Minimum number of mature follicles before IVF can go ahead?

[Emmyeve]

Was anyone given a MINIMUM number of mature follicles that they had to have on a scan before their consultant would go ahead with the treatment? I know they need to be a certain size, I’m talking about actually how many you were told you HAD to have.

Thanks ladies xx

[AnnieAnnie]

Hey do you mean to be eligible for nhs funded treatment? If so, I think I had to have 7 or 8 follicles. If you mean to have EC, I had to have 4. Turns out there was only 1 egg to collect anyway xx

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

I’m not sure what you mean, aren’t they the same thing? You’re collecting eggs whether it’s private or nhs. 7 or 8 follicles before what sorry? 4 follicles before nhs collection?

[AnnieAnnie in reply to Emmyeve]

So when I was having investigations by nhs they did the antro folicular scan, which needed to show the 7-8 follicles to qualify for NHS funded ivf (that was before any meds and before starting a cycle). Once I was going through my nhs cycle, 4 follicles was the minimum I had to have before EC for EC to go ahead. I had 4 on my last scan but only 1 egg was collected. Does that now make sense. I'm not sure if I've explained it well xx

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

Ahh I get you now. You had to have a minimum amount before they’d even try you with meds first? Jeez.

[AnnieAnnie in reply to Emmyeve]

Yes. You had to show that you had follicles, I assume to show that it would work. I think if I would have known that I only had 1 egg on my last cycle, I would have cancelled it. Just feels like that cycle was a waste xx

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

So if you had to have 4, why did they go ahead and collect 1 if you didn’t reach the minimum?

[AnnieAnnie in reply to Emmyeve]

Because until they get into the follicle they don't know whether there is an egg in there and my last scan was on the Friday and EC on the Monday so probably between that time I lost an egg or 3! Who knows what happened to them xx

[AnnieAnnie in reply to AnnieAnnie]

Its always good to remember that not all follicles contain an egg

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

Oh you had 4 sorry

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

Reading as I’m on the go sorry xx

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

Ok so you mean you actually had more follicles not just 1 but after they were collected you only had the 1 egg?

[AnnieAnnie in reply to Emmyeve]

Yes. 4 follicles at the last scan all measuring really well but only 1 egg collected. It was what they classed as a dominant follicle. It was the one that did well throughout stimms xx

[Emmyeve in reply to AnnieAnnie]

I see. I hadn’t even considered that not all the follicles will have an egg 🙈 thank you Annie, helpful as always x

[Cinderella5]

My clinic says if your ovarian reserve is low, you will only be entitled to one cycle of treatment and if you do not respond well to stimulation drugs or less than 3 eggs are collected then no further treatment will be offered.....just dug my original letter out for you from our NHS clinic when we first started.

The other thing to remember is that not all follicles contain eggs, they can be empty so follicles don't guarantee eggs.xx

[Emmyeve in reply to Cinderella5]

Gosh that’s harsh!! Thank you for looking for that for me, really kind! Is that because you were over 40?

[Cinderella5 in reply to Emmyeve]

Nope that was standard for all patients. In the first instance you qualify for 2 cycles but they have that caveat in bold on the letter. I was 37 when I got that letter and managed to get more follciles, eggs so thankfully I was ok.xxx

[Rose2303]

Hi, every CCG is different. Mine require an AFC above 5 to be eligible for NHS IVF and they require 3 follicles above 18cm when on meds to go for egg collection. X

[Emmyeve]

The CCG don’t stipulate this I believe. At least mine don’t anyway. It’s the consultant himself that’s setting the minimum so I just wanted to check if he was being fair. 3 above 18cm sounds fair to me but 5 doesn’t.

[Jonesjp]

Hi hunny I had 3 follicles at 18mm at EC but all of them were empty 😢 however some follicles can contain more than one egg so there’s really no way to know until they go into them, but I was surprised they put me into EC with just 3 x x x

[Emmyeve in reply to Jonesjp]

Thanks, did they stipulate a minimum before you went for scan?

[Jonesjp in reply to Emmyeve]

Yes it was 3, on the Friday scan I had 4 but by EC on the Monday I was back down to 3

! X x

[Emmyeve in reply to Jonesjp]

Was this NHS?

[Jonesjp in reply to Emmyeve]

Yes, but we’re under the welsh NHS, which although you have to go on a 12 month waiting list once you’ve been referred to the clinic, they seem much more flexible once treatment starts x x

[Hidden]

My clinic never mentioned a minimum and I went to EC with only two big follicles and one smaller. They got seven eggs from these with four being mature xx

[Emmyeve in reply to Hidden]

Oh wait, you can get more than one egg from each follicle? 🙈 how do I not know this

[Hidden in reply to Emmyeve]

I presumed so but now I’m not sure? Maybe I had smaller follicles at EC they didn’t bother mentioning and just said how many eggs they retrieved but all through the scans I always had the two big and one smaller follicle x

[FlyGirl724]

I only had 1 follicle yesterday. First ultrasound. No treatments or meds used.