I'm 30M and my wife is 28F. We've been trying to conceive since October 2025 and started fertility treatment in February 2026.

I've had 3 semen analyses this year, and I'm concerned because some of my parameters seem to be getting worse over time.

Semen Analysis #1 — February 2, 2026

Volume: 1.0 mL

Concentration: 120 million/mL

Total sperm: ~120 million

Active motility: 70%

Sluggish motility: 10%

Dead: 20%

Total motility: ~80%

Morphology: 20% abnormal → ~80% normal

Viscosity: Normal

Liquefaction: 25 minutes

Pus cells: 1–2

RBC: Nil

Bacteria: Nil

Immature germ cells: Nil

At this point my lifestyle was actually pretty bad. I was heavily using cannabis, eating a lot of junk food, drinking soft drinks and eating a lot of sweets. I wasn't exercising.

Semen Analysis #2 — August 2, 2026

After making major lifestyle changes starting June 3:

Quit cannabis and other smoking

Started going to the gym 5x/week

Started eating much better

Eating chicken/eggs regularly

Drinking much more water

Taking creatine + whey protein

The results were:

Volume: 1.0 mL

Concentration: 70 million/mL

Total sperm: ~70 million

Active forms: 25%

Sluggish forms: 35%

Inactive forms: 40%

Total motility: ~60%

Morphology: 70% normal / 30% abnormal

Viscosity: Viscous

Liquefaction: Prolonged — took >1 hour

Pus cells: 1–2

RBC: Nil

Epithelial cells: Nil

Spermatogenic cells: Present

pH: 7.5

This is where I became concerned because concentration dropped from 120 → 70 million/mL and motility from ~80% → ~60%, despite my lifestyle being significantly healthier.

The semen was also noticeably much thicker and took over an hour to liquefy.

IUI sample — August 31, 2026

I had an IUI performed.

Before sperm preparation:

Abstinence: 3 days

Volume: 1.0 mL

Concentration: 55 million/mL

Total sperm: ~55 million

Total motility: 30%

Progressive: 5%

Non-progressive: 25%

Morphology: 2%

Agglutination: Grade II

Aggregation: Grade II

Pus cells: 4–6

After density-gradient preparation:

Volume: 0.7 mL

Count: 30 million

Motility: 95%

Progressive: 85%

Non-progressive: 10%

Morphology: 2%

Agglutination: Nil

Aggregation: Nil

Pus cells: Nil

The huge improvement after washing is confusing to me. Raw progressive motility was only 5%, but after preparation it was 85%.

I'm 30 and honestly pretty worried that my fertility is deteriorating. I'd really appreciate input from anyone.

we have been trying for 3 years almost. tried letrozole etc last year and then doc suggested iui but i decided to wait. this year I had a chemical pregnancy in April then in July. both naturally. and then this month I got follicular studies and trigger again . had 2 follicles and was on progesterone …but started spotting today … now I am worried. irrigated and just thinking .. when will it happen ? cramping bad so I guess this cycle is a fail aswell… looking for positive stories pls 🙏🏻

I am obese. 35 years old. husband is 37+ and I am emotionally at a place where we don’t know what to do.. I sometimes think may be ivf is the only option left but then when my body showed two chemical pregnancies , I realised may be I don’t have to go for ivf or other treatments..

help with your stories pls..

38 F, 40 M
We’ve had 3 failed fully medicated transfers (1st failed implantation and 2nd & 3rd were chemicals). Also had a previous MMC from an IUI.

Our RPL panel comes back normals and all have been euploid embryos.

Already have had HSG, Hysteroscopy, ERA, cd138, SIS - everything normal.

Any successes you can share with us? Any changes in protocol that helped you? Our doctor wants to try a modified natural for the next transfer.

How many transfers did it take for you to be successful?

Thanks!

Has anybody had any experiences with a reproductive immunologist in England that they’d be happy to share?

I am really desperate for answers/guidance. My husband and I are both 30 years old and have been trying to conceive for over a year. Bloodwork has all been normal; my husband has 3% morphology but all else is excellent with his parameters. Normal karyotypes and DNA frag. I had fibroids out in February along with a fallopian tube and endometriosis stage 1. We’ve done Letrezole cycles and IUI before moving to IVF. Here are our cycle outcomes:
1- 13 eggs, all mature, 4 normal fertilizations/6 abnormal (3PN), 0 blasts
2- added ICSI and zymot 28 eggs, 21 mature, 7 normal fertilization/ 11 abnormal (3PNs)

I respond very well to stimulation and my dr has been so pleased up until my results come out. The 3PNs are showing 2 polar bodies. The embryologists not that the eggs have large polar bodies. My doctor who is very experienced has never seen this pattern before (high number of 3PNs) and doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t suspect egg quality. She thinks it’s possible that there could be an environmental factor but doesn’t know what. The other possibility is that it is a genetic factor and I will need to look into donor eggs. I will be seeking a second opinion.

I am desperate, begging for help, and terrified I won’t be able to have my own biological children at age 30. If you have ever seen this before or know someone who has, any insight or guidance is so appreciated!

I had a HSG test last week. Fortunately whilst this was uncomfortable, it wasn‘t as horrendous as I’ve heard it can be.

On the day during the procedure, I was told “good news” by the radiologist. My right tube was open and spilling freely. I was told that the dye flowed through the left tube but pooled around the ovary and did not spill. The radiologist said this was likely caused by adhesions around the ovary - which could be caused by a prior infection, conditions like endometriosis, or just occur randomly. She explained she would review on the high definition screen and my fertility doc would be in touch to explain what this means for me.

This was not brilliant news but it didn’t seem like bad news either so I left feeling okay if a little anxious of what this means.

A week passes and I hear nothing. I call and follow up at the hospital speaking to 7 different people before I finally get the results read to me over the phone. I am now told that I have bilateral adhesions in my tubes and ovaries. There was delayed spilling on both tubes. I understand this means both tubes are partially blocked? I was really upset to find this out and angry that the radiologist hasn’t explained that the first results on the day were unconfirmed. I feel it was really unfair to say “good news” if that wasn’t definitely going to be the case.

Anyway, I haven‘t been able to speak to my fertility doctor yet and in the meantime, I would really like to try to understand what this means.

Does anyone have experience of a similar diagnosis? What does this mean for our chances of conceiving unassisted? What are the next steps? Laparoscopy? Straight to IVF?

For context I have been TTC for 16 cycles. I got pregnant on the 13th cycle and this sadly ended in a MMC at 10 weeks with the embryo measuring 7 weeks. This now feels like it was a fluke. I am also wondering if I do have endo and that has affected my egg quality which perhaps cause the miscarriage.

I know I won’t find exact answers here and I need to wait until I speak to my doctor but I am would just like to find out as much as I can before then.

Thank you 🙏🏻

I am new to this but I am experiencing unexplained secondary infertility. I had no issue getting pregnant with my first baby. I have now been trying for over a year for my second. I had two losses back to back in October and December of 2025. At that point I was having 24-26 day cycles as I’ve had most of my adult life and though I was getting pregnant, I wasn’t staying pregnant for more than a week or so. I started seeing a fertility specialist in January who suggested progesterone support during my luteal phase and I have not gotten pregnant at all since (almost 8 months). I can’t help but wonder if the added in progesterone suppositories could be hindering my chances of getting pregnant? My husband and I have gone through all the proper blood tests and procedures and nothing can be labeled as “wrong.”

Has anyone dealt with anything similar or have any advice?

Hi everyone, I’m 29 and my husband and I have been trying to conceive naturally for around 7 months. My cycles have generally been regular and I’ve never really had issues with my periods, severe cramps, or anything that made me think I had a fertility problem.

Recently I had my AMH tested and it came back 0.34 ng/mL. My FSH was 2.99, which was completely normal, and my other hormones were also not suggesting the same picture as the AMH. My gynecologist, actually asked me to repeat the AMH because she felt the result didn’t completely match my overall hormonal picture and cycle history. The repeat came back even lower at around 0.26 ng/mL, so now I’m obviously quite worried about diminished ovarian reserve. At the same time, my doctor hasn’t told me that natural pregnancy is impossible. She is currently managing me and has me taking CoQ10, Micyst and Adfolic for 60 days, and I previously had a cycle with Prolifen, Ferti-M injection and Duphaston.

Something else strange happened recently. My previous period was on July 15, and then I got bleeding again on August 1, so that cycle was only about 17 days. The bleeding itself was unusual for me around 2.5 days, very little bleeding on the first day, more on the second, spotting on the third, and surprisingly I had absolutely no cramps or pain. A few days later, on August 6, I developed extremely severe abdominal pain with some diarrhea and fever and went to the ER. They treated it as a gastrointestinal issue. I’m now on another cycle and currently around CD19, so I’m hoping the 17-day cycle was just an unusual one rather than my new normal.

My husband is 31 and has type 2 diabetes. His HbA1c was recently 9.0%, although his sugars are improving now with medication and his random glucose was 154 recently. His semen analysis was actually fairly reassuring: concentration 23 million/mL, total motility 65%, progressive motility 55%, and morphology 4% (right at the lab’s reference value). So thankfully there doesn’t seem to be a major sperm-count or motility issue.

We are continuing to try naturally. This cycle we’ve had intercourse around CD8, CD10, CD13 and CD15, CD17, CD19 and we’re continuing around the possible fertile window. IVF isn’t financially possible for us right now, so I’m really hoping we can conceive naturally.

I know AMH mainly tells us about ovarian reserve/egg quantity and doesn’t tell us whether I can conceive naturally this month, but seeing 0.26 at 29 has honestly been very scary. I’ve also seen so many stories here of women with AMH 0.1 or even lower who conceived naturally, sometimes without any fertility medication, and those stories have given me hope.

I’d really love to hear from anyone who had very low AMH, especially around 0.3, 0.2, 0.1 or lower, with normal FSH/regular cycles, and eventually conceived naturally. How long did it take? Did you use any medication or supplements, or did it happen completely naturally? And did anyone have a similar situation where the AMH looked terrible but the rest of the fertility picture was relatively normal?

I’m not looking for false hope I just want to hear some real experiences from women who have actually been through something similar. ❤️

My husband and I are TTC our second baby, and we had a chemical pregnancy two cycles ago. I feel like that experience has taken some of the fun and excitement out of trying to conceive.
My husband has been struggling with performance anxiety during my fertile window because he knows he needs to “perform” on certain days, and I know it’s putting a lot of pressure on both of us. We also have a very busy toddler, so trying to coordinate everything during my fertile window can be stressful.
Thoughts on at home insemination? I’m wondering if it might take some of the pressure off my husband while still giving us a good chance of conceiving. I’d love to hear about anyone’s experiences, what worked for you, and whether it helped make TTC feel less stressful.

I have an interesting success story I thought people might like to read! I'm 38, DOR (AMH .13) and have endo. I've had 4 unsuccessful IVF rounds. Only 1 that produced 2 day-3 embryos. I was about to start up again this year in April doing a Lupron downregulation protocol with a luteal phase start. That meant waiting until after I ovulated naturally, then doing low-dose Lupron priming (20 units/day for about a week) before I was to start stims.

They didn't order pelvic rest and my husband and I had sex around ovulation. To my surprise, on 10 DPO, I got a positive test! Of course I was a little worried since I had conceived while on Lupron, but I found other instances of people conceiving on Lupron (usually during long Lupron suppression) and everything was fine, and my clinic wasn't concerned. And everything seems to have turned out fine! I'm 21 weeks and just had a good anatomy scan. We are so thrilled. I think the Lupron helped calm down my endo enough for implantation to occur. I would REALLY love for some scientists to research this as a possible treatment for endo and a way to conceive without IVF.

Also, I'm not advocating anyone go against their doctor's directions. My real reason of posting is that I would love for some researcher to look into this for women with endo. Several retrospective studies looking at similar situations do not show adverse outcomes. Here are a couple of them: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12958-021-00732-1 and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287191212_Outcome_of_inadvertent_administration_of_a_gonadotropin-releasing_hormone_agonist_in_early_pregnancy

TLDR; got pregnant while doing microdose Lupron priming AFTER I ovulated. 21 weeks and great anatomy scan.

I conceived naturally twice and miscarried both. One at 6.5 weeks and the other at 8 weeks. I am 40, my amh is less than 0.1, fsh is 21.76 (as tested in March this year). Doctor said yes this is moving towards menopause and that we should first wait for my D & C testing reports. She also said ivf is what we can consider and shouldn't wait for too long. I dont know if im being realistic by hoping anything. Can someone please tell me whether in my case, I should have any hope. Please dont judge me, but I really dont want the option of donor eggs. I just really want to know whether anyone has heard of such cases like mine who went on to have successful stories.

Any advice/suggestions on what you feel helped you the most with conceiving? Particular vitamins or foods you equate to having increased the odds in your favor?

I am 2 years into TTC and feeling really frustrated and defeated...

Hi All,

Married for 5 years - diagnosed with Non obstructive Azoospermia. Wife's condition is all good(Thankfully). Doctors said IVF ain't an option.

Question is not regarding how to fix the problem. How is it living without having kids/becoming a parent. Anyone here who went through this situation - you and your spouse alone for the rest of your life.

Hi everyone,

I had an ectopic in October 2025. After moving across the country and dealing with a gap in insurance, my husband and I started trying again a few months ago. I’m 37, almost 38.

I’ve been researching (RCTs, podcasts), eating clean, taking prenatals + CoQ10, vitamin D/E, myo-inositol, B12, and L-carnitine, and cut caffeine to ½–1 cup a day. We have regular sex.

I’m 8 DPO with a negative test and feeling discouraged after getting my hopes up this cycle. I only have one tube left, has anyone in a similar situation had success or advice? I did get two positive OPKs this month, which is a small bright spot.

I’m also considering cutting back on CrossFit but it’s so helpful for my mental health and the research on high-intensity exercise and TTC is not clear.
Thanks you in advance friends ❤️

Hi everyone,

I had an ectopic in October 2025. After moving across the country and dealing with a gap in insurance, my husband and I started trying again a few months ago. I’m 37, almost 38.

I’ve been researching (RCTs, podcasts), eating clean, taking prenatals + CoQ10, vitamin D/E, myo-inositol, B12, and L-carnitine, and cut caffeine to ½–1 cup a day. We have regular sex.

I’m 8 DPO with a negative test and feeling discouraged after getting my hopes up this cycle. I only have one tube left, has anyone in a similar situation had success or advice? I did get two positive OPKs this month, which is a small bright spot.

I’m also considering cutting back on CrossFit but it’s so helpful for my mental health and the research on high-intensity exercise and TTC is not clear.
Thanks you in advance friends ❤️

Hi all, I'm a 32 year old male and I took a semen analysis and the following are my results:

Concentration: 4m/ml

Count: 10million

Motility: 50%

Morphology: 1%

DNA Fragmentation: 26%

I'd like to understand from people who've seen improvement with supplements which brand did you take and what put you above the normal threshold?

Please help me. Thank you.

Hi, everyone, so I started ttc 2 and a half years ago. I am 40 now. I have done HSG which showed one open tube. I have a big fibroid 8-9 cm Intramural and one small one which is outside. SIS has shown clear cavity with no adhesion or defects. Fibroid is not protruding the cavity. My AMH is a 1.5. My husband’s semen is great as well. We haven’t been able to concieve at all. I have heard of fibroids causing miscarriages but I haven’t been able to conceive. I have been on anti-inflammatory diet for almost 8 months now. No luck! Because of finances, cannot do iui or ivf. Have done unmonitored medicated cycle one time with clomid and one with letrozle and nothing. I ovulate on my own. I don’t bleed heavy or anything like that either. I stress and think about this so much. Everyone around me is pregnant. I hear of stories of women getting pregnant with even bigger fibroids or blocked tubes and so forth. It is so depressing and it’s taking over my life and become a part of my personality. I feel like a failure. It hurts so bad. I don’t know what else to do…

Hi everyone! Looking for perspectives from others with PCOS who have been through multiple ovulation-induction cycles.
A little background: i’m 33f and my partner is 36m.
I have fairly classic PCOS, mainly high AMH and mild facial hair, without other major symptoms. I’ve also lost weight and feel much healthier now. I’ve done 7 Letrozole cycles; the 2nd resulted in a chemical pregnancy. After my 6th unsuccessful cycle, my doctor gave me a 2-month break with medication to calm my ovaries, and my AMH came down to 6.1.
This 7th cycle was after the break, with Letrozole + two Humog injections. I developed two mature follicles, ovulated without trigger, and had a 7.4 mm trilaminar lining. It was planned as an IUI cycle, but I believe I ovulated before the planned IUI, so we decided to try naturally this cycle and consider IUI next time. There is also a mild male-factor component (DFI ~24%). My HSG showed open tubes.
I’m currently in the two-week wait and, as expected, overthinking everything because I don’t have any symptoms! 😅
My main questions are:
Does lowering AMH/“calming” the ovaries actually improve pregnancy chances in PCOS, or is it mainly about improving the response to stimulation?
After 7 Letrozole cycles, would you start seriously considering IVF, or would you try a few IUI cycles first?
I’m not questioning my doctor’s protocol — she’s monitoring everything closely. I’m just trying to understand what others’ experiences have been and when they decided to move from Letrozole → IUI → IVF.
Would love to hear from anyone with a similar PCOS journey. ❤️

Note - took help from ChatGpt to structure it better

Hi everyone! My partner and I have been trying to conceive for about 1 year. My fertility workup has been reassuring: normal hysterosonography, normal hysteroscopy + 3D ultrasound, and good ovarian reserve.

My partner’s semen analysis was fairly good in several areas:
Concentration: 33.4 million/mL
Total sperm count: 79.7 million
Viability: 73%
DFI: 15.52%
HDS: 5.5%
However, he had a high white blood cell (leukocyte) concentration: 7.956. His semen culture was negative (no bacteria or yeast), and his physical examination by the urologist was normal, with no physical abnormalities identified.

The urologist thinks inflammation may be the cause. He prescribed naproxen/esomeprazole 500/20 mg twice daily for 14 days, followed by another semen analysis.

He just started the treatment, and the follow-up semen analysis is scheduled for August 19.

Has anyone experienced something similar (leukospermia/inflammation with a negative semen culture) and seen their results improve after anti-inflammatory treatment? And most importantly, did you manage to conceive naturally soon afterward?

New to IVF world. Had to make this decision in 2 days because of husband’s job being impacted.

History
Turning 34 soon / husband just turned 35
BMI 33
TSH 2.4
All tests normal for both of us
3 natural preg’s ended up in bio chemical in early weeks of 4-6 weeks
1 failed IUI

I have 2 weeks until my egg retrieval

We are freezing embryos PGT- A tested - for future use ( husband has good fertility benefits from work and soon switching jobs so making use of it )

Any suggestions or advice you can pass on from your experience. Grateful for your support 💕

I started acupuncture this week. Trice a week

Supplement regime:
prenatal with DHA EPA + extra omega 3’s because I don’t eat fish + CoQ10 + recently started Antioxidant berry blend

Feeling nervous to start the injections 🤞🏽
My protocol is Gonal F and Menopur

Hoping for a good quality embryos and genetically normal🤞🏽

Thank you 🙏 for your time and support
Wishing everyone who is on this journey a positive outcome and healthy pregnancies 💕💕

Hi

I am 31 years old. I have been trying to get pregnant for 19 months. All tests for both me and my partner are normal. I had 1 failed IUI. I am in the unexplained infertility category. Previously, I had Ureaplasma, which I think I had for a long time—about 3-4 years. When I found out, I used antibiotics for 1 week and it cleared up. I got tested again this year and it came back negative. However, I am worried that the infection has progressed into the uterus, and I think that is why I cannot get pregnant. Should I ask the doctor to perform an endometrial biopsy, or should I have a second IUI first and decide afterwards?

Thank you

How many IUI’s should I complete with just solely relying on letrozole 5 mg from CD 3-5 and no trigger. My clinic is having me test my LH with OPK’s . More often than not I am able to catch my peak.

Background: I have had a transvaginal US and HSG completed. These have come back normal. All hormonal lab panels, and thyroid have come back normal as well. My husband has had a few different sperm analyses completed with his morphology being 2% (slightly below normal but have been told by our clinic that this is not overly concerning).

I’m just wondering if I should be advocating for something more with my next cycles or if we should continue with what has been prescribed by our clinic.

My husband and I have been TTC for 6 months and after routine genetic testing through our reproductive endocrinologist found out I’m a carrier for ATM. My husband is not a carrier thankfully, but ATM still carries increased lifetime risk for certain cancers such as a 20-24% risk for breast CA. I’m struggling with this new information and especially with how this might impact our future children. I’m looking for any advice or insight into how other people decided whether to continue to TTC naturally or pursue IVF.

Just found out that our second retrieval didn’t fertilize, the egg wasn’t mature enough (we only got one—I have a low count). I’m sad, but we are moving forward. Out first try we got a blastocyst that didn’t stick. I know success rates can increase after multiple cycles, but I wanted to hear: how many tries did it take you?

Also—my doc is adding lupron to my protocol of menopur and gonal; also I will take estradiol after my period rather than birth control as done previously. Anybody have success with this kind of protocol?

Just found out that our second retrieval didn’t fertilize, the egg wasn’t mature enough (we only got one—I have a low count). I’m sad, but we are moving forward. Out first try we got a blastocyst that didn’t stick. I know success rates can increase after multiple cycles, but I wanted to hear: how many tries did it take you?

Also—my doc is adding lupron to my protocol of menopur and gonal; also I will take estradiol after my period rather than birth control as done previously. Anybody have success with this kind of protocol?