QuestionMy hubby and I have been trying to conceive for 7 yrs. One specialist told us only IVF would work,a second opinion told us IUI would work.He has a count of 9mill and motility of 60%.I'm perfectly fine,my eggs and tubes are good all blood work came back good,and I have conceive in the past and have a son.What are our chances with conceiving using IUI and how many attempts do you think will be needed? Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated. THANKS STEPH
AnswerHello Steph from the U.S.,
If you are under the age of 35 years old, then I think that IUI would be an option for you. The sperm findings are abnormal, but there is a small chance. Your chances of pregnancy under the age of 35 would be 20-24% per cycle, and I would not recommend more than 4 attempts. Your best option is IVF with ICSI. In general, if the count is less than 10 million, ICSI/IVF is the recommendation. You have to bear in mind that only 60% of the 9 million are sperm that can fertilize the egg (3.6 million). That is way low than the normal required for natural pregnancy (20 million is required). In most cases where the semen analysis is abnormal, that is an indication that there is a problem with sperm function. After all, it only takes one good sperm to achieve fertilization but for some reason, studies have shown that if there is a severe abnormality in the semen analysis, the sperm have difficulty or lack the ability to fertilize the egg. That is how ICSI was developed. If I were your doc, I would have recommended IVF/ICSI as your best treatment option, but would allow a trial of IUI if that is what you wanted to do.
Good Luck,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
for additional information check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com check me out on twitter with me at @montereybayivf
