn't even sure she wanted to be a mom told me she was pregnant after trying for just a few months of trying and I just lost it. Have been crying all day an just completed paralyzed by this. And nothing my husband says makes me feel better and the only thing he can do to help would be to get me pregant and he can't do that. So I am just lost, confused, sad, really angry, and mostly just feel very very alone. Any advice as to where to turn to next regarding fertility treatments to regain some control of this process would be great.