ICSI fertilisation failure

[SurreyRed]

Hello, I've just gone through my first IVF cycle. Of the four eggs collected yesterday, only one was mature. I received devastating news this morning that the egg didn't fertilise in the ICSI process. The clinic wasn't sure why, and I've read online that it's really rare for eggs not to fertilise in the ICSI process. Has this ever happened to anyone and what were your next steps?

I'm 36 and have low AMH. My partner has problems with his sperm so we had to use his frozen sample but the clinic said it's good quality. The clinic is already talking about donor sperm / eggs. We're distraught that we might never have our longed-for child.

[Hidden]

Hi, similar thing happened to me. My first round i had 5 mature eggs collected all poor quality, 1 fertilised but i was warned that that 1 did not look good. Sure enough the next day it had disintegrated. I was gutted. For my second round i took DHEA which improved my egg quality. I also did acupuncture for 3 months and took lots of vitamins. I got 7 eggs for my second round, 6 could be used for ICSI and out of the 6 two fertilised and i had a double embryo transfer on day 3. The second cycle was far better but sadly neither embie implanted. Im now strongly considering tandem cycle abroad. The clinic has an 80% success rate so im thinking surely it cant fail me again if im using eggs from someone half my age. Have you been recommended DHEA for a 2nd cycle? Xx

[Linzb]

Hi, so sorry to hear that you didn’t get any fertilization. The same happened to me on my first cycle, I had 2 eggs (both mature) but neither fertilized by ICSI. They also couldn’t explain it and just recommended to try again with the same protocol. I just started my second cycle this week but I’m on a slightly higher dosage of stims to try to get more eggs. I think a lot of the time the first round can be more of a test to see how we respond, hopefully we’ll both have more luck next time.

Take some time to recover from the cycle, it’s really hard when it’s just over so quickly without even a chance to get them put back in. Stay positive! X

[Sarah_S]

So sorry to hear your sad news. It's heart wrenching when it's so unexpected. I'm 37 with fairly low AMH and low reserve. I've had 4 cycles of ICSI, and each time they learn more about how your body responds. My 3rd cycle we got 4 - 3 were mature but none fertilised and they couldn't explain it. I was devastated and ready to try donor eggs but decided to have one last go after tests showed our chances hadn't dropped since starting cycle 1. I was recommended DHEA to improve egg quality, changed to short protocol as they thought being blasted with max dose on long protocol wasn't helping my eggs. This time got 6 eggs, 4 mature, 3 fertilised, 2 good quality and transferred and now I'm 11 weeks. I've been on this forum a while and it seems quite common for not all to fertilise, so I'm not sure it's as rare as you read. It's so hard to make decisions and you do have to rely on consultants recommendations as they are the experts, but go back to them if you have more questions before deciding anything. I'd ask if they would do anything differently if you decided to have another go with your own, and whether they think DHEA might help you xx

[Autumnmoon]

I'm really sorry your egg Didn't fertilise I hope you are able to continue treatment x

[magda22]

Hi, I've had a round of ICSI where it failed to fertilise - so disappointing and devastating. They also didn't really know why, though it possibly comes down to egg quality. I also have low AMH. I think give yourself some time before making any decisions about what to do next. I found I could start to think more clearly as I got further away from it, though I went through a lot of different emotions and thoughts from positive to negative on the way. I'm now gearing up to try a fourth round. Like several people have said, it could be worth trying DHEA, and looking into lifestyle choices to boost egg quality - lots of antioxidants, etc. Lots of love and luck for whatever you decide to do next xx

[Birdboy1]

Hi so sorry for you news it’s so hard to take it all in,

I had the same as you for my first cycle, I to am 36 and my husband had issues too.

My first cycle I had 2 eggs and neither fertilised. I too was absolutely and utterly gutted. When I went back for our follow up appointment they started talking about donor eggs which was really hard for me to get my head round. They wanted to give it one more cycle using both our eggs and sperm, but tweaked our medication.

Second time round we were successful and I’m now pregnant. They told me that they learn a lot from round one, it’s almost a learning curve.

Take some time off as I didn’t and regretted it. You have so much to process and a broken heart to mend. I wish you so much love and luck for your second cycle xx

[lorraineb61]

My second cycle collected 1 egg which failed to fertilise. That was the worst cycle I had. My AMH level was ok, but egg quality was poor so got to transfer 1st cycle but BFN and 3rd cycle the 2 remaining eggs disintegrated by transfer day so there was nothing. We got told that egg quality was the issue and that we should go for Donor eggs. The problem we had was that we had 1 cycle left to do on the Access Fertility Refund Programme which we needed to complete in order to get the refund to pay for the donor treatment in Spain.

I took the micronized version of DHEA and COQ10 (Ubiquonol) for 3 months prior to the 4th cycle, somehow managed to get a grade A embryo and am now 6 weeks pregnant!!!

Don't give up. I had asked our consultant about DHEA after our 1st failed cycle and he said there wasn't any real proof it worked - I wish now I hadn't listened to him and started it then!! x

[abcgirl]

You should read back through my story because it might give you some alternate things to think about. My husbands sperm has ‘nothing wrong’ with it so we did IVF first round and out of 8 mature eggs, none fertilised! We then did a ton of research and found out he is missing a protein that is needed for fertilization. And we would have also had failed fertilization with ICSi. So to avoid that heartache, we threw everything at the next round, so went from short to long protocol, we cut our drinking completely, changed our diets to remove sugar, dairy and carbs and did ICSI with AOA. We got more eggs 15, and 12 fertilized. 6 made it to day 5.

I must say that with a ‘sample size’ of under 3 eggs it’s hard to tell if it’s egg or sperm related or just bad luck. I personally wouldn’t jump to egg donor right away... there is still hope and chance for a biological child. Depending on how many eggs you get next time, you could try half DH sperm, half donor sperm.

Also after the first round, my clinic said that in the past they would have recommended egg donor (b/c everyone always assumes it’s the egg esp when the Semen analysis was always good)... but based on what they saw with us, that they would advise a sperm donor. Anyway in the end I’m happy I advocated for myself, got the information I needed and was able to influence my treatment. Ps it was all NHS funded.

[SurreyRed]

Thank you so much everyone for your wonderful messages of support and advice. I've got an appt with the consultant in three weeks to review what happened and figure out next steps. I'll be discussing with her lots of things you've mentioned. It's frustrating they've jumped to egg donor suggestion before they've properly investigated what went wrong.

The clinic didn't recommend DHEA or COQ10. Is there a particular strength I should take? I've seen COQ10 ranges from 50-200 mg.