Many couples face unexplained infertility, and too often, women end up taking the blame because the men are told that their sperm is “fine”. I want to share a classic case where the true reason for not conceiving was right in front of them. Unexplained infertility is essentially undiagnosed infertility, and remember, men make up 50% of the equation. Don't underestimate their role—tune in to learn more.

==========

STOP wasting time and grasping at straws. Let’s navigate your fertility journey together, so you can feel more confident and in control for this next BIG chapter of your life. Within the Fertility 101 membership, you'll join me - Dr. Jane, Naturopathic Doctor and a Natural Fertility expert, to learn how to optimize your hormones, improve egg quality and enhance your fertility naturally. 

JOIN HERE

Every month, Dr. Jane takes on 2 couples where she works with them 1:1 to identify and overcome the root cause of their infertility.

APPLY TODAY⁠

==========

Key Takeways

2:32 Analyzing sperm test results

5:35 Zero viable sperm: A red flag

8:40 Testing and treating both partners

11:43 Importance of male presence in fertility

13:45 Addressing environmental factors and infections

Memorable Quotes

"If you're told you have unexplained infertility or the embryo quality is not as good as before we blame the egg, we want to make sure that the sperm quality is really there because the egg chooses the sperm, and it doesn't want to choose a sperm that's not good."

"I want to build a healthy generation of kids. I want to help you guys have healthy babies. And that means we need both partners on board from day one."

"It's never just you, because it takes two to make a baby. His involvement is not just his sperm quality; it's his overall health and presence."

Connect With Dr. Jane Levesque

Click Here To Sign Up For Dr. Jane’s Hormones Masterclass

Website - https://www.drjanelevesque.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drjanelevesque/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DrJaneLevesque/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@dr.janelevesque7319

🎙️

Podcast Production & Marketing by FullCast

And so when I'm thinking about the testing that he needs to do, I knew that he. We need to look at the gut. I knew that we need to look environmental toxin because there's gotta be a toxic load that's coming somewhere. We obviously have to look at the blood and look at the hormonal levels and blood sugars and inflammation levels and all of that so we can set them up for success. Because like I said to me, it's insane that somebody looks at it and says, oh, you're normal. And a year and a half later, you're still not getting pregnant. Where in reality, like, he's had two of these tests done within the last year and a half. And like, both times they said, yeah, it's totally normal. Like, you don't have any sperm that will fertilize an egg. That's a problem. Pregnancy is a natural process. So if it's not happening or if it's not sticking, something is missing. After having a family member go through infertility and experiencing a miscarriage myself, I realized how little support and education women have around infertility. I want to change that. Jane. I'm Dr. Jane Levesque. I'm a naturopathic doctor and a natural fertility expert. Tune in every Tuesday at 9am for insightful case studies, expert interviews, and practical tips on how you can optimize fertility naturally. If you've been struggling with infertility, pregnancy loss, women's health issues, or you just want to be proactive and prepare yourself for the next big chapter in your life, this show is for you. All right, today I want to break down a male fertility case. This was unexplained infertility, and he was actually told that his sperm is fine. This is a couple that came to me about a year ago, and then they said, you know what? We just started trying. We just want to start. We just want to do some things on our own, and then if we feel like we need more help, we're going to reach out. And so, sure enough, a year later, unfortunately, they still don't have a baby and they're reaching out now. They've had a little bit more testing done in terms of, like, a sperm analysis, and then she had some testing done. But of course, they were told they have unexplained infertility. And I'm going to break down his case because they're actually a perfect couple. And I hope to have them on the podcast once they are pregnant and have their baby to explain their story. But they're actually this perfect case where it's both male and female issues and we need to bring both of them up in order to be able to conceive. And we are shooting for a natural pregnancy because they are younger, they're in their early 30s, so it's I think like 30, maybe 31. So they have time now. They've been already trying for a year and a half. So of course I'm cognizant of that. And we want to try to move them as quickly as we can. But when you're young, it's a lot easier.

The system is going to respond generally a lot faster versus somebody who is in their 40s again, another 10 years of disease development versus not. But let me share his sperm analysis. Now, if you're just listening to this, I'm going to walk you through it because this is what really flagged some things for me. And I was like, why didn't the doctor say anything? Because this poor couple again has been struggling and they're just told they need ivf. And in reality, there's a glaring red flag in terms of why they're not getting pregnant. So the first thing off the bat I always look at is the collection time and the time of the analysis. So if the collection time is at 10:15 and the time of the analysis is 10:50, then that tells me they analyzed it within 35 minutes. That's great. That's kind of the longest amount of time I want to see it. Sometimes I see clinics not analyzing it until 35, 45 and an hour and even after then. Those are big issues. The sperm is usually going to be dead by that time. And that analysis is essentially a waste. So do make sure you. You see when is the analysis being collected versus when it's being analyzed. And then we go through, you know, sexual abstinence. Duration, three days. That's perfect. The volume is three mils. That's great. The color is normal. I don't like when they just say normal because I kind of want them to describe, like whether it's. There's opaque. They say white or gray. Sometimes I've had people say yellow. So I want to know what they're choosing from because normal is usually. It's just like an arbitrary thing. Do you know what I mean? Like, who says it's normal? And maybe somebody would say it's gray. Maybe someone would say it's a yellow tinge. So I'd like to see a little bit more explanation there. The viscosity was good and the liquefaction was complete. The ph semen is at 8.5. To me, that's a little bit on the higher side. I'd like to see it closer to the eight and even below eight a little bit. Again, when that PH of the semen is really high, that means. And we know that the female reproductive system is acidic ph, except when around ovulation, when women, we produce lots of white cervical fluid, or we should be producing lots of white cervical fluid. That fluid is alkaline. And so it kind of helps the sperm survive longer. Right? It helps to create that optimal environment for the sperm to survive. But when the semen PH is really high, then it's unlikely that the PH that we will produce will match that. So they will die off a little bit faster. But also it just kind of tells me that there's signs of infection. So it's not crazy. I've seen like a 9 or a 10. Like, those are definitely big signs of infection. But, you know, 8.5, I'm thinking, I don't want it any higher than that. And then, you know, in terms of concentration, it looks really great. 119 mils. Million per mils. And you're like, that's fantastic. And then you go over to the next number and it says spermatozoa, that's viable. And it says zero. It's absent. And so it should be above 58%. That's what we're looking. But that doesn't even have a number. It just says it's zero. There's no viable sperm. He was not told this information. Okay. He was just told that his sperm is normal.

Because then you look down at progressive. So progressive sperm is like, how much of it is moving forward versus just mobile sperm? Is it moving? And we want to see the sperm moving forward versus just moving. And it's at 36%. So honestly, progressive sperm, usually we're looking at, you know, closer to 50%, Mark. That's ideal. And he doesn't. Again, they don't have a reference range there. So that looks quote unquote, normal. And then non progressive is 11%. And that's pretty good. But then immortile is 53%. So 53% of his sperm is not moving at all. And then somehow the morphology is at about 8%. And so I see when the doctor just kind of skims through it and goes, oh, yeah, morphology, 8% progressive is 36. It's great. 119 million per millimeter. But there's this huge red flag, and it's literally Red. Like, if you're watching it, it's like, it's red and it says a there's, which means abstinent. Like there's nothing. There's no. It's absent. And it should be over 58%. And so if you just skim it, you're going to think that this is normal. But if you're actually looking at the red marks and trying to figure out what's going on. Here you go. Huh? So he has 119 million per mil, but none of the sperm is. Is viable. How's this possible that his sperm is moving, but it's actually dead? So when it's not viable, that means that there's no sperm that is alive. And so they can be still moving, but they're not truly viable, meaning that they cannot fertilize an egg. And so this isn't unexplained infertility. This is male infertility case. And of course, I'm only sharing half the story with you just because this podcast will then extend to be a little bit too long. But I will share her story as well if, as you guys are following along because she has issues with egg quality and ovulation and good hormone production and, you know, anxiety and allergies, asthma, all of that stuff. But he doesn't have sperm that's alive. And so he had two tests, and both of the times that has came up as a. Which tells me that this is a problem. We are retesting it, of course, and we are planning to get the DNA fragmentation test, if we can, in, because essentially, if the sperm is not viable, AKA it's not moving, then there's probably some big oxidative stress that's going on. There is infections, there is hormonal disruptions, all of that stuff that we need to look at. So, like, if there is a huge severe DNA damage or membrane damage, then the sperm is not alive. And the most common question is like, well, how is it moving if it's not alive? And it's basically usually the motility is there because of, like, the residual energy that it has. And there is some sperm that's moving, obviously, but it's just the residual energy of the sperm and the electrolytes, like it's trying to move. It's kind of like if you cut the head off the chicken, it still runs around for a little bit before it, you know, dies down.

It's kind of the same thing here. I know, I apologize for the terrible example, but that's essentially what's happening. So, like I said, we. And I'll share with you what we did and what we tested for and literally just got started or it's a classic example, you guys. And I see this all the time, and it breaks my heart. And I have women all the time telling me that, well, my guy sperm is fine. It's just me. And it's never just you, because it takes two to make a baby. And his involvement is not just his sperm quality. It's actually just his overall health and his energy and his presence and your connection and your communication. I truly believe that the foundation of your future baby is you and your partner. And so if I'm just treating one half of it, then I'm only dealing with 50% of the problem. Now, I'm not saying that your husband is the problem, but what I'm saying is I have a hard time believing that you're over here, highly inflamed immune system, dysregulated, not ovulating, has low libido, and your husband is over here just chilling. If that is the case, then there's already a huge disconnect between you two, and that's not going to become better. As you continue to go through the infertility journey, or even if you do happen to get pregnant and have a baby, that disconnect tends to get even worse, and women tend to feel even more frustrated. And so I want to build a healthy generation of kids. I want to help you guys have healthy babies. And that means we need both partners on board from day one. I had a couple yesterday who he was so excited to be there because he's like, I want to be more involved. We've done three rounds of failed ivf, and all they said was like, we just need you five minutes, you'll do your deposit, and then you're good. And again, I looked at this sperm and I was like, this isn't good sperm. Like, it blows my mind that the IVF is like, well, we'll just wash it and we'll pick up the best one. You know, it's like picking out the best toy out of garbage is like, well, it's still not good because it's kind of garbage, and you're just picking stuff out of that. Not to be, you know, brutally honest, but you can do so much to improve sperm quality. And I can't wait to share even the results in February. So, like, I think he's coming. You might be already listening to this, and it must be February, but he's coming and he's doing his next sperm analysis in just a couple of weeks. And he's only been taking supplements for a month and making other changes for another couple of weeks that will already make changes in his sperm quality and viability and motility and morphology and all of that. And I can't wait to see what happens, you know, six months down the road as opposed to a month and a half down the road. So the male presence is really important. If you're told you have unexplained infertility or the embryo quality is not as good as, you know, before we blame the egg, we want to make sure that the sperm quality is really there because the egg chooses the sperm, and it doesn't want to choose a sperm that's not good.

And it's hard for it to then fertilize and to begin the process of the fertilization and the embryo genesis because it doesn't have, like, there's the DNA damage that's in there is so high, the egg has to fix it. And so when the egg is already struggling and then the sperm is in there, it's like the chances of the embryo being a good quality is really, really low. And this couple is this perfect example of, like, we don't feel healthy, we don't feel good. Like, I have ulcerative colitis, I have blood in my stool, I have mucus in my stool, I have, you know, fatigue, and I'm overweight. And it's like, you're not a parent yet. Those things are supposed to happen once you do have kids because it is so much more stressful. And genuinely, it shouldn't, because if you keep taking care of yourself, then you can take care of your children. And she has her own story as well. So if we can come together and say this isn't just about having a baby or getting pregnant. It's like, I want to do this well. I want to set my kid up for success because I'm struggling, and I don't want my kid to struggle. Right? And I think most of us can really relate to that. I just think the issue is you go to the doctor, the conventional system, and they go, no, you're fine. You're like, but I don't feel fine. And then it's hard for you to believe that you know your inner voice. So I want you to believe you're in a voice. I'm going to continue to share these stories and these results because I think there's lots of you who are in the same situation who were told it's unexplained in the mail. Just doesn't matter. He's good. We're just. He doesn't matter in their eyes because they're just going to do IVF anyways. That's it. And truthfully, good conventional doctors, I have some really great fertility docs that my patients are working with and we're working together. They won't do IVF until certain things are cleaned up. Whether it's they tell the male to optimize some things or they do their due diligence with a female and make sure that they check the endometrial environment, make sure that they check, you know, every. Like there's no infection, there's no inflammation, the nutrients are optimal. And then they do ivf. There are docs out there like that that's not mainstream right now, but the more that we talk about it and the more that we demand it, the more it will become that.

So like I said, I hope you guys find this helpful. We are doing lots of work in just getting rid of the infections. So for him, it's the parasite infections, the inflammation, the. His metabolic health. So getting him to just eat three meals a day, really focusing on protein, high quality fiber, making sure that they have a clean environment. Both of them showed up. This is why I like testing couples, because both of them showed up in this mold that's like really high in dust. And I mean, dust is just mold food. And I'm like, do you guys have a lot of dust in your house? Like, what's going on over here? And they did. And so they actually got a Jasper, an air filter that I recommend. And then they cleaned up their house and they're still cleaning it up and getting rid of stuff to make it, you know, a safe and optimal environment for them to thrive and therefore their cells to thrive and therefore for their baby to, you know, to thrive in as well. And yeah, like I said, the molded fungus was a big one. The parasite was a big one for him as well. There was a little bit of industrial toxins, but they're working through cleaning up the things that they're doing in terms of, you know, the cleaning products and the food quality and all of that stuff like herbicides and pesticides. When I see that come up in high levels, I know it kind of helps them understand why choosing organic is important. And so it's just helping them slowly make that switch and then using lots of specific supplements for each individual based on what they're showing. That is how I do things like I don't assume everybody has parasites because even though everybody probably has some amount of parasites, it's not the thing that we need to focus on for a super long time. It is usually something that I will clear anyways. And then there's lots of different ways to figure out what kind of parasites, which herb combination, all that stuff. This is like I said that to me is medicine where I'm looking at testing and then I'm prescribing based on what I'm seeing in testing versus guessing. And I think that the conventional system should be held to the same standard. And I think they used to do it just, you know, whatever happened, they stopped. So we need to keep demanding it. All right, you guys, share this with your partner. Share this with anybody that you think is going to like benefit from this episode. If you don't mind taking 10 seconds and rating this podcast, it really, really helps. So thank you so much for being here, you guys, and I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for listening. To read the full show notes of this episode, including summary, timestamps, guest quotes, and any resources that were mentioned on the episode, visit drjanelevesque.com forward slash podcast and if you're getting value from these episodes, I'd love it if you took 2 minutes to share it with a friend. Rate and leave me a review at ratethispodcast.com forward slash Dr. Jane. The reviews will help with the discoverability of the show. And who knows, I might share your review on my next episode. Thank you so much for tuning in and let's make your fertility journey your healing journey.