Is it common for the sperm to die before fertilization?

[dawnmarie3148]

My sister and her husband have been trying to conceive for a few years. Turns out he is a carrier for cystic fibrosis and does not have the tube that carries the sperm outside of the body (I believe it is the vas deferens?). They started the fertility process and sperm were retrieved from within him and she had 10 good eggs. Unfortunately his sperm died before the fertilization could take place. There was a one day interval from his retrieval appointment to her follicle removal. They are devastated and feel hopeless. I tried to offer words of support and encouragement. It would help if we/they knew that this was a common occurence? Is this a common obsyacle? Could they try the same process again with success? Should they have pushed to have both procedures done on the same day???She just found out the news this morning and she won't be speaking to her doctor until Monday.....  Thanks for any hope you can give

[StressHead]

I know exactly how you feel, my sister and her husband have been trying for four years. I am currently 18 weeks pregnant and they took it hard. She's in hospital today having her fertilised eggs implanted after their retrieval yesterday. Out of the 10 eggs they retreived only 4 of them were good so it was pretty close. I'm praying hard that she will get a positive pregnancy test in 14 days time.....
There is nothing really you can do to comfort her, they'll have to comfort each other.
I'm sure when she talks to the Doctor on Monday they will have more options for her. Does your brother in law have a brother.....his sperm will be closely related and some may even be identical so maybe they can use a donor.

[jesslee83]

well, on wiki, it says if the sperm are exposed to air/oxygen, they can die w/in hours....same as with high temperatures can kill sperm....i tried doing a search for "can cystic fibrosis kill sperm" and couldnt get a genuinely clear answer....i'm very sorry for your sis and BIL.....maybe if they do this again, they should get her first, then him, and hopefully the same day.....i'm sending some left over baby dust your sisters way, and i hope all works out well next time, and she get's her dream child(ren).....