Poor eggs

[Success50]

Hello

I’m new on here & it would be great to get some advice . I’m currently egg freezing & I’ve just changed clinics to one abroad as it’s more affordable & I’m running out of funds . They changed my medication to menopur 300 IU for 9 days . I was previously on 225 IU of Fostimon & 225 of meriofert. I retrieved 5 eggs yesterday but later was told only 1 was good quality & the other 4 were poor . I asked if that meant there was only one mature egg but my coordinator said they were all mature but just poor quality . I didn’t think there was a test for egg quality as I’m only freezing not fertilising .

I thought you could only tell if an was good or not even you try to fertilise It .

I’m going to contact the clinic on Monday but I’ve spent hours googling for more information . Obviously when I was told I only got one egg I was gutted & slightly overwhelmed & it was a very rushed conversation in the waiting room.

I was only expecting to get about 5 eggs as I’ve never got high numbers but I’m just baffled they said they weren’t good quality but yet they were mature . How did they know this ?

I’m 39 with AMH of 3.4

Has anyone had anything similar ? Or can shed some light on this . I was planning on doing another couple of rounds & requesting changing the protocol back to meriofert & Fostimon but I’m really confused why all 5 weren’t suitable to freeze if they were all mature .

Thank you xxx

[AnaJohnson]

Hello!

Something similar happened to me. My prognostic was not good because I barely had eggs and the ovarian count was super low. So we actually had planned for 2 rounds of meds to get enough eggs. However, Menupor was very good and worked on me like magic. I think it is one of the most recent drugs with great results.

I got a few eggs but not all went to fertilization. Yes, they test the eggs for quality and about 30-40% of them would be consider healthy to go to fertilization. An unhealthy egg will not survive fertilization or will hatch to the 5-days. My doctor explained to me that fertilizing an unhealthy egg will be a waste of resources and will only had extra emotional stress to me because the likelihood of surviving are close to none. So, he suggested we only work with the healthy few that had better chances.

In our case, we also did PGS testing and we ended up with only 2 embyons one A/A and one A/B. We decided to keep both knowing that the A/B chances for a live birth are low. I am currently on my 4th day post FET, so wish me luck!

Before finding my current doctor I went to like 3 other clinics. I felt the other doctors did not explained me anything and did not give me even 5 mins. With my current doctor, he has never left me alone in this process. He informs me, explain me things, and answer my million questions patiently. The nurses too! So, it is very important to find a doctor that gives you time, transparent and scientific information, ask you about your expectations and listen/answer to your questions! Take your time in looking. It took me almost 2 years to find one that meet my needs! I hope this helps!

[Success50 in reply to AnaJohnson]

Thanks so much for taking time to reply .

That makes sense . It’s the first time using this clinic & I’d never been told they couldn’t freeze because of my poor quality before so I was stressed out . I‘ve been taking lots of supplements & thought the few eggs I did get would be good quality . I take it all clinics do this check & only freeze the good eggs? It made me very paranoid about the eggs I have frozen in the UK that they could be useless .

I’m so glad menopur was good for you , I didn’t have any side effects but I’m wondering if the menopur didn’t suit me & that could have had something to do with it . I can only afford to do 2 more rounds at a push & I’m just hoping I don’t have such a disastrous result again . Trying to stay positive xxx

[Ivfgotadream]

I think they can tell from viewing the eggs under microscope prior to trying to fertilise them

[Success50 in reply to Ivfgotadream]

Thanks for this , I’m going to ask them . I’d been told on previous cycles a few eggs weren’t mature but not they were too poor quality to freeze so it was a shock xxx

[IvfStruggler]

I'm sorry to hear that you've had this news- I can understand you are feeling confused and sad about it. I had something the other way round. I had 10 eggs collected all looking very good quality but only 1 fertilised and never made it to a blastocyst. What I understand is that they cannot test eggs but they can sometimes see issues. Sometimes an egg has a grey or grainy centre or a outline that is too thick or too thin which can indicate that the egg is over or under-mature and in either case it cannot be frozen or fertilised. Perhaps this is what your consultant meant. Other than this I really don't think you can see if an egg has a bad quality and you can only find this out when they are fertilised and make it to blastocyst.

You see a lot of stories about grading eggs and embryos but there are many experts that say this is equals a beauty competition and says nothing about viability and chances to get a baby. You actually often see women PGS testing (which HFEA doesn't recommend) and finding that the AA can't be used and the CC being good. Add to this that clinics use the rating scales very differently (some clinics hardly ever rate embryos as top quality and see great success with their BB). You often see stories from women being told their eggs are bad quality but this is usually because they have low fertilisation and embryo development rates or recurrent MC.

If you can speak to your clinics embryologist. I spoke to mine on the phone and she was so helpful and honest about my case and chances. Take care x

[Success50]

Sorry to hear that . Yes I think I just need to talk to them & get more information , it was all a bit of a whirlwind. That’s what I’d always read , that they couldn’t tell unless they tried to fertilise them which they didn’t . I’ll probably feel better once they explain it properly & have a plan for the next round . Thanks for the info & good luck with everything xxx

[IvfStruggler in reply to Success50]

They could have been over-mature in which case it may be that they told you to take the trigger too late (with the follicles being too big already). If you had better results in the past then it may also be put down to just bad luck. I was told in my case it was just one of those things. For the next round I did push to have a higher trigger even though my consultant said it wouldn't make a difference. I got 5 eggs which all fertilised and all made it to day 5 day blastocysts.

Ivf can be so confusing and I really hate it when I'm not explained things properly. I hope your clinic will speak to you soon x

[IvfStruggler in reply to IvfStruggler]

Sorry just noticed that they used a different stimming drug in your latest cycle. I'm always on exactly the same (also menopur but 375) with wildly different outcomes which is put down to bad luck. In your case the consultant has more info so probably will have a better plan to proceed. Might be that the menopur pushed your ovaries too quickly. Good luck! X

[Success50 in reply to IvfStruggler]

Oh wow that’s great you got 5 . Yeah I’m hoping it was bad luck . I just need to ask them all these things & keep my fingers crossed the next ones better . It’s just frustrating . Thanks for your message xxx

[IvfStruggler in reply to Success50]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you too! Take care- it's so difficult to come to terms with these set backs but great you can try again. Good luck xxx

[Ellebee123123]

I froze my eggs when I was around 37 and was advised to use a sperm donor, because embryos survive the thaw better than eggs. Furthermore, you wouldn’t know how the eggs would go fertilising (quality) until trying to make an embryo. I wasn’t interested in a sperm donor so I went ahead to freeze.

Fast forward to 43, I found my dream man and recently we thawed 18 eggs. 15 survived the thaw, 7 fertilised, 2 got to blastocyst but were not suitable for freezing or implant.

The problem with freezing just the egg, is the uncertainty around the fertilising. I still have frozen eggs but based on the results of using of using my other eggs, we’ve decided to give a fresh cycle a go (odds against us). I feel my freezing dose was maybe too high so I’d like to see if a lower dose improves the quality.

Good luck!