Has anyone had issues with fertilisation and can give some advice..
My first cycle we had 12 eggs collected only 4 were mature and none fertilised.
2nd cycle - 5 eggs collected, 4 mature, 1 fertilised but on day 2 it was looked slightly abnormal but they wanted to do a day 2 transfer - BFN.
We changed to a higher dose on the 2nd cycle and all was going well until they decided to coast me which resulted in a lot of my larger follicles dying off.
I am so anxious about our fertilisation and whether there is a possible problem but my clinic don’t seem to give me answers or hope... their response is try again...
My husband has low motility and low sperm count...
I am just so anxious..
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Amy1122
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Do you know if it was an ICSI? Doc says that would increase fertilization chance as sperms are directly injected vs sprinkling . I also had increased drop off rate. Doc attributed it to the possible egg quality ( I’m 31 ) issue as sperms picked up for Icsi are good quality ones, so I was advised dhea and coq10 along with the prenatals for the next cycle .Also for the next cycle doc recommended that I take HumanGrowthHormone injections as well for the quality issue. Yet to see the results of this, but this is what I was advised with. Good luck in your journey!
Hi Amy, so sorry to hear what your going through. I've just recently put up a post and you can read the comments loads of lovely women have posted. This is such a horrible journey and IVF is a gamble. I too was advised to carry on and a good embryo would exist.
Are you taking any supplements, I must say that prior to my second cycle I had taken various one, ubiquinol, vitamin C, D, selenium, melatonin and a pre natal multivitamin. Eventhough my cycle overall had 5 day 5 blastocyst s but unfortunately I ended up with another miscarriage from the 2 transferred and the 3 embies I then got Pgs tested were abnormal.
I am looking into whether or not to take DHEA next and mild IVf. So maybe look into that. They say change of protocol does make a difference.
Hi Sammy, thanks for your reply! I’m taking pregnacare but I am going to start taking more.
I’m going to speak to my consultant about it. We changed the protocol for the 2nd cycle and it was going great but they then coasted me which meant I over stimulated and they wouldn’t egg collect... they had to wait for my levels to drop. Disappointing really.
We’ve experienced similar issues with fertilisation on previous rounds (husband has low count & morph) & our last cycle we introduced calcium ionophore solution during the icsi process which appeared to help quite a lot with the fertilisation rate (it went from about 30% to 60-70%). Maybe worth asking your doctor about?
Yes this was what I was going to suggest, AOA I think it's called. Artifical oocyte activation, a calcium solution they put the eggs in before they fertilise. We had a major improvement in fertilisation. It cost about £150, definitely worth asking about xx
Thanks for the response Susie, yes they’ve spoken to me about AOA... I’m worried about the fact there’s not much science around it and about how there’s no evidence on whether it harms the baby...
Hi Amy, I am so sorry for what you are going through. You are not alone, I have the same problem with fertilisation. I am so anxious and upset too.
I am 27 and hubby has sperm issue. My both cycles was with ISCI:
*1st cycle: 12 eggs, 9 mature, 7 survived, 4 fertilized, 2 embryos made through blastocyst with fregmantations and poor quality graded = BPN In June
*2nd cycle:(with more stimulation drugs, hubby had more supplements and healthy diet, sperm count was increased a bit )9 eggs, 7 mature, 4 fertilized, 1 embryo made through 5 days but not yet blastocyst, so there was no grade for that one = BFN in 4/11(My OTD).
We have our follow up appointment booked at the end of November, hopefully consultant will referr hubby to see urologist or do more tests on hubby's hotmrmons, sperm,... before move on to the next cycle.
From what I’ve learned in the past years it probably depend on the sperm DNA fragmentation. So I’d recommend seeing a urologist first to do more tests and understand better.
My fertilization rate is low too. Mystery. Both myself and my husband has problem. I am 38 and just recovered from hyperthyroidism amd have cycst in my overy.
** In my first icis cycle, 225UI for 12 days. I had 14 follicles, 8 mature eggs, but 2 fertilized and 1 became day 5 blastocyst. BNF despite all the meds. I still have mild thyroid issue then and was on meds. Clinic explained the high drop off between day 1-3 indicates eggs quality has issue.
**I am now on 2nd IVF, 375UI for 12 days, had 21 follicles, 15 matured eggs and again a high drop off, only 6 were correctly fertilized... however on day 3, no futher drop off. All 6 are still there.
But this time the clinic said low fertilization could have sth to do w calcium ( true, i m lactose intolerant so i dont drink milk or eat cheese). Given the low fertilization I focused on working the egg quality this time ( read the book It starts w egg quality) , relax, sleep A LOT, cq10, NAC, eat good diet, gets enough viT D, multi vit, folic, eat lots of berries!, min usage of make up, be positive most of the time... do moderate exercise to keep blood flow but not exhaust yourself ( TCM doc told me dont exercise to the point that u sweat a lot). Somehow, the matured ones are doing good. I think its related.
It depends how high the DNA frag is. Ours was really high and after a lot of discussion, we made the decision to move into donor sperm (which worked and we now have a 2 week old!), but I know others who had slightly lower levels of DNA frag, and after special diets and supplements, they went on to have successful IVF. All of us saw Mr Ramsey in London for advice as he's the go to specialist for this. He's flippin expensive though 🙄 x
Hi Amy , I have had a very similar situation to you. Our first round we had no fertilisation , second round 4 fertilised but no blastocysts. I read the book it starts with an egg and started my husband in all the supplements and I also took DHEA. We are now 5 weeks pregnant
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