# Low AMH & low sperm count - success story



## tiaschmia (Jun 11, 2011)

I promised myself that if we ever managed to have a baby, I would share our story so that others can take heart from it.  I am VERY lucky to be typing this with our beautiful daughter sleeping peacefully in a sling.

Our fertility journey started in 2009 when we discovered that my partner had a VERY low sperm count (some samples found no sperm at all, some found only 1 or 2 sperm) probably due to an undescended testicle when he was younger (he had an operation to check if there was a blockage in his tubes, but none was found).  At this stage my partner was 46 And I was 29.  My partner did quite a few samples which we froze in the hope that we would be able to get pregnant using these if no sperm were found on the day of egg collection during IVF.  I had had various tests and none seemed to suggest any cause for concern.  We began our first IVF cycle (a long protocol) in 2010 but I was absolutely devastated when my first scan showed no response.  We waited another couple of days – still no response, so the cycle was cancelled.  I was beside myself, had thought that I’d had all the tests and there were no problems on my side.  The consultant suggested I have my AMH re-tested and I was told it was less than 2.  I never actually asked how much lower than 2 it was/is, I was too scared to know.  It had been 8 when I’d had it tested less than a year before and for some reason had dropped suddenly.  The consultant told us that our only real chance was for egg donation. 

Despite the consultant’s advice, we tried another cycle ourselves, this time a short protocol.  Amazingly, I had 8 follicles growing, but only 3 eggs were collected (the rest of the follicles were empty).  All three eggs fertilised, two were put back, but sadly did not result in a positive pregnancy result.

We knew we wanted to try another cycle ourselves but thought we would try going to a London clinic that saw a lot of women with low AMH, rather than going to our local clinic where the consultant didn’t have confidence in achieving a pregnancy using my eggs.  In June 2011 we did a 3rd cycle with the ARGC.  Five eggs were collected although only 2 were mature enough to use.  Both fertilised and were put back, and we achieved a positive pregnancy result.  The rest of that cycle is a very long story, but sadly we miscarried at 11 weeks (having been sent home from ARGC being told the pregnancy was not viable, then two weeks later seeing a heartbeat at the local hospital when being checked prior to D&C, but unfortunately two weeks later again the heartbeat had stopped …).

Our 4th IVF cycle began in October 2011 at Create, we decided we wanted to try ‘natural’ IVF.  I had two follicles growing, and two eggs were collected, both fertilised but only 1 embryo was strong enough to put back.  I thought the chances of this pregnancy working were so slim – only one embryo, plus my partner hadn’t been able to be with me during the egg collection day due to unchangeable work issues so we’d had to use frozen sperm – knowing that each vial may only have 1 or 2 sperm I thought it was so unlikely it would work!  BUT – two weeks later we got a positive pregnancy result (despite no pregnancy symptoms), 7 weeks later there was a heartbeat .. and 9 months later we had a beautiful daughter who is now 10 ½ weeks old.  

I just wanted to share our story to give hope to anyone out there who is wondering if it can happen – we were lucky enough to find that it CAN!  Our situation seemed pretty hopeless at one point – hardly any sperm, hardly any eggs, but it still worked in the end.

I found Create to be fantastic, I loved how small and personal it was compared with ARGC, and the ‘natural’ approach clearly worked in our situation.  In case anyone is interested I was also having acupuncture for the past couple of years, hardly drinking alcohol at all, making sure I ate healthily, did moderate exercise including yoga and took Zita West supplements.  Don’t know how much these things played a part in what happened, but I know I found it useful hearing about the journey that other people had taken.

I know how blessed we are, and wish anyone reading this the very best of luck x


----------



## Fx (Feb 28, 2012)

Thank you so much for sharing this story.
I got a BFN this morning from my first IVF and have been devastated - this is exactly the sort of thing I needed to hear.
Xx


----------



## katehe (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks for posting tiaschmia - sounds similar to our situation but I'm not sure whether to try again with a place like create. Do you mind if I ask you about how your embies developed? I have been advised to try egg donor as my embies are slow growing. Also, I was wondering how a private cycle differed from NHS ones .. Is it true that higher drugs actually damage eggs.. This appeared to happen in my case..
Also, do you mind me asking about how much a create cycle costs and how much time you needed to take off work? Thank you


----------



## tiaschmia (Jun 11, 2011)

Fx - I'm so sorry to hear about your BFN.  I felt exactly the same with the 3 BFNs we had from ICSI.  Very good luck for your next cycle, remember that it CAN happen. x

katehe - Very happy to share what information I can.  In terms of how our embryos developed I think the best we had was grade 2 embryos.  The second ICSI cycle (first where eggs were collected) they were both grade two but we had a BFN.  The third cycle I think both were grade 2 and only one took, but ended in miscarriage.  The fourth cycle only one was grade 2 (the other must have been 3 or 4 so wasn't put back) - this is the one that resulted in our daughter.  I always had embryo transfer on the second day as there weren't many to put back so no point in waiting, so I'm not too sure how they might have developed if left for longer.  

In terms of choosing a place like Create for a 'natural' approach, one of our motivations was as you said because we read that high doses of stimulation hormones can reduce the quality of the eggs, and that as you near the end of your egg supply the quality of the eggs is likely to be an issue.  The whole process was SO much more gentle on the body and mind as well as it was so much less intense, and less clinic visits needed.  The first two cycles were at our local clinic and I worked alongside the cycles, taking time off for appointments then a few days off around egg collection.  However for the third and fourth cycles we went to London (we live in Cornwall) so I had to take weeks off work.  With the ARGC I was up there for 6 weeks, with Create only a couple of weeks were needed but I took longer off to try and help give it the best chance to work (by that time I had applied for a sabbatical from work to try and give myself a break from work).  The Create cycle, a 'natural modified' cycle, cost about £3,000 altogether.  The ARGC cycle was nearer to £14,000 but did involve a lot more blood tests, procedures etc.  When we had our initial appointment at ARGC the doctor we spoke with did actually say that given I have a low egg supply we may find that a 'natural' form of IVF where less drugs are used may be the best approach for us, but that it wasn't something they offered.  Hope this helps, wishing you the best of luck x


----------



## maybebaby18 (Dec 7, 2013)

Hi, I am so glad I found this post...we were told on tuesday that DH had a very low count and I had low AMH of 8. I still dont know much about it but we were told our only chance is IVF and ICSI. I knew things weren't right am so scared of the future and hope and pray it works for us. We are paying private as my gp is not supportive or helpful enough to help us go the nhs route.  
But take comfort in your story x


----------

