I started my IVF journey last year (age 42) and we finally did our egg retrieval last week. I had good AMH for my age (11.2), good number of follicles (14) with high stims and we only ended up with 4 eggs. Out of the 4 eggs, one fertilised and survived till day 5 (quality 3BC). We are not doing a fresh transfer so this is currently frozen.
I need advise on 2 things and would appreciate if you can come back on either one or both.
1) I am turning 43 in a few months, should I do another cycle (as quality is so-so)? Or do I wait to do the transfer and see how it goes and then try again if things don't work? If things work and I am blessed with a healthy baby, then by that time I would be 44+ and I don't think Ill have any chances of using my own eggs anymore. Ideally I would like to have more than 1 child.
2) I was quite disappointed with my results, perhaps a bit naive but I am better now. Given that we have spend quite a bit with our current Dr (I like our Dr), should I change my Dr? Are there benefits to sticking to the same Dr as I am beginning to get the feeling that IVF seems to be a lot of trial and error (maybe its just me, I don't know). What are your thoughts and experiences?
I would really appreciate any advise. What would you do in you are in my shoes?
Thank you.
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I would have another cycle whilst you still have the prospect of collecting good eggs, and freeze embryos. Embryos are more likely to survive the thaw and you'll know what position you are in, so less false expectation than with eggs, which might not fertilise etc. Pardon the pun, but I wouldn't put all your eggs in the one basket 😂 with the current embryo. I'm nearly turning 42 now and currently 14.5 weeks and would like another so wish I had something banked. Don't despair with the quality, it only takes 1. I had 20 eggs collected and just the one made it all the way to this stage (twin pregnancy, but lost one baby early). Best of luck, this is possible x
When I read 20 eggs, I though that was amazing!! Later to hear only 1 survived is a bit surprising but its still great news that you are 14.5 weeks along!! Always happy to hear good news, spirit lifting...
Thank you for coming back to me, appreciate the advise 🙂 Xx
Thank you. I had 14/20 successfully fertilised, but slow development for the majority after day 3. I actually had 1 transferred on day 5 in a fresh transfer, which didn't make it and 2 frozen on day 6, both were transferred, which resulted in a singleton viable pregnancy. Reality is that it's all about quality after 40. It only takes one though! x
Yay for having an embryo in the freezer! My clinic uses a different grading but if good enough to freeze that's brilliant.
I think it would be useful to find out more about this round at your review. You should like and trust your dr and feel they are knowledgable so hopefully can get answers about the follicle numbers vs eggs and then of the 4 eggs at what stage they stopped developing can tell them a lot. They may suggest a change to your protocol which would be more successful and then you have the frostie as a back up.
I agree if feels like try and see but as we get older it's harder to predict how we'll respond and understand it can take a few more rounds.
Like you mentioned if you would be hoping for a sibling then banking embryos now is sensible. However does depend on money and how many more rounds you think you might do or if you have a feeling that it could be the one and the time is right to just transfer!
Either way wishing you loads of luck and positive thoughts for whichever you decide xx
Thank you for your reply. I will be speaking to my Dr next week and will discuss that in detail. He did mention doing low stims instead. I am hoping for a sibling but for now, am going to focus on next steps (leaning towards another cycle now) and hopefully everything goes well.
Sorry for the late reply and best of luck to you too! Xx
HiI'm 43 this year and have had 3 failed rounds of ivf my amh is almost identical to yours. My egg quality from first round to this just failed 3 rd round dropped roughly a year from start to here. So I would deffo go for another round if you can afford to. As nothing else changed in my protocol.
So I think it's my age.
I've never had anything to freeze and this 3rd round annihilated me physically. Was so hoping I would have so this is great news for you my clinic grades differently so don't understand your quality but if it can be frozen it's gotta be good.
Thank you for coming back to me. This response and others has helped me make the decision, much appreciated. I'm sorry things so far have not worked out but I sure hope this changes for you. All the very best!! Xx
If don’t take into account the cost of ivf, the great idea is to do embryos banking to reach at least 2 -3 PGS tested blastocysts. Then to start the transfers. Our uterus can still have babies after 45+ but our quality of eggs will drop quickly due to the age.
Spot on, I agree. I was initially planning on PGS but because we only got one and they charge a fix cost of £1.6K to test up to 4 blastocyst, we thought it wont make sense in this scenario.
Thank you for your feedback and sorry for the late reply. All the best to you Xx
Great news you have an embryo in the freezer! I’ve had two rounds at 33 and only had one poor quality to transfer. They think something wrong with my eggs at the time they stop developing. At 33 this is tough to take! I would recommend embryo banking, and don’t worry about the quality, if it’s good enough to freeze then they believe itll survive the thaw and be viable. IVF is always trial and error really, if you trust in your doctor and they communicate and explain things to you, that’s the best situation to be in. I’ve had the same result in two different clinics.
Yes I agree its hard to take as you have started on this very early. I did wonder if my results would be different at another clinic but I guess the results for most are more or less the same. Hopefully everything goes well for both of us!! All the best!
Thank you for coming back to me & sorry for the late reply.. Xx
Hi. I agree with the others as long as you can afford it I would try and bank another embryo while u can.
I am 42, AMH similar to you. we were lucky to get pregnant from first cycle of IVF. We got 6 eggs, 5 fertilised but only 1 made it to day 5 so we had nothing to freeze however we are 24 weeks pregnant with a very lively little girl. As we are considered high risk they are planning a c section potentially on my 43 birthday!
Wow, that's amazing news!! Yes, I do think I need to get another cycle done. Just now trying to get some research done on pricing etc. Wishing you a super smooth delivery!! Xx
Hi, it’s genetic screening to test the embryo for chromosomal abnormality. If you do this test, then technically only the ‘normal’ embryos are placed back into the womb. Generally if you place an abnormal chromosome back, then it will likely result in a negative pregnancy in most cases.
Hello. I'm 41, almost 42, so in your general age bracket. Absolutely do another cycle now, imho. Your results are not bad at all, but actually quite good for almost 43. You got a frozen embryo!! I had these worries too, especially about wanting more kids, but the law in France won't let private clinics do embryo banking. I had two frozen embryos and wanted a chance at more kids later. But that was not available, I had to transfer what we had before making anymore. I'm now pregnant, but the odds of me being able to get quality eggs in two years is low based on my details. Still, it is a miracle compared to the alternative. I would say it is a good idea to do another cycle, but don't go crazy with it. Our ovaries go downhill so fast in our 40s, it's good to get as many eggs off the ship as you can, so to speak. It's a really great sign that you got an embryo, and I hope things go really well for you xoxo
Thank you for your reply. Yes I am planning another cycle and hopefully by doing 2 more cycles, my chances of getting more blastocyst are higher. I know age is not on my side and that’s a constant worry. Wish I save my eggs at 35 Happy to hear that you are pregnant now, really hope I’ll get some good news soon! Take care Xx
Hey there, to really be honest with you, age is not on your side- your frozen embryo is not great quality and most importantly we don’t know if the DNA is normal or not.
I don’t know your financial situation but instead of doing another cycle I would start considering egg donation. I’m 40 with an AMH higher than yours and got better quality embryos from my 2 IVF cycles (AB and BB) yet they were abnormal (and the other 2 I didn’t test, one didn’t implant and with one I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks).
I moved onto egg donation and I’m currently 17 weeks pregnant.
I don’t mean to sound negative, just practical! Sometimes we put ourselves through hell when there is a much better/safer option for us and because IVF is such a difficult journey we don’t see it’s time to move forward. Doing the same thing over and over will produce the same result...
Everything you are saying is right but from the time of writing this post till now, we have already made a decision to do a 2nd cycle.
I do know that my chances with donor eggs are much higher but right now, I am not mentally prepared to go down that option until I can at least say I’ve tried. Ideally I really hope something works out with our own blastocyst.
Genetic abnormality is a major concern and initially I thought that with a high AMH, I’ll at least end up with a few blastocyst and was planning to do genetic screening. Only when we found out it was only 1 blastocyst did we decided to just freeze it until the next step.
Im starting the 2nd cycle soon, will keep all posted. Happy to hear the good news at your end! Wishing you a smooth pregnancy
I totally understand, I was exactly the same...I had to do ‘one more cycle’. I really wish you all the best and have fingers and toes crossed for you! And thank you for your wishes ❤️
Hi there, I wondered the same thing! I'm 42 until August and my AMh is 46, back in Oct I had 30 eggs removed, 18 were mature and only 4 fertilised. Of those four, only two went for PGS testing and only one came back - as a low level mosaic (transferred as a 6BC). I wondered if I should have another round done to see if I got more embryos (I only want the one child, at this stage) then maybe I'd have a better chance as this one was mosaic. Anyway I decided to just see what happens with this one and if it doesn't work out then I'll have another round but I just didn't want to waste any time getting pregnant as it took four months from start to finish with this one (short protocol to retrieve and then long protocol to transfer). I am now 7 weeks pregnant - this is also my first try and first time pregnant. Good luck with what you choose. xx
Thank you for your reply. Wow, 30 eggs! My sides were uncomfortable with just 14 follicles, can’t imagine how you must have felt. It’s really hard to tell how many end up fertilising and survive up to day 5.
Congratulations on being pregnant! You’re right about this being a long process. We started 6 months ago. It was initially really hard to even get an appointment!
Thank you for the well wishes! I really hope everything turns out well for all of us on this journey! Good luck & wishing you a smooth pregnancy 🙂
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