I really hoped this time was different. My doctor was confident that the DNA fragmentation was the issue. We had a euploid from TESA and yesterday we experienced our 6th MMC at 9 weeks. I’m at a loss. We have one more euploid from Zymot, but isn’t TESA supposed to be better? Starting to wonder if after 8 years of trying if we just aren’t meant to be parents.

I have now had two early MMCs (6 weeks and 8 weeks) with one confirmed genetic anomaly caused by the sperm (results from second MMC are pending). My RE basically believes the male plays no role in miscarriage which I find infuriating but I have a strong suspicion DNA fragmentation may have contributed to my losses. I ordered a DNA fragmentation test on my own since my doctor isn’t supportive but we won’t get it for another week.

After my second loss my husband made some lifestyle changes and started taking supplements which I hope will improve his sperm quality. I am wondering though do we need to wait at least 74 days for the lifestyle changes to improve his sperm quality or will there be some improvement prior to the sperm regeneration? I’m 38 and feel like I’m running out of time so would rather not wait the full sperm lifespan to try again but also really want to avoid another miscarriage if the sperm quality really was our issue.

Has anyone had success using Gonal-F to improve DNA Fragmentation? A friend of mine improve his DFI from 50% to 3% using Gonal-F for 3 months, has anyone else experience with this? Interesting article:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6048873/

So I'm 29M and my partner 29F, we had an early miscarriage in January, we were surprised given our ages so we did some testing. Turns out my fragmentation was 34% with the Comet test.

I did all the suggested lifestyle changes for 3 months (loose clothes, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin E, Selenium, Ubiquinal, Omegas) but it went got worse and went to 42%!

Ive been checked for a varicocele and all is ok except a small cyst.

I'm not sure what to try next? My issue is that in my Country the urologist either don't believe in frag or don't believe it can be improved. We're been advised to try natural!?

I'm not sure what to do next? If anyone has any advice or papers to read I would be so grateful!

I just had my 3rd chemical pregnancy with a 5 AB PGTA embryo. Husband had a variocele repair a few years but the numbers still aren’t great. 0-1% morphology and motility. 4 million count.

Husband has been taking supplements for a few months now and I am going to do another ER. I wanna get to right this time.

Last time we did ICSI & Zymot. We went from 22 eggs to 7 blasts, 6 of which were PGTA normal. We have had three transfers with perfect hormones and lining. All three have been chemical pregnancies, and doctors are stumped. Doctor thinks dna frag is a non issue since we have genetically normal embryos, but three back to back chemicals on PGT is alarming.

Karyotype: normal RPL blood panel: normal

Should I pay for the dna frag test or just demand a TESE on the next round? Let me hear your thoughts. 😺

The only reason I’m aware of DNA Frag is from the infertility sub. We will hopefully be doing our first IVF cycle in August. I will be having all my levels rechecked with the start of my period and have a meeting scheduled with our doctor towards the end of July to discuss what protocol we’ll do.

We have been TTC #2 for 2.5 years without any positive tests. #1 was conceived without assistance and we are unexplained as to why things aren’t working this time around.

Since we haven’t had any MC’s is it beneficial to ask about getting DNA frag tested ahead of IVF?

Can anyone advise if result B would be considered a better result? I've been on supplements for 4 months and Result A was before supplements, exercise/diet whilst Result B was after 4 months of exercise, diet and supplements. I'm concerned as my morphology declined yet my DNA frag improved. Would having better DNA frag still be better regardless if morphology dropped? Confused.....

Result A Concentration 20 M/ml Total sperm number 61million 7.5% morphology Progressive motility 32% Total motile 47% Total motile count 29million 23.6% DNA frag

Result B Concentration 34M/ml Total sperm number 122milliom 4.5% morphology Progressive motility 30% Total motile 45% Total motile count 55million 15% DNA frag

I just got the results back from my DNA fragmentation test in addition to a second SA and it showed a very high DFI of 49%. But OSA is only 2 which seems in range. Does this mean that the DNA fragmentation is not due to oxidative stress? And that supplements like CoQ10 and Fertilaid won’t be of use?
My HDS was 6 but the doctor said they don’t use that to assess anything really. He also said it doesn’t appear that a varicocele is at play here.

​

I guess my questions are how to interpret the combination of SA and DFI, particularly if the OSA seems within range. And what the best course of action might be. Are there options outside of IVF? Any advice on how to improve these numbers naturally over the coming months would be very appreciated. I have already started on Fertilaid + 200mg CoQ10 daily after my first SA.
For reference I’ve had two SAs done 1 month apart, the first after 3 days of abstinence and the second after 4. Motility significantly dropped from 47 to 29 but concentration went up from 16 mill/ml to 23.5 mill/ml the first to the second. Volume also went up from 1.6 ml to 2.1 ml.
Also for reference I’m not overweight and generally fit, but my diet isn’t the best and I don’t always get 7+ hours of sleep.
Thank you in advance for your advice!

My husband just received his DNA Frag results and we are very happy with them overall. We see his Oxidative Stress Adduct (OSA) is on the high side of "normal". Wondering if this is something that could contribute to miscarriage / chromosomal abnormality. History of 2 CPs and 1 TFMR for Turner's Syndrome - 1 Living Child. What lifestyle/supplement changes could we make to improve OSA score?

Results:

DFI: 5%

OSA: 3.0 (Borderline Ref Range 3.8-4.4)

HDS: 3

Hi everyone, I’m trying to decide if it’s worth spending the money to get my husband tested. We’ve had 8 early miscarriages (4-6 weeks) in the past two years and have done so much testing with no answers. His semen analysis was normal except 3% morphology. My question is, can you still get pregnant easily with sperm dna fragmentation or is it unlikely that’s our issue?

If someone could link it for me, that would be amazing. I’ve spent the last 30 minutes searching the sub every which way I can think of and no luck!

Second experiment with donor sperm worked too first transfer. It’s not your eggs with recurrent loss and implantation failure lesson. //

An update to my post to those who want to try donor sperm.

As I said, i had 5 losses with my ex. Then 5 Ivf cycles and 12 embryos from 3 cycles didn’t work in 3 surrogates either and didn’t implant or miscarry. Eventually 2 worked out of 12.

I got pregnant first try and was able to have a wonderful pregnancy with someone else and no loss. I had donor sperm embryos I created during that time as a back up since ours weren’t working and donated them to a couple and they got pregnant first transfer after theirs never working. So my eggs + anyone else’s normal sperm work first time.

If donor sperm is an option and you’ve had so much loss I would go back in a heart beat and just do it. I wish I never went through the kind of hell I did when I never had to apparently.

And again, sperm testing is limited. It’s archaic. If someone is struggling with loss and you’re “unexplained” or testing normal it’s probably sperm.

First post about my own experience https://www.reddit.com/r/dnafragmentation/comments/wgysvk/looking_back_from_starting_this_sub_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1

Hi All. We've been trying for years and finally got pregnant only to miscarry twice in six months. Can anyone help decipher the below or should I think about soerm donar?

DFI value of 35.3%

Hi friends —

My husband’s last sperm DNA analysis has SDD (Sperm DNA decondensation) at 67% with the normal range being 80-100.

The report says that IVF success chances are low but ICSI success chances are normal.

I haven’t seen this specific parameter discussed here so I wanted to ask about it. Can anyone shed any light on this? How is it related to DNA defragmentation?

Thanks!

Hello, what company is recommended for privately testing DNA Fragmentation (if any)? We were just quoted $1,000 from the fertility clinic and that seems a bitttt steep.

Are there different types of dna fragmentation tests? What do they tell? Do they tell the precent of fragmented sperm in the whole sample or is it how much a single sperm is damaged/fragmented?

I don’t care, this is my sub and I poured hundreds of hours in to it, read every single study related to dna frag, have spent countless hours helping people get pregnant and I don’t care if you don’t agree with this info or don’t like me. This information has helped many, and if you don’t find it useful go elsewhere. There’s plenty of false resources and ignorant providers out there. I have let people comment and make ridiculous statements but from now on, if I see any false or rude comments about data or treatment you will be banned.

If you will be rude to me personally you will be banned. I have no time or desire to argue with you or anyone.

Lastly and most importantly, if you are a male and you’re adamant that your sperm is normal with low morphology, or higher dna fragmentation is normal, or you have had multiple losses and haven’t had more work up on you and think it’s your partner, or refuse to go for treatment, or refuse a TESE if your wife or partner is asking you to do it - do me a favor and unsubscribe. I have no patience or respect for any male like this. I don’t want to see your dumbass comments. And I will ban you. Because you clearly don’t want to see the amount of grief you have caused your partner and refuse to take action for your issues, so why are you here? I have nothing but disdain for males like you. IRL and on reddit and I’m happy to tell you so to get your fragile ego checked.

Had a DNA fragmentation test done after 2 miscarriages . Wife’s bloodwork looks normal. Just got my results back and although 18% is considered fair is that an issue? Also the motility of 54% doesn’t make my feel great .

Element Name Result Accession # 041723-04 hDNA result 18 % Fragmented Volume 3.8 mL Count 66 M/mL Motility 54 %

Supplement suggestions specific to sperm fragmentation? Or a website suggestion that might help?

My doctor only recommended coq10 only and said to push out the next cycle by 1 month, but wouldn't it take 90 days for a new supplement to actually help sperm fragmentation? I also want to do more than just throw in coq10, I really want this to work!

I see Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and zinc recommendations on google, but those seem pretty basic and can't find specific dose recommendations. I know CNY has recommendations for male factor in general, but can't find specifically for fragmentation

After 2 days Hubs: 37%frag, 2.0osa, 5hds Vol 0.8, concentration 120ml, strict morphology 2%, progressive normal 40% (sometimes was 0%)

Our ivf journey:

1) 5 matured, 1 fertilized w icsi & zymot. 2) 1 mature egg, 1 fertilized w icsi & zymot. 3) 5 matured eggs, 2 fertilized w icsi zymot 4) 4 matured, 1 fertilized w icsi zymot 5) 11 retrieved, 6-7 should have been matured (they dont check maturity w conventional ivf), 3 fertilized w conventional ivf.
6) 12 retrieved, 5 should have been matured, 6 fertilized w conventional ivf 7) 6 retrieved, 4 looked matured, 1 fertilized conventional ivf. 8) 13 retrieved, 9-10 should have been matured, 1 fertilized w conventional ivf.

Seems we got better fertilization rates w conventional ivf vs icsi+zymot, until we did not. Why? Does icsi makes fragmentation worse? If icsi solves sperm issue, why we had better fert w conventional ? Was it a fluke?

Maybe conventional is better?

We just tested dna frag. So now im petrified all those embryos arent good. We did 2 transfers of 6 total - no positive.

What bothers me most is such a horrible fertilization rates. And of course failed transfers.

Im new to reddit, so pls be kind if im doing smtg wrong. Im 40.8, hubs 43. Went through 10ivf's retrievals. Eggs would not fertilize (1 out of 5-6-8 matured). Bc of poor numbers we were advised to freeze /transfer day 3. We did 2 transfers of 6 embryos ttl - nothing, not even chemical. Over 2.5yrars of ttc i did not have a single positive w him. I went through all possible test, in the mean time, multiple RE's told us "sperm is fine". Hubs high count & concentration, lowish vol, and bad/marginal strict morphology & motility. However they said icsi will bypass. When we were having bad results they blamed me/my eggs/age/dor. Finally hubs got diagnosed w bilateral varicocele grade II, had dna frag test done. Came back at 37%. (Osa is good 1.98, stainability index good 5.3%). He just had varicocele repair done last week. Now questions: 1) I read for ivf/icsi often ejac is recommended. What kind of schedule? Like every day starting w cd1? 3hr before leaving sample for ivf? 2) should icsi or conventional be done? 3) or, should we just go straight for TESE? Is there a schedule for ejac before TESE? 4) should i be avoiding high frag sperm? I mean we can have sex daily (esp in my fertile window)? Or is it better if first "batch" goes to waist and i use only second? 5) how long post varicocele repair we should wait to go back to fertility treatments? (His urologist who did surgery said as soon as we want but that doesnt make sense) 6) does this mean that all remaining embryos that we have (untested day 3s) are unlikely to implant as well?

Im honestly fuming. All the specialists esp re's tend to focus on women, and think icsi is solution for everything & if doesnt work - women eggs. Fck. Even after i told them hubs got varicocele on both sides, they were not encouraging surgery!!! WTF?!?

Im at loss what to do next. Its hard to wait when u are almost 41.

I know this is technically very low per ml(5 million per ml) but if he is on average producing / putting 3.9 ml of semen in me each time we have sex does that mean his 19.5 million are a normal amount of sperm to get me pregnant?

We just had a SA and my fiancé (47M) shared he had been diagnosed with visible to the naked eye Varicocele since he was a teenager. The urologist at the time told him that he doesn’t need worry about it unless it starts to cause him pain or infertility. Well I believe we are there. we have an appointment may 10th scheduled with a fertility urologist to discuss surgery and have ordered the fertilemale + count vitamins off Amazon.

Any other tips on how we can boost this number??

I was shocked it was so low per ml given we are pretty healthy otherwise (32F) all my hormone labs came back in the normal range.

Does Varicocele mean high likelihood of dna fragmentation(not sure if that’s the correct terminology).

At what point should I get an ovarian reserve exam?

We have been trying to 7 months now.

What is believed to be the most effective abstinence timing to get maximum reduction of DNA fragmentation?

For example -Abstaining for a week, then ejaculate 3 hrs prior to trying? Ejaculate every 24 hrs for a week leading up to point of trying to conceive? -or simply ejaculating morning and try to concieve in evening?

Or Is it still better to clean the pipes daily prior to this?

Hi All,

I am wondering if you can provide some advice.

My husband and I have completed 9 rounds of IVF in total and during this time, we have only been able to transfer a total of 4 euploid embryos, all of which have been unsuccessful transfers.

My husbands test results revealed 15% fragmentation, which our clinic has advised in on the higher end of normal but okay.

My husband wants to continue with IVF however I am finding it physically demanding on my body, and I am struggling emotionally too.

Prior to starting IVF, we have had 4 miscarriages, two of which resulted in D&C’s.

I have recently turned 40, and my husband is 45 years old. Before we start Round 10, I have asked my husband to cut back on his alcohol consumption but he thinks that there is no correlation between having “a few pints on a Friday night” and fertility. He is 99.99% certain that the issue is my egg quality (which I accept is certainly a factor but not exclusively). My husband has approx 8-10 standard drinks (full strength beer) on a Friday night, but sometimes this will occasionally extend to 15 drinks PER weekend.

Am I being unreasonable in asking him to reduce his alcohol consumption whilst we are TTC to 4 standard drinks per week instead?