Preparing for IVF and just found out DH is pos Hep C

[Karma221]

Hello and thank you in advance for reading. We are doing IVF and after many bumps in the road to get here we have just received word that my husband is Hep C reactive. My clinic has revceive the secondary bloddwork and I am presently waiting to hear back from our Doctor on the results. From the way the nurse sounded, I do not think it's looking too good. Of couse I am worried about his health but what I want to know right now is wheather or not we can use his sperm . If he is positive what is the usual protocol for IVF? I am 43 and we only have one shot at this and there is literally no more time to waste. Please -  any knowledge, experience or answers are so so needed and welcome right now. I am expecting this journey to be an emotional rollercoaster but I'm ready for the ride and am frightened they are going to tell me he needs treatment first, after which I beieive we will be out of time. Thank you

[ceanothus]

Hi Karma,
I'm sorry to hear of this hep C result and I know how upset you must be. First I have to warn you that none of us are doctors here, we are just hep C patients helping each other. In my opinion however, it is not time to panic regarding the IVF. Your husband's test probably was just for the antibody to HCV, which would indicate that he has been exposed to it but not whether he has an active infection, so his first step is to get another type of test that will show whether he still carries the virus or whether his body successfully cleared it on its own. Tthis happens in a minority of cases, but it is still about 15-20%, so he may not have an active infection. If he does have an active one then there are still extra steps that can be taken to "wash" the sperm to avoid contamination during IVF. If you Google just this "HCV sperm"

[ceanothus]

Sorry, hit the send button by accident (damn iPhone!). You can find info by googling those terms. One particularly informative article was at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12351543/. Best wishes!

[BigDaddy_59]

Good luck with your IVF!!!

Were were trying that route about 6 years ago and I have Hep C. I froze sperm before going on treatment.

If you have been taking the Hep C treatment with Ribavirin, you have to wait for six months after  stopping it before getting his sperm again. There were no restrictions due to my having Hep C.

My wife ended having a boy naturally at 38yo.

Also, my wife does not have Hep C...

[Karma221]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Truly truly appreciated!
We received the second test results back which have confirmed that he has HCV. It is a bit of a shock and we both have a lot to learn. Great to know there is a place like this for support. Again, thank you.
Earlier today my RE gave us the news that we will go forward as scheduled even with the new diagnosis.
I look forward to coming back here to learn from what appears to be a great and knowledgeable community. Thank you again xo k

[threepaddleCurt]

For what it's worth, I probably have had HCV for the past 40+ years (and now I feel ancient!).  My almost nineteen year old son and seventeen year old daughter were born fine and dandy and neither test positive for HCV.  Again, I would agree with the previous posts that their moth
er was not HCV +, so that minimal risk was also not a factor.

since your fertility doctor doesn't see an issue, I don't think there really is one, at least as far as making a baby is   concerned.  My wife would probably say damn the torpedoes and soldier on. But then, she was the original fertility goddess and then the practical earth mother sort of person :)

I believe as long as you both are completely honest with each other, and very committed, HCV is just another challenge. My wife knew about my dx before she married me and we have just gone forward from there.

I wish you the same kind of honesty and endurance. But seriously, HCV does not mean normal life  ends!