Interactive FAQs Male Factor Infertility Question: My husband has been diagnosed with having a low sperm count: 400,000. He has had microsurgery with no improvement. He is now on medication. My question is: "I have no reproductive problems. What would be the likelihood of achieving preganancy if we tried artificial insemination using washed sperm? Would the likelihood of pregnancy be worth the cost? In my research, I have read how that sperm was collected and separated until the count was high enough to achieve pregnancy." I am 30. My husband is 29. Any help would be appreciated. Joyce E. North Carolina Answer It is very uncommon to achieve a pregnancy with insemination unless you can get about a million motile sperm in the final sperm prep. Attempts at freezing multiple ejaculates fo combine for one insemination usually don't work because the sperm don't survive the freezing process well. There is strong support for adding fertility shots for the woman even when she has nothing wrong with her to improve the chance of success with low sperm counts. The only patient I have had who has been successful with less than a million sperm was on fertility shots and had about 10 eggs. She ended up with quadruplets, one of which was in her tube, requiring surgery, so it's not for the faint hearted. The problem then becomes, once you pay for the medications and the insemination, you still may have to try for 4-6 months to be successful. This then becomes as expensive as one cycle of in vitro fertilization, which has a much higher success rate, and means less time and shots for you. Van Voorhis (Fertility & Sterility Vol 70, No. 6 December 1998, p. 995-1005) looked at the effect of low sperm count on cost effectiveness of fertility treatments. They found that when sperm counts were less than 10 million, the cost of delivery with IVF ($33,974) was less than the cost with fertility drugs combined with IUI (intrauterine insemination) ($41,390). As pregnancy rates imporove with IVF, these costs should continue to decline. Dr. Perloe FAQ archives: IVF PCOS Clomiphene Ovulation Ovulation Induction Injections Age Related Infertility Endometriosis Donor Egg Donor Sperm Fallopian Tube Reanastomosis Tubal Infertility Unexplained Infertility Endometrial Factor Miscellaneous Return to the IVF Homepage This page, and all contents, are Copyright © 2003 by IVF.com, Atlanta, GA, USA.