[Jessymica82]

Hello everyone I am new here. About 6 months ago DH and I learned he has azoospermia. We were both crushed. We are still in the process of trying to gather all the info we need. DH had two genetic tests done and both came back negative, so that has given us some hope. Our next step is some sort of test where they go into the testical to try and retrieve sperm if possible. DH and I do not have insurance that will cover the procedure as we are both students, and our graduate insurance will not cover infertility treatments. So I was hoping somebody could give me an idea what this test will cost. I am waiting to hear from our dr.'s nurse, but was hoping to get an idea from this forum. Also any advice or positive experiences with this procedure would be welcomed as this diagnosis has a way of making you feel so hopeless, and of course seems like when you find out this information EVERYBODY around you gets pregnant which makes it harder. Sorry just a little venting, my cousin is about to give birth any day now, and my aunt just gave birth yesterday, and my other cousin is preggo, soooo just feeling kind of down. Thanks for your help and understanding.

Jess

[faithbabies]

hi..i am sorry u are going thru such a rough time! i certainly know what you are going thru, as my DH was diagnosed with azoospermia due to a genetic condition. have they said whether he may have a blockage? usually they check for blockages or obstructions before they try to retrieve sperm...my DH had a test biopsy and it was around $4000 but they didn't find sperm...there's also a TESE procedure that is more involved and i've heard it's around $7000 and up. hope this helps a little. there's a thread called Azoospermia...u should go there....there's alot of people here to help u thru this! good luck!

[reremoog]

My husband was diagnosed with azoospermia as well. A couple of weeks later, we found out that he had an obstruction because he is a carrier of cystic fybrosis. Faith mentioned that the TESE was $7k. However, we were given the option of TESE or MESA - both were $4k through our physician. It may vary on your location??? Also, if an obstruction has not already been found, TESE is probably going to be the best bet for your husband. Because my hubands obstruction was found and was located above the epididimus, our doctor felt confident that MESA would return good results. Otherwise, TESE is best.

It's a real punch in the gut the first time you hear that your husband has a 0 sperm count. Once you get past the initial shock, you realize it's not the end of the world. Male factor infertility usually has much more promise of overcoming in a shorter amount of time.

When we first got the news, my husband was so worried that I wouldn't want to be with him anymore. It crushed him to think that he might not be able to be the father of his child. The idea of donor sperm was really difficult for him to come to terms with. It broke my heart to see him so deflated. I reassured him that the only reason that we were even trying to get pregnant was because we did love each other so much and that was why we wanted to have children together. It took us a day to chew on the news - but then we were both okay with the idea that we might have to adopt. We just wanted to be parents together and we knew that whatever child came into our life would be the only child that we would want.

My husband underwent MESA on June 1st. Sperm was retrieved! I am now 10 1/2 weeks pregnant - with multiples!!!

[Kelbell]

Jess- hang in there...My husband and I went through the very same thing. He has a unilateral absence of the vas and unexplained (so far) azoospermia. Luckily though, today he had the TESE procedure, and it was successful, so we will hopefully start IVF this fall. The procedure was not as expensive as the others who posted...all together it was 1700$, 600$ of that went to the urologist who did the procedure, the rest to the fertility clinic for the cleaning, freezing and storage of the sperm. Unfortunately, even for those of us with good insurance, these types of procedures are not covered at all and everything is out of pocket...I think that all the sacrifices that all of us going through infertility have to make will just make us better parents in the end, no matter how we get there...