So today is day 5 and I had a call this morning to say none of our 9 embryos have made it to blastocyst stage today, so they will observe them all until tomorrow.
I feel so disheartened. I asked a consultant in Madrid to call me back to discuss and she said it is quite unusual that this has happened with two separate donor's. She is thinking there may be a possibility that the sperm from might partner might be the problem now and discussed that if it is bad news tomorrow they may suggest doing a test to check the sperm's fragmentation. Has anyone had this test done before? Can you get it done in the UK?
My heart is breaking and it will be so hard telling my partner this is a possibility of why things aren't working with donor eggs.
Any advice would be very welcome right now. Feel so so sad and can't believe we will ever get to be parents xx
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Hope4usall
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No advice, but my heart goes out to you. Sorry it's so tough
I am so, so sorry.
I have been in your position - a good number of embryos, still fairly young, and no blastocysts at all. I was shocked and devastated.
My clinic also said it might be due to sperm fragmentation. We did a test, and it came back high - 42% fragmented.
We did MACS which helps with fragmentation, but we only got one.
Now I am trying donor sperm to see if it is my eggs, or my partner’s sperm that is the problem.
If you are using donor eggs (I assume from a very young woman?) then it must be a sperm issue for none of them to progress. I would highly recommend you do a fragmentation test.
Thank you for your message. I am heartbroken I have to tell my partner this. They said they would recommend vitamins. Did your OH have vitamins? They mentioned the MACS testing. Did you have this in the UK? Was it expensive? I wish you so much luck on your journey xx
It is heartbreaking - this entire journey is torturous, but it will be worth it.
My partner took vitamins and totally changed his diet - the sperm was even worse. No idea why. I don’t think vitamins alone can completely reduce fragmentation - you need IMSI or PICSI (I think MACS is a bit outdated).
My new clinic recommends antibiotics for 72 days (that’s how long it takes for sperm to regenerate).
You can get a fragmentation test in the UK if you go private. I think it’s about £250, but so worth it.
I find the hardest part is the “not knowing” so more tests might help.
When you tried with your own eggs, did they say anything about sperm or just blamed egg quality? I always find that most clinics blame the eggs, whilst the sperm is ignored. Very frustrating xx
I had IVF with my previous partner and he had low motility. Never got pregnant. With my current partner they said he had 'super sperm' but no luck with my own eggs. Moved onto donor eggs and this is now the third donor with no luck. The first donor we got pregnant but sadly lost at 12 weeks with Edwards Syndrome. Then a negative and the last of the first donor's eggs didn't thaw. 2nd donor none of the 7 made it to Blastocyst. Now this one and it looks like history is repeating itself! My OH has only had the basic sperm test. Bit annoyed nothing more was done after the last cycle when all 7 didn't make it as surely that's unsual using donor egg xx
I insisted on the fragmentation test - the doctor didn’t even offer it...
If both donors haven’t worked, it does sound like a sperm issue...my partner also has “amazing sperm” (volume, motility), but it was only when they did the test that they discovered 42% fragmentation...so if a fragmented sperm is inserted into the egg, then it will fragment and stop developing...
It is really worth getting the tests ❤️
Ps. Have you watched “one more shot”? Really good. I laughed and cried. They used a donor embryo and have a beautiful daughter. Never give up xx
After the second donor and all 7 of the embryos didn't make it, the Dr back tracked and said actually on day three there was higher fragmentation than they would expect! X
So sorry to hear this lovely - how devastating. There is a test called the Comet test which tests for sperm dna fragmentation. You can get this done it UK. It was suggested to us after one of our cycle failures when embryos didn’t get to transfer - they said that normally it is egg that’s issue up to day three but after that sperm could be more of a factor. We haven’t had it done (yet). We were at The Lister Clinic at the time so I know they do it. Hopefully you get some answers tomorrow x
Ps. That’s exactly what happened with us, so I think sperm fragmentation might be the issue. Once this is tested, they can do some things like micro-tese which can reduce fragmentation xx
Hi the first time I had IVF with OE we found that we had zero fertilisation so doc said try the Comet Test where the result came back with 39% fragmentation. Hubby took antioxidants for a few months then we did another cycle and got one embryo for transfer but I had a chemical pregnancy. No we’ve moved on to DE as thought failure was to do with low egg quality however when our clinic in Madrid did a more detailed Comet test that looks at single and double stranded dna fragmentation they found that both were high so he’s been taking high dose DHA and Curcumin tablets every day and it has come down a bit. Enough so that the clinic can use a technique called Fertilchip that separates healthy sperm from high dna fragmentation sperm. They said they’ve seen some good results. We were new to all this and we always thought the issue was with me but we have multi factor issues now and I feel the same as you - will my time ever come?! I’m just waiting for my period then my donor will start stims but I’m being such a negative nelly and thinking it’s not going to work because of the fragmentation thing. I have heard that even with high fragmentation it can work for others so there is a slither of hope. Fingers crossed more tests will provide the answers you need and you can plan a way forward. Good luck x
This is heartbreaking to read, I’m so sorry 💔 My husband had the comet test done and it cost us £450 at a clinic we had previously visited for a second opinion (also in Yorkshire) whereas my clinic did not recommend it and was about £600/£650 so might be worth “shopping around” if possible. My husband’s results came back “high but not that bad” so it didn’t actually change anything for us, but we’ve just had poor embryo quality again on our last cycle with my own eggs, so I’m terrified this will happen again if we move to Donor abroad, as I am relatively young with good stats and we had a good number of embryos form. He also took Ulbiquinol (co-q10) for a few months before this cycle and cut right back on alcohol (most of the time 🙄) but doesn’t seem to have made a difference, although at this stage it’s possible the two we have had transferred could have made Blastocyst stage.
I think it’s so lovely you are thinking of your partner’s feelings right now. Take care of each other and I hope tomorrow’s call goes well or at least you get some answers about how best to move forward xx
Thanks for your message. I am still waiting on the call from the consultant to discuss the next steps, bit the embryologist called and the 9 embryos didn't make it to blastocyst so this cycle is cancelled. X
Ive missed your last couple of updates, what a nightmare you're both having! I really hope you get to the bottom of things. I see someone else had mentioned the comet test for fragmentation. Just wondered if you're just having incredibly bad luck or if it is egg and sperm. I have been told that sometime certain eggs and sperms just dont do well together but to have that twice in a row is a bit of a coincidence. The only time my emrbyos didnt do well to get past day 3 it was my eggs that were the issue.....have your donors donated before and had good results? Might be worth asking the clinic. Big hugs, you must be hugely disappointed.xx
Thanks for your message both the last two donor's have proven fertility and the last one has has many children from her eggs. I really think it makes sense there is a problem with the sperm. I am so close to not coping with all of this. It's just too much to take! X
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