Poor egg quality

[diannakey]

Hi all, I am 45 and my DH is 45 too, we have been married for around 10 years and for some reason could not start a family which we are regretting now. We had been TTC for 2.5 years without success and then took medical help. It’s been 3 years on the journey and on my second IVF cycle for egg retrieval. 18 eggs were retrieved and my doctor told that out of 18 eggs, 10 survived after fertilization, 5 died, 3 went haywire and 2 are very poor quality which leaves me with another failed IVF cycle. The doctor also told me that I have poor egg quality (that too after the 2nd IVF) and that the eggs do not have right number of chromosomes and the level of FSH is also high (I really don’t know what they are) and chances for pregnancy is very low or maybe not. I was shocked, disappointed and caught a bit off guard because I felt like I had a good amount of progress on try 1. She says that surrogacy is an option for having a baby and I am too thinking of doing surrogacy but also don’t want to go for donor eggs. My specialist also wants me to go for one more round of IVF and if that doesn’t work then we’d have to talk about donor eggs. I really don’t know what to do or where to start, should we give up the whole idea of having a baby, please help I am very depressed. Does anyone have any success stories to share? Looking for hope, recommendations anything. Thank you!!

[evadoyle90]

Hello there, read your post and really sorry to hear about the trouble you are going through. I am in the beginning of my 2nd IVF cycle and know how difficult it could become. Me and DH TTC for 3 years without any results. I was diagnosed with poor egg quality (at such a young age?!), I am 28. The specialist says that the chances are higher due to my age and when you start ageing the ovarian reserve starts to deplete but there are treatment methods that can help to improve the egg quality. I will share my story with you, the poor egg quality lead to failure of my 3 IUIs and first IVF. With the second IVF my Reproductive Endocrinologist did a co-culture on the eggs and assisted hatching. She also changed my protocol and all these things helped me produce better quality eggs. I’ve had good luck with switching to lupron and using DHEA, so you should also give it a try. Talk to your specialist about this and come up with a plan to improve egg quality. You should never give up hope and be determined, I know it’s a tough journey but being positive gives a lot of strength so please never lose hope. I have heard such issues from many women and also that they kept trying and eventually succeeded. Please, please do not give up, you can consider taking a second opinion from a clinic in some other country. We are strangers, but if you need to talk please message me. I am here for you.

[stefanyross1]

Hi, sorry to know about your story. The poor quality of your eggs is probably due to your age. But keep trying as there are many success stories with similar situation as yours. I will share with you a success story of a person who was broken, devastated and had given up all hopes. She left trying and was thinking about adoption. The person is my close friend, she had a similar situation as yours, but her husband was determinant and they took to treatment once again and now she has 2 years old cute kido, she was 45 at that time, your age. Here is her story, she could not bear child due to incompetent cervix and was considering surrogacy via her own eggs. Her egg quality was poor due to age but she was determined to get it done through her eggs. She concentrated on improving the quality of her eggs, took to healthy living and diet and her doc. put her on DHEA for 2 months then switched to vitamin D, CoQ 10 and Omega 3 and within a year her egg quality improved considerably and then finally specialist was able to retrieve good quality eggs. So don’t lose hope, consult your RE and get to know about this treatment. Best of luck to you and please do share your story when the treatment yields positive results. If you need any help then I am right here.

[MildredLock]

Hi (Evadoyle) I’m in the same boat. I have failed 3 IVF cycles due to poor egg quality and would be undergoing the 4th one, this would be my last chance to become pregnant and deliver a healthy baby. I’m broken, disappointed and shocked after having done so much. I read your post and it gave me hopes to improve the egg quality. I am determined to do anything to have a baby. I then talked to my specialist about DHEA treatment for improving egg quality and she said that I can’t get this treatment as I have low level of AMH and also there is no evidence that DHEA can improve the quality of eggs. Also, she told me that there are severe side effects of the treatment like it may cause testosterone overload and lead to overgrowth of connective tissues (stromal hyperplasia), it can also compromise follicle and egg development, thereby reducing fertility potential if some is left. My hopes have shattered, so, before giving hope please make it clear as to who are the right candidates to get this treatment

[Kellywilson]

Hi (Stefanyross), I never said that anyone can take this treatment. I have said and again saying that you should consult your specialists about this treatment. They are the best person who can give you better answers and know what is good or bad for you. Regarding that there is no evidence of this treatment method my friend is not true. Women with reduced ovarian reserve have been given 75 mg of this drug daily, divided into doses of 25 mg 3 times a day for around 2 months and have been found to respond better to stimulation during IVF. You would need to discuss this thoroughly with your consultant regarding the potential side effects. And my friend who underwent DHEA treatment, it was suggested to her by her specialist who performed various tests on her, changed the protocol and only then suggested this treatment to improve egg quality. Apart, from improving the egg quality, DHEA treatment has shown to increase overall feeling, improved sex drive and feelings of improved physical strength, mental acuity and memory. Talking about the side effects, they are not as severe as you are talking about and if can then only in women who are susceptible to high luteinizing hormone(LH). The side effects that may occur are oily skin, acne and upset stomach. So please all, do not take medications on your own, consult the specialist first.

[Fredaflintstone]

Hi here I’m sorry to hear a bout your painful experiences.

Some thoughts from me - if there is nothing wrong with your uterus you shouldn’t need a surrogate. It’s most likely to be egg quality I think and if you use donor eggs then that issue would most likely be avoided. It’s something to get your head around though. We had poor egg results from nhs treatment and had the choice of trying again with my eggs or trying donor eggs. We chose the latter because we want desperately to be parents and didn’t want to go through the process over and over in terms of time, cost and emotional impact. We were told our chances were only 2 per cent with my eggs. We were very lucky and got lots of little embryos from our donor and my OH’s sperm and had one put back in June. It didn’t work. 🙁 We then had two of our frosties put back in Sept and i am now 9 weeks pregnant with twins!! A slight shock but a happy one. Of course the worry continues.

If I can help with any questions please do let me know xx

[Hidden]

I was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve last year and my Dr has recommended coq10 and DHEA to help with egg quality before we try ivf. If you read ' it starts with the egg' there is lots of info on steps that can be taken to help improve egg quality. DHEA has been used quite a bit in the states over the last few years and the nhs are in the very early stages of reviewing and researching this drug as well so there must already be evidence available if they are looking into this. I wish you all the best i know its so incredibly hard knowing what to do for the best a lot of us are in the same boat so your not alone xxx