Surveys and analyzes for men in preparation for IVF
If in vitro fertilization is recommended for a couple, then both partners will have to undergo tests and tests. A man can avoid them only if fertilization is planned with donor sperm.
If conception is planned to be carried out with the use of the biological material of the man himself, then one cannot get away from the tests. In this article we will tell you what tests you need to pass on to your future fathers before IVF with your wife, as well as where and how to do them better.
Male participation in IVF
In vitro fertilization implies conception, which will take place not in the maternal organism, but in a test tube. For conception, as is the case with natural conception, two sex cells are required - male and female. Ovules of the woman are collected by a puncture method after preliminary hormonal therapy. The man gives the sperm himself, having received it by masturbation.
If the amount of sperm is pathologically low or no ejaculation occurs at all, sperm can be surgically obtained directly from their vas deferens.
A man can become a donor of sperm for his own wife in most cases, the only exception is total cases of infertility - in the absence of testicles from birth or as a result of trauma, in the complete absence of live spermatozoa and their affected DNA.
In all other cases, a man can become a dad, and modern reproductive technologies will help him. Even with the predominant number of dead sperm, doctors can get only 1-2 completely healthy and motile sperm to apply the ICSI method (insertion of sperm with a thin hollow needle under a microscope directly under the egg shell). If sperm cells are dead, but DNA is preserved in them, the chances for high-tech medical care remain.
To plan the method of fertilization and the IVF protocol, the reproductive specialist must clearly understand what a man’s fertile functions are and what his state of health is in general, because the viability of the obtained embryos directly depends on how much father’s fertilized sperm of the future mother receives. That is why a man and need to pass tests.
List of required tests
Before IVF, my wife needs to visit any clinic where there is an opportunity to make a spermogram. It is best to do it in the clinic where it is planned to carry out the procedure of in vitro fertilization itself.
Spermogram - the most important analysis, which gives the doctor a complete picture of the composition and quality of ejaculate. Male reproductive cells will be assessed in many ways - viability, motility, morphological properties, activity. Make spermogram will have more than once, because the sperm changes its composition over time.
Usually, the first analysis is passed before the IVF planning, and the second - at the moment of the start of the IVF protocol. The analysis is paid, it costs about 1-1,5 thousand rubles.
Read more about sperm analysis for IVF read in another article.
In addition to spermogram, men need other tests, which also play an important role in planning the IVF protocol:
- blood test for HIV status;
- blood test for syphilis;
- a blood test for TORCH infection (rubella, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis, rubella);
- blood test and smear from the urethra for sexually transmitted infections;
- blood test per group and Rh factor;
- general blood and urine tests;
- fluorography of the chest.
These are basic studies that are needed in order to get an idea of the general health and fertility of a man.
Since men are usually very busy and do not have enough free time to run around doctors with jars, you should optimize your time costs as much as possible.
It is best to do the whole range of necessary analyzes in one clinic. It does not take much time, do not have to sit in lines and be late for work. It will be enough to come to the appointed time, pay for laboratory tests and a doctor's appointment and do all the necessary research.
If the family cannot afford to pay for each analysis, it is possible to do almost all the analyzes from the list provided in the clinic where you live, but there will be no optimization in this case - the survey will take a long time. All studies are done under the policy OMS in the clinic, except for sperm. You have to pay for it anyway.
Additional analyzes
They can be prescribed by a doctor individually. This may be a blood test for hormones or ultrasound of the prostate gland - it all depends on which of the spouses was fruitless and what are the predictions for the success of IVF in a particular case.
Men who are over 35 years old are required to visit genetics with their spouse to do karyotyping tests - the risks of chromosomal abnormalities of the fetus increase not only with increasing age of the woman, but with increasing age of the man.
If there were several IVF attempts and they all turned out to be unsuccessful, a man and a woman at any age together need to do a genetic analysis that allows you to establish the compatibility of partners. In order not to waste time and money on ineffective protocols, it is better to do such an analysis in any medical genetic center or family planning center even before the first IVF. Due to genetic incompatibility, pregnancy does not occur in 5% of cases.
The minimum list of tests for men before IVF is contained in the attached video.
