Going in for a TESA in a couple of hours after finding out there was no sperm in my SA.
All my hormone and genetic tests were normal and urologist predicts 90% chance that I am producing.
Nervous has hell though. No idea how I am going to handle telling my wife who will be in the waiting room if the results are bad.
Doing an FNA too if it’s bad.
Dr. Ramasamy arrested in Miami. He used to participate in his group. Wild story.
Hi guys,
I had my mTESE on July 30th, but unfortunately no sperm were found.
I'm 31 with NOA. My FSH is 9.4 IU/L, my testicular volume is around 8 cc, and my karyotype and Y-chromosome microdeletion tests are normal.
I wasn't given any hormonal treatment before my first mTESE. After getting a second opinion, I'm considering Clomid + hCG for several months, followed by another mTESE in about 6 months.
I know there's no guarantee this will work, and my first mTESE was already negative. But with my relatively mildly elevated FSH, I'm hoping there may still be a chance that hormonal treatment could improve the outcome.
This would likely be my last attempt. If anyone has been through a failed mTESE followed by hormonal treatment and a second attempt, I'd really appreciate hearing your experience.
At this point, I'm holding on to whatever hope I have!
LH: 10.22
FSH: 24.6
Test: between 400-500 can’t remember.
Sperm count: 0 (3 times)
My M-Tese procedure is scheduled for first week of October. I’m currently on Clomid every other day and will have one more SA done prior to my surgery. If no sperm is found then surgery will proceed.
I’m terrified guys, I’m scared of the recovery, of the pain, of the possibility of complications. I want to be a biological father so bad so I think my desire will get me through this but I’m just so scared of the thought. Any encouraging words would be great or any real thoughts on my chances of finding any viable sperm would be great. Thank you!
Also, chile you guys were going through this did you abstain from alcohol? Is that something that should be done??
Hi. 38 y old here. Not the 1st time i write something in this subreddit. I’m writing this post because I know there are people out there dealing with anxiety and pessimism just like me who need these kinds of stories—to keep hoping and believing that everything will be okay. If you are like me, I completely understand that it isn’t easy. Just thinking about these words brings back a wave of sadness, but please try not to lose hope. Keep moving forward, lean on your partner, and trust your doctors. It is not easy at all—I know, and I truly understand you. But I made it. And you can make it too, if you believe in it until the very end.
When I was going through my surgery and recovery, I spent hours scrolling through forums and drowning in medical studies. I took various supplements and researched endlessly to gain a sense of control, but it was a double-edged sword: while it gave me hope, it also heavily fueled my anxiety. I’m naturally someone who expects the worst outcome just to protect myself from disappointment.
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TL;DR: After 10 years and 2 recurrences (we weren's searching for a baby at that time), I had my 3rd varicocele surgery (Tauber Technique) in April 2026. Despite anxiety, pessimism, and obsessing over medical research/supplements, my wife tested positive just 2 months post-op! She is now 14 weeks pregnant. Finding doctors who actually listened made all the difference. There is real hope, even when you feel like expecting the worst.
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Our Timeline:
What Helped Us Through:
Thank you to everyone who spent time to read this. Feel free to ask anything about the procedure, recovery, or timeline. You've got this!
Hi all,
We(M28[Me],F28) are trying to concieve for almost 1.5 years now. Initially I had low sperm count(check commet section for Semen analysis reports), eventually sperm count got increased by god grace. I took supplements, occasional walking and consuming fruits. I believe supplements helped but walking and fruits are game changer. Coming back to the question, though the sperm is increased, my wife is unable to concieve. She is also undergone many tests, she is normal. The problem is with me I guess, I have small penis, after orgasm I doubt sperm is reaching the spot or not. I have a sever masturbation habit from the very teenage, I try not to masturbate 2days before we have sex. Doctor is suggesting IUI, if there is no hope on natural conception we are okay with IUI. What wrong with me? Is it small penis or masturbation problem?
​
Only results Ive recieved for the wash
Prior I had analysis done but the samples took too long to be processed so it was corrupted they said. but the volume 3.5ml and motility was 11% only and 30 mil count. Best I can remember.
Recent wash -
Pre-wash: 5uL makler found 17 progressive, 2 non-
progressive, 100+ non-motile. Concentration too low for
morphology and viability.
Volume ≥ 1.5 mL 3.6 Sperm Viability ≥ 58%
pH ≥ 7.2 8.4 Round Cells < 2 x 106/mL -
Appearance Opaque Opaque Erythrocytes None
Liquefaction Time ≤ 60 Minutes 1 (Within 30 mins) Leukocytes < 1 x 106/mL
Agglutination None 0 (No Agglutination) Fructose (Qualitative) Positive
Type of Agglutination NA
Sperm Concentration ≥ 15 x 106/mL See Comments Sperm IgG Antibody < 40 %
Sperm Motility ≥ 40% See Comments Normal Morphology ≥ 4% See Comments
Debris (1-3) 1-Minimal 1 (Minimal) Gel Pieces (0-3) 0-No Gel Pieces 0 (No Gel pieces)
W
There's nothing else attached,
These results make me feel like it was so bad it wasn't worth processing 😔
I'd like to do a second trial wash,
This was done 36 hours after the last ejaculation.. so 1.5 days .. not sure how much that matters
I'm feeling down.
Any advice is appreciated
Ok so my wife and I went on a sperm donation website and the experience did not go well. All these men have baby pictures and weird ass descriptions. Allot of them are ugly ass babies as well. Oh but for more money they can photo match you or the intake nurse can give you their interview notes or some BS, I told my wife do not click on the voice clips.
Seriously I feel absolutely terrible choosing, looking at all these other men who are better than me, more successful, more educated, I feel like shit how the hell am I supposed to pick out another man to impregnate my wife with his superior genetic code.
Had to get up and leave.
Hello ,
Me 38 m and my wife 36 . We are trying for our second child. Everytime I have a appointment for it i am not able to do it . But otherwise i am having sex with my wife and it’s happening naturally . Now I am just exhausted . I fear of failure is not letting it happen . Does anyone have any tips?
Hi everyone,
I am 29M and we are trying to get pregnant for an year. After discussion with gynecologist, I got the semen analysis done and waiting for some test reports for my wife.
My semen analysis says I got 'Asthenoteratozoospermia'.
The details are as follows:
Volume:3.5ml
Concentration:35 M/ml
Motility: 30%
Progressive motility: 20%
Morphology:2%
Total motile sperm count: 36.75 M/eja
Total functional motile sperm count: 0.73 M/eja.
Can someone explain if there is any way to fix this issue?
Hey all,
Sorry to everyone who is here. This is a club that I didn't really think much about until I found myself here, and it really sucks.
My wife has gotten pregnant 3 times since the start of the year. 1 of them was chemical, but the others made it to 6-7 weeks and developed a heartbeat. We are doing all of the recurrent pregnancy loss testing and waiting on some results still. So far though, everything looks okay on her side. That prompted us to look into whether something could be going wrong on my side.
We paid for a semen analysis with DNA fragmentation analysis. Sure enough, my DNA fragmentation percentage was about 34.5, which they use 30 as the cutoff for "high". I don't smoke, basically never drink, and live an otherwise pretty healthy lifestyle. I have an appointment with an Andrologist in about 2 weeks, but wanted to see if anyone has experienced this situation before and ended up successfully correcting it. I've also read that shortening the abstinence window to like 12 hours (or less) may help improve the DNA fragmentation, although I'm guessing I have some sort of varicocele that may be causing it.
Has anyone dealt with multiple miscarriages being caused by DNA fragmentation? Did you end up fixing the problem and go on to a successful pregnancy? I feel so badly that I may be the whole issue here and I want to fix it ASAP if so
Just got my semen analysis results last week and I’m not sure how to feel. Is natural conception not possible?
Volume: 1.6ml
Concentration: 3M/mL
Progressive Motility: 40%
Rapid progression: 17%
Slow or sluggish progression: 23%
No progression: 3%
Nonmotile: 57%
Morphology 2%
WBC: <1 M/mL
Agglutination: none
Viscosity: slight
In our one year of trying to conceive, we’ve had a chemical pregnancy once. Otherwise, never tested positive. I work out 3-4x a week (HIIT), eat relatively healthy, don’t smoke, stopped drinking, and wear cotton boxers. Is there anything else I can do?
I have a gene mutation (y deletion) in the AZFa portion which, from what i understand is the beginning portion of sperm production. This means I cannot produce sperm. Best part is that this happens in less than 1% of men and its only 3%-5% in all males who suffer y deletions. If the mutation was further down the production line, sperm retrieval would be an option but alas.
My fertility doctor told me to start thinking of alternative routes to fatherhood which was definitely a spear to the heart.
My partner has been supportive and is allowing me time to cope before we make a decision on where we wanna go next.
One of the many thing im struggling with is that i feel like this is a sign that i am never meant to be a dad, i know there are alt routes but it feels like the higher powers are telling me to sit this out one reason or another. I want to have children badly but i dont know how to shake this feeling that i am not meant to or not supposed to. If i was supposed to everything would work how its supposed to and I wouldnt have this rare mutation. Has anyone else fealt like this and it so, does it go away with time? Did you just say screw it and moved on with alt routes?
Sorry if a post like this isnt allowed, ive been lurking for a bit bc I typically work on my own problems myself but i want to get better for my wife. This has been a rollercoaster for both of us
I am 31yo have taken trt on and off for about 6 years. Yes I started young and dumb. I am currently trying to have a kid and did a at home test and basically have nothing. I went to a doctor who prescribed me 25mg Clomid every day and to stoped taking testosterone. I wanted to add HCG but was curious what dosages people have had success with weekly. I did the at home YO test and was at 1% on every category as low as could be but was also on testosterone when I took it.
Wife and I struggled to conceive for 6-8 mos. I'm 45 so I'm an older guy so we checked in w/the clinic even though it hadn't been a lot of time. To make a long story short a number of SA's and procedures later and the doc tells me that I have no seminal vesicles. Without them he says our chance of conception naturally is close to 0. Said best case is single digit percentages over the course of an entire year. We're getting ready to go the IVF route and I'm struggling with the pain/discomfort/inconvenience I'm about to cause my wife. She is not only fine with it but eager for it but it bugs me all the same. I'm just having a hard time with the fact that it's a failure on my part that's putting her through all of this.
22M. I did a semen analysis and got these results:
Volume: 12 mL (ref. 1.4–6)
pH: 8.0 (ref. 7.2–8.0)
Concentration: 8.6 M/mL (ref. >16)
Total count: 103.2 M (ref. >39)
Vitality: 14% (ref. >54%)
Progressive motility: 11% (ref. >30%)
Total motility: 13% (ref. >42%)
Immotile: 87%
Normal morphology: 3% (ref. >4%)
Agglutination: Absent
Viscosity: Normal
Liquefaction: 40 min (ref. <60 min)
What do you think about these results? Has anyone had similar results and seen them improve on a repeat analysis? Is there big chances that i am sterile ?
Both 29 and generally healthy. No smoking, no hot tubs, normal-to-low alcohol. We’ve been trying to conceive for 13 months.
My first semen analysis after 2 days of abstinence:
Volume: 2.4 mL
Concentration: 12.1 million/mL
Motility: 21%
Kruger morphology: 3%
Total motile sperm: 6 million
pH: 7.5
WBC: <8
My left testicle is somewhat smaller than my right, so I’m wondering if a varicocele could be contributing.
For anyone who has had similar results, what did you do next? Did you repeat the analysis, get hormone testing or a scrotal ultrasound, see a reproductive urologist, or make lifestyle/supplement changes? Were you eventually able to conceive naturally?
We don’t have insurance, so I’m trying to figure out what’s most worth prioritizing.
Have you guys rver experienced extreme result differences from different Labs, only 2 months apart? My case:
May, 15th - LAB.1:
-Volume: 2,4 mL
-Concentration: 25,5million/mL
-Total motility: 54%
-Progressive motility: 20%
-Vitality: 69%
-Normal Morphology:3%
July, 27th - LAB.2:
-Volume: 1,2 mL
-Concentration: 14,15 million/mL
-Total motility: 42%
-Progressive motility: 22%
-Vitality: 43%
-Normal Morphology:3%
Something interest that i noticed was that at the 2nd harvesting, i thought that i had ejaculated more than the first one, although the results say otherwise. Furthermore, i'm on several supplements since the beginning of the year.
​
I’m 31M, don't smoke, don't drink, don't use Saunas or hot baths etc. Don't have any history regarding testes, only item of note was a fever during the first week of April which is why the specialist requested a 3rd test in August to confirm the first two results are genuine and not related to the fever. TTC for a year and a half.
Wanted to share my diagnostic data across 3 SA's, scrotal ultrasound, and general blood work to see if anyone has experienced similar numbers:
Sample 1 (Baseline - June):
Volume: 7.0 mL
Concentration: 5.0 M/mL
Progressive Motility: 38%
Total Motility (PR + NP): 45%
Morphology: 3%
Sample 2 (July - 2 weeks later)
Volume: 4.0 mL
Concentration: 1.0 M/mL
Progressive Motility: 30%
Total Motility (PR + NP): 51%
Morphology: 2%
Sample 3 (August - 1 month after sample 2, 4 full months after fever):
Volume: 4.0 mL
Concentration: 4.3 M/mL
Progressive Motility: 14%
Total Motility (PR + NP): 25%
Morphology: 2%
Note: Round cells noted on report.
Right Testicle: 13 mL volume
Left Testicle: 10 mL volume
Findings: No structural masses or blockages. Small non-obstructive epididymal cyst and mild (Grade 1) left varicocele (noted as unlikely to cause a drop this sharp on its own).
Thyroid (TSH): 2.5
FSH: 4.6
LH: 4.1
Prolactin: 190
Free Testosterone: 457
Karyotype, CF & Y-Microdeletions: Collected, currently pending.
I hate the feeling that this is my fault and that my body isn't working the way it should. As it stands, it seems to me that there is no clear reason for the poor results and doesn't indicate anything that might be correctable. At best my motility has been borderline, concentration severely low and morphology around 2-3%, testicles on the smaller side. Hoping the Genetic testing comes back clear.
Specialist has ruled out IUI and said we would need to do ICSI based on the low amounts of viable sperm. I've started taking supplements and such about 2 months ago, so wouldn't expect to see any changes if I do another analysis now.
As an aside, based on our timeline, we have signed all the papers and will start the process this cycle, luckily in Australia the cost is not prohibitive. I'd like to be able to naturally conceive one day instead of relying on IVF but am also grateful that IVF is an option to begin with.
Has anyone seen any recovery from results like mine?