Anyone had success with a varicocele procedure?

We've been trying to fall pregnant for what feels like forever. After a ridiculously long waiting list for a semen analysis we finally got the devastating news that my husband's sperm count is 'critically low' we did another 2 tests privately and unfortunately these both came back with similarly devastating results. We're considering going abroad for IVF/ICSI as our experience with the NHS so far has been lengthy, stressful and largely unhelpful. In the meantime we've been taking Impryl and doing acupuncture - and our acupuncturist suggested that my husband be tested for a varicocele. We've asked to be referred to a urologist and are looking into getting a private scan. I wanted to know if anyone had found any success with this procedure? We're looking to go abroad for the ICSI treatment in the new year but I'm wondering if we should hold off if this procedure might help him... Any advice or words of wisdom would be so appreciated 🩷

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@Chelsea thank you so much for sharing. I'm so pleased to hear that your husband's count has improved and that you have 3 healthy embryos. That's absolutely wonderful. Sending positive vibes your way for Monday 🩷

@Chelsea interested to hear more about your point around improving numbers enough to do ICSI IVF? We are looking to possibly go private for ICSI IVF as my husbands numbers are severely low (0.7 million per ml concentration) with low motility too. It made reference on his semen analysis notes about ICSI so we’ve presumed since that we’d be able to do it once we discounted all other possibilities (including variocele), but is there a minimum numbers wise?!

My husband has a varicocele and the urologist said it wouldn't necessarily treat his low count, but that it could possibly help with motility and morphology. However research shows that plenty of men with varicoceles conceive anyway, so unless it's causing pain or other issues, it's not necessarily the answer to fertility problems He didn't have it treated and we went ahead with ICSI and ended up with 3 embryos, one of which has just been born and the other 2are in the freezer

My husband had varicocele surgery to try to solve low motility but the results after surgery showed an increase in motility but a dramatic DECREASE in sperm count. We were left with one option, ICSI. Thankfully our second round of ICSI was successful and we welcomed our son in 2022. It's always worth a try but I would definitely advise getting the ball rolling on the IVF route at the same time

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