Anyone with Anti-Sperm antibodies (Success Story / Questions)

Hi,

Just a small true story of what happended to me and my wife which
should help those with male infertility. I hope it's not too
out-of-date as I realise things move quickly. We tried to concieve for
3 years before seeing our GP - All tests there after were initially
focused on my wife (Does this still happen in the UK or are males
tested alongside their partners?)

Anyway, we eventually found that I had anti-sperm antibodies and the
only way forward was through ICSI. We had one failed attempt, and the
second one was successful and resulted in our lovely son Adam (Who is
now 6) He doesn't do very well at school and is struggling with basics.
Could this be anthing to do with being an ICSI child???

Unfortunately I was also suffering from a Repetitive Strain Injury from
typing too much at work which meant my back/neck/arms were completely
knackared. No GP and even some alternative medicines would help with my
RSI, so I took it on myself to get better by exercising and eating a
better diet. My wife and I had abandoned contraception as we knew she
couldn't get pregnant natuarally - Until 2003 when she missed a period
and to our utter surprise she was pregnant naturally (Hannah is now 3
and a joy of a child).

Do GP's now encourage / look at exercise and dietry changes or do they
still look only at the symptoms? Nothing was mentioned to us about
health and exercise during the infertility stages.

To all men out there - Please try improving your overall health if
struggling to conceive, and get checked out by your GP - Even if they
say you appear healthy, I'm sure getting healthier can have an impact
on your chances of success.

My one regret is that we never gave away our stored embryoes from our 2
attempts at ICSI as we felt that our children would have
brothers/sisters that they would never know. However I now feel that we
could have given another couple who couldn't conceive some hope of
having a family.

I know this sounds rather deep, but I had what I can only describe as
an 'experience' which made me wonder when life begins and if destroying
embryoes is morally OK. Personally I think stem cell research is
destroying a life. But I'm open minded enough to realise that we all
have our own opinions on these subjects.

Peace to you all.
Andy.

Thanks Andy for sharing your story. I am so happy for you and your
family. It's good to know how deep you feel about this, after all that
has happened to you.

It's true that some of the Doctors see IVF as just another BUsiness
case and not encourgae clients to try other alternatives to improve the
overall health.

Have a great life!!!


AndyT wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Just a small true story of what happended to me and my wife which
> should help those with male infertility. I hope it's not too
> out-of-date as I realise things move quickly. We tried to concieve for
> 3 years before seeing our GP - All tests there after were initially
> focused on my wife (Does this still happen in the UK or are males
> tested alongside their partners?)
>
> Anyway, we eventually found that I had anti-sperm antibodies and the
> only way forward was through ICSI. We had one failed attempt, and the
> second one was successful and resulted in our lovely son Adam (Who is
> now 6) He doesn't do very well at school and is struggling with basics.
> Could this be anthing to do with being an ICSI child???
>
> Unfortunately I was also suffering from a Repetitive Strain Injury from
> typing too much at work which meant my back/neck/arms were completely
> knackared. No GP and even some alternative medicines would help with my
> RSI, so I took it on myself to get better by exercising and eating a
> better diet. My wife and I had abandoned contraception as we knew she
> couldn't get pregnant natuarally - Until 2003 when she missed a period
> and to our utter surprise she was pregnant naturally (Hannah is now 3
> and a joy of a child).
>
> Do GP's now encourage / look at exercise and dietry changes or do they
> still look only at the symptoms? Nothing was mentioned to us about
> health and exercise during the infertility stages.
>
> To all men out there - Please try improving your overall health if
> struggling to conceive, and get checked out by your GP - Even if they
> say you appear healthy, I'm sure getting healthier can have an impact
> on your chances of success.
>
> My one regret is that we never gave away our stored embryoes from our 2
> attempts at ICSI as we felt that our children would have
> brothers/sisters that they would never know. However I now feel that we
> could have given another couple who couldn't conceive some hope of
> having a family.
>
> I know this sounds rather deep, but I had what I can only describe as
> an 'experience' which made me wonder when life begins and if destroying
> embryoes is morally OK. Personally I think stem cell research is
> destroying a life. But I'm open minded enough to realise that we all
> have our own opinions on these subjects.
>
> Peace to you all.
> Andy.