DNA integrity test question (xp)

I have been a bad board member and hardly ever post. DH and I have been TTC for 5 years, and all this time we have been trying something new and waiting to see if that has worked.

DH SA's have been coming came back with 0% morphology and so-so motility. Last year he was going to the urologist who had him on clomid to improve his testosterone levels and the multivitamins to increase the other numbers. His last SA came back with 2% morphology and the rest was great. So once again, we waited a couple months and had another SA and a sperm DNA integrity test, and set up an appt with the RE to go over these numbers and determine whether IUI or IVF was in our future.

Next tuesday is the appt and I had thought that whatever the last results were, we were gonna be moving forward, whether IVF or IUI. No more waiting. That thought was just shut down with a call from the nurse asking if we are still going to the appt with the RE since the DNA integrity results came back abnormal, and she would need to talk to us about that.:confused:

I have no idea what this means, and my head is about to explode thinking about this. Anyone with experience with this type of test? Does this mean that even IVF won't work? Are there any other options?

I don't know why the nurse told me before hand. I would have rather heard it from doctor while she was explaining it to us. Now I have to wait until tuesday to know what this means.

I just wanna cry.

Hi,
I'm sorry you haven't been getting better news, and I don't know what DNA testing is, but I feel your pain and just wanted to let you know I'm listening. (((hugs)))

Thanks.
I have been googling 'sperm DNA integrity tests' and all the articles have left me even more confused, so I decided not to read anymore about this and wait until the appointment to see what this is all about.
The only thing is that the appointment that was supposed to be tomorrow had to be postponed another week :rolleyes:
What can I say, I think I'm getting used to things not getting done right away.

I'll let you know as soon as I get more info on this.

I'm sorry about the bad news. I don't know about that test either. The only thing I can guess is that it checks for generic abnormabilities. I hope you can get some answers before next week. Can you move the appointment up? Another week is a long wait in this situation. Please keep us posted. :hug:

I don't know what to think about this test. I've asked in a few places and nobody has heard of it.
Anyways the earliest my RE could see me is monday next week. I'm trying to keep myself busy so I don't go crazy, but these days are going by too slow.

Sorry time is dragging. There just aren't enough RE's! I'm sure it makes them feel really special but sure can be annoying to us. Hang in there!

This turned out to be a very long post, but maybe this info can help.

Well, after a long wait the results are in. DNA integrity results are given in DFI (DNA Fragmentation Index) and basically it tells you that if the sperm DNA fragments too much then it's damaged. The results are analyzed as follows:

Less than 15% DFI: Excellent potential
15%-30% DFI: Fair to Good potential
More than 30% DFI: Poor potential.

DH's results were 29.1%. So borderline with poor potential.
What this means:
When an egg is fertilized, the initial division in the first 3 days is done only by the egg's own DNA. After the third day, the sperm's DNA will activate for the rest of the cell division. If the egg or the sperm is damaged, the embryo will stop developing, and therefore no pregnancy will be achieved or an early miscarriage will happen. Sometimes even if semen analysis seems to be perfect, sperm can be damaged, and it can go undetected and the diagnosis is unexplained infertility.

Since the physical state of the sperm relates to the DNA fragmentation, if the best looking sperm is selected then chances are the DNA integrity will be ok for fertilization, and thus implanting. Even though this is all a gamble we decided to go ahead with IVF and hope for the best.

Yesterday was CD 2, which meant we could start cycling right away or wait another cycle. We're going for it :eek:. I had an u/s to check the follicles and had all the bloodwork necessary.

I can't believe this is finally happening. After waiting so long to do this, now it seems it's happening so fast.
I'm nervous, but so happy! We have hope again.

Thanks for the info. That's good to know. It might explain a lot of things for a lot of us. Good luck to you. Pls keep us posted.

I really appreciate all the info and explanations you gave!! Sounds like my dh might need to have that test done. I just wante to say that I think ivf is a great way to go in your case. That way they will know if the embryo had a damaged sperm or healthy one before they transfer it back into you.

Congrats on getting to start right away also!! KUP!!

That is really great information! I hope the IVF with good sperm is all you need!