my hubby has very low count and they actually want us to go straight to ivf after harvesting his sperm from a testicular biopsy... i'm not sure about the surgery but wanted to wish you luck!

My DH had a vericocele. I dont know if that is anything like what you are talking about....but essentially it was a vein wrapped around his testicle that was heating up the sperm and killing it. He had the surgery to have that fixed. We dont actually know yet if it has improved his number significantly or not. We tested again like 4 months after and the numbers had gotten slightly better, but doc said it would most likely take a year to see any major improvement. We did IVF anyway. We are kind of hoping that after this pregnancy, if and when, we want more children his sperm will be ready so we dont have to do IVF again. But who knows. My DH had low number, low morphology and low motility. I wish you all the luck in the world and just know that each situation is different.

My husband had low counts all around morphology, motiltiy etc. His urologist did recommend surgery sort of exploratory b/c on exam and u/s there were no absolute finding for a cause except age. MY dh is 45. So he had the surgery last year. A couple of cysts and a hydrocele (neither of which would be unfortunately a cause for his infertiltiy. Like mentioned after the surgery there was no imprvmt at 3months slight at 6 and 9 months but still overall poor. We were recently told it could take up to 18 months to show imprvmt. His reproductive urologist now has him on clomid! And we will see if there has been any imprvmt with that and the slew of vitamins. Like mentioned every case is differnt and it sounds good if there is a found cause like his injury and Repair can be done. An impt test is the dfi its a measure of the DNA fragmetation of sperm . when the number is high there is a low likelihood that even IVF with ICSI would be succesful. Unfort my DH 's dfi is now still high and please read my journal . I hope that helps and please remember that surgery helps so so many men.. I wish you the best of luck .. Check out this website http://www.scsadiagnostics.com/aboutus/scsa.cfm

I actually have heard of men going on Clomid and it helping their numbers. It was never offered to us and I didnt even know that it could have been an option...but there is someone else on this site and it helped their husbands number improve a lot!! Good Luck

Thanks ladies for all your replies. We went to his urologist appointment yesterday. If you read my journal, I talk about it more in detail. He does have a vericocele. Basically, this doctor does not want to rush into surgery but would rather him try other life style changes first (lessen alcohol intake, no steam/sauna, better diet). He said all of these, or some of these, or maybe none of these in combination with the vericocele may contribute to this low sperm count. According to his last SA test, his numbers were all okay except count. Count was 4 mil per ML. He will be getting another SA and blood test done. After those tests we'll know more. While I don't want to rush into surgery just yet, it worries me that this doctor does not seem to be a big believer of surgery. He even mentioned IUI and IVF as a possible option before surgery. Not sure if I feel comfortable with that. I guess we'll see how these next tests go and how the next visit with him is to decide if we're with the right doctor. I really am new to all this so if anyone has any more comments about their experiences with vericoceles, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

My husbands urologist was very "pro surgery" She felt like it could only better the situation. She even felt very strongly about us being able to conceive naturally one day. We did do IVF but I am hoping that maybe we wont have to next time. Maybe you should get a second opinion. It wouldnt hurt. My DH did all of those things you mentioned along with having the surgery. Diet/Heat.....ect. Good Luck to you!!!

Oh and the surgery was not bad. His scar is closer to his belly than the "goods"...lol He was in and out in the same day and recovery was not bad at all.

I am sorry you are going through all of this. It is so difficult. We have male and female factor. We tried just about everything. My husband's urologist said that in his case surgery would not make a difference (if there was a vericocele it was minor and not impacting much). Unfortunately male issues are more complicated than female. It is possible to get pregnant with just a low count and like your doctor said life style changes and medication can help. (In our case it didn't). If you'd like more information on all we tried please feel free to message me. Just keep in mind that for men the changes he makes today take about 3 months to impact his sperm. Good luck!

I don't know anything about the surgery, but my husband and I went through all this last year, and were considering the testicular biopsy, but he had no sperm, and the chances of finding any were slim according to the urologist. After much crying and praying, and knowing we couldn't afford the surgery on our own, D/T the fact that the insurance did not consider it medically necessary, and would not pay for any of it, we decided to use a sperm donor. Its not the option either of us wanted to choose, but in the end we will love our child just as much, whether it is completely biologically ours or not. It is so tough to deal with all of this, I know, and you will be in my prayers, as we know what you are going through.

Hi all, i'm in a similar situation so i'm hoping that this thread is still checked. We've been trying to conceive for a year, with one miscarriage. My husband has just found out he has a 'stone' in the ejaculatory duct. The doctor suggested surgery and then waiting for another year to see if we get pregnant. Surgery has implications though which can cause further problems. I'm so frustrated because I don't want to wait another year. Have you heard of the hook technique? What experiences have you had with getting pregnant naturally after this?