I have just been told (last week) that my AMH is 0.6 and I have 4 follicles (2 on each ovary) but that my left ovary was quite low. Basically early menopause. My FSH was 22. Due to be re-done again this month.
I am truly devastated. I want children so badly and this has broken my heart.
I need some kind of reassurance that magic (as such) does happen and what can I do/take to greater my chances?
Just to let you know I’m a single gay woman so I’ll be going through a donor.
Have you tried IVF already? Xx
IVF clinic gave me the results and told me my only option was an egg donor. Not what I want to hear 😔
I am 42. I have been ttc for 7 years. At 35 I was told premature ovarian failure, no other issues. At 38 I had my first round of ivf. We got 3 eggs, 1 fertilised then bfn. Second round st 39, 2 eggs collected, both fertilised, bfn. 3rd round at 40. Abandoned due to lack of follicle response. I was then told I had 1% chance with my own eggs either with or without ivf. I was devastated and at the same time annoyed nobody had mentioned these odds earlier.
I went straight for donor eggs after that. No hesitation. I don't care where the eggs come from. My desire to be a mother and to carry and nurture my own child outweighed anything else. Of course we also now know about epi genetics (Google it). It means that we trigger and suppress certain DNA triggers in the egg- so we do impact on the resultant babies DNA.
My donor provided us with 6 fertilised eggs.
Transfer 1 dec 2017 = bfn.
At this point I was totally devastated as i expected it to work right away. However i had been told the odds = 50% on one transfer, 70-odd% second etc.
Transfer 2 = 🎉🎉🎉🎉first ever bfp
Sadly ended in anembryonic pregnancy which required medical management
Transfer 3 = 🎉🎉🎉🎉bfp. I am now nearly 18 weeks
Looking back I wish I could tell my fresh faced, IVF-naive self to skip everything and go straight for donor eggs. But I think we all need to go through a journey to get to that point. Sadly it all takes time and nobody has a crystal ball.
The point I am trying to make I guess is that I really do understand how devastated you must feel about this news. But it is not the end. You should have been offered some kind of counselling? Go for it. You won't look back. And you have all of us here for support. Big hugs lovely xx
I’m sorry to hear your news. It is truley devastating, I found out at 38 my AMH was 1.4. My world fell apart. So I totally understand how you feel and it’s taken me a year to get my head around the concept of donor eggs. My sisters both offered to donate eggs, one they considered too old (year younger than me). My other sister’s (35) AMH came back at 0.6, lower than mine, thankfully she has completed her family. I’ve been through implications counselling and spoken with the donor conception network locally. I’ve found this really helpful. Our mission is to have a live kicking healthy baby and if I need to use someone else’s egg then so be it. It’ll be our baby! There is a support network here for you. You are not as alone as you may feel. Don’t ever give up and the day will come when you are holding your baby, maybe not via the route you dreamed about but you’ll get there.
I am so grateful for all the options given to me. We tried with my eggs via nhs funding, only 1 egg and it failed to fertilise. However the lab made an error so we got 2nd funded cycle via nhs and I currently have one little embryo on board! I’m hoping so much this will work but if it doesn’t we are moving straight to donor in a private clinic. It’s not cheap but we’ve been saving for a year. We’ve rented out our spare room, set up little extra money earners, gone down to one car etc. It all helps.
Wishing you the very best on this journey. Xx
Hello,
Please don’t give up hope!! I was in the same boat as you. Here’s my story ....
I’m in a same sex relationship and so had never tried to conceive before. At the age of 34 we both started our NHS tests to choose who would go first. We live in Scotland and were told we would be entitled to 3 rounds of IUI, 3 rounds of OI (Medicated IUI) & 3 rounds of IVF with Donor sperm.
My wife’s AMH came back above normal at around 17pmol but mine came back at 2.2pmol. I had 3 follicles at my internal scan. 2 on the right and 1 on my very small left ovary. I was devastated. We talked over our options and did LOTS of research. We both wanted to carry if we could. As my chances of conception were no greater through IUI or IVF (because they wouldn’t get many eggs out of me) we decided I would use the NHS funding as it gave me more chances.
The whole process in Scotland takes along time to go through. The tests alone took nearly a year to complete and then we went onto a waiting list for IUI. Whilst waiting I started weekly acupuncture through a fertility specialist in Glasgow. Lovely lady who gave me so much advice and support. As someone very sporty she advised me to tone it down, along with giving up caffeine & alcohol (I didn’t drink anyway) I cut back on sugar and did my very best with my diet (lots of protein and veggies), I also tried to be more mindful and not stress over the littlest thing, the only thing I struggled with was my sleep pattern (I’m a shift worker) I also took DHEA 75mg, Ubiquinol, vit D, amongst other vitamins that I’d read to take for Low Ovarian reserve from Rebecca Fetts book ‘It starts with an egg’ (I used this book like a checklist!) I also went organic with eggs and dairy, stopped wearing perfume. Went to a natural deodorant, cut out parabens etc stopped dying my hair changed from plastic lunch boxes to glass amongst other things. We really went for it! I had my AMH retested twice more. It went down to 1.2pmol then shot up to 4pmol.
At the age of 35 we went for our first round of IUI and I fell pregnant but began bleeding before test day. So ended up in a very early M/C. At our second attempt I fell pregnant again but began bleeding at about 5 weeks. Again also a very early M/C. At this point we saw our fertility consultant (who happened to be world leading in the area of AMH!) he advised it was probably poor egg quality that was causing the M/C but he did a chromosomal blood check and other recurrent M/C test on me anyway - it all came back normal. He did say that they now are looking at incorporating low AMH as a reason for recurrent M/C. I had also read that online as well. My acupuncturist however didn’t think that was necessarily the case as she had always thought I have a progesterone issue (my lutal phase is only just 10 days). I continued with my third IUI this time it was a BFN.
Then I went onto the medicated IUI (my fourth attempt in total) my wife had to inject me because I nearly fainted the first time I stabbed myself! 😂 I fell pregnant but as had always been the case so far I expected to M/C. I requested to stay on progesterone on my acupuncturist’s advice to 12 weeks (if I made it that far) and the hospital let me, though advising that the evidence didn’t suggest it would do anything. I didn’t think I had anything to lose so I chose to stay on it. At 6 weeks I had a slight bleed, I remember thinking ‘oh well here we go again’ but it came to nothing. At 8 weeks we had our viability scan. There was a blob with a heartbeat ❤️ ! I cried (and I’m not an emotional person!) At 11 weeks we had a private scan and also paid for the NIFTY test to check blobs chromosomes. Everything was fine and blobs chromosomes were normal. I had my 12 week NHS scan at 12.5 weeks, again all was fine. At 16 weeks we heard the baby’s HB at my midwife’s appointment and I’m currently 19 weeks. We have our 20 weeks scan a week today. I won’t lie, I’m still expecting it to go wrong for me at some point but I’m not living every second in an anxious state. I thought ‘I’ll be happy at 12 weeks’ at 12 weeks I thought ‘I’ll be happy at 16 weeks’ now I realise that I won’t be happy until the baby’s here but even then my sister says you never stop worrying so I’m just trying to be mindful and not stress out as that won’t be good for the bubba!
Please don’t give up hope, do your research and try your best to get your egg quality up. That’s what I did and so far so good. Best of luck xx
Congratulations & thanks for sharing. Gives me hope! Xx I also changed my lifestyle and made all the changes you mentioned (apart from dying my hair!). I use household and personal care products that are more natural and less chemicals. I’ve never had my AMH retested so I’ve no idea if it’s made an impact. I hope it has 🤞🏻
You guys are an inspiration. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your thoughts and stories. It’s bloody tough being a woman. Even tougher in these situations. An emotional rollercoaster is an understatement xxx
I don't remember my numbers exactly but I was told I had low ovarian reserve (I think it was two on each side) but got pregnant via ivf. Several years later and I've just found out we conceived naturally. Just want to say keep positive.
This means that a baby conceived using donor egg effectively has three biological parents: a father, a mother, and the egg donor. The birth mother influences what the child is like at a genetic level – it IS her child.
This completely changed the way I looked at egg donation xx
Genetics therefore merely provide a basic blueprint. The biological mother takes care of absolutely everything else.
So I’ve read and read and read and quite frankly, completely locked my brain!
I’ve purchased DHEA as well as pregnacare and folic acid. People are also saying Clomid. Suggestions on what I could take. Has anyone taken DHEA? What are your thoughts? Also I hear that soy isoflavines are better than Chlomid (and a lot less harder to get). Thank you all. 😘 xxxxx
Hi Kauff78,
I have started DHEA for my low AMH and saw a huge difference before and after taking it. The doctor sad he could see 6 follicles after taking DHEA for just 5 weeks and none before. I feel that DHEA is working for me. I read some posts online that ladies with endometriosis shouldn't take DHEA as it will have side effects.So, I was reluctant to take for a long time. When I discussed this with my doctor, he told to give a try. DHEA seems to be working for me and don't have any side effects so far 
I got my tablets from biovea.net
How many follicles did you have pre DHEA? I’ve been taking DHEA for about 3 weeks now and also got them from the Biovea site. I have however read that the ones needed need to be micronised to absorb faster. If anyone is able to clarify this... please do and also please state where we can purchase x
I am trying to stay positive. Hope it was useful. Stay positive and all will be fine
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