How many cycles

[Tilly8135]

How many cycles did you do before moving to Donar eggs? My last cycle I got 8 eggs all fertilised and 3 had 6-8 cells on day 3 which the hospital said was good. That was my third cycle. I don’t understand why on each cycle I’ve had they seem to not do as well after day 3? Any ideas? Also how many cycles did you do before moving to donar eggs? X

[Hidden]

Sorry to hear you aren't doing as well as you hoped.

I did 6 fresh own eggs cycles. We never had enough to freeze sadly. The 5th and 6th rounds my eggs started to slow down after day 3 and some stopped developing and others only made it to morula by day 5.. one of those rounds I did have a chemical but my consultant said it was likely egg quality (old eggs) that was causing this to happen... and that I should move to donor

I went for a second opinion at another clinic just in case but they said exactly the same thing and suggested I move to donor.

Have you spoken to your consultant or the embryologists about it? They should be able to give you advice as every person is different x

[Tilly8135 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Daisy, thanks for replying, my last round I got 2 eggs that were blastacyst 5bc but didn’t implant. That was my third round. The. Doctor says to carry on but it’s hard to know what is best. I just want to have a baby and I’ve been on the journey nearly 3 years now. It’s like my life is on hold because of this.xxx

[Hidden in reply to Tilly8135]

I totally understand how difficult it is. If you are making Grade 5 Blastocysts things are looking good and I wouldn't be suggesting donor.. so maybe they can help you with implantation and how to improve that. TBH I am a big believer a lot of it is down to luck. I have friends who have got pregnant on their 7th and 9th rounds! No reason why the others didnt work but those did. It is so all consuming though its understandable you are exhausted x

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Tilly. Always a difficult one to answer. Mostly we depend upon hormone results. We don't know what eggs are like until we extract them, so we have to wait an see. You could try adding more protein and zinc to your diet - sometimes helps. Good luck with your decision making. Diane

[Tilly8135 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thank you Diane, I will take your advice and hope for better results xx

[Tilly8135]

Thank you daisy, so hard to know what’s best to do. Life can be hard work at times xx

[Krystal_43]

Hi Tilly, I’m in a very similar situation to you(3 failed cycles, 36, not lots of eggs, but always get some good blasts). My doctor seems to think it’s bad luck & thinks we should keep trying with OE while we are making blasts. She has also referred us to an implantation clinic for nk cells/ endometris /sticky bloods/sperm dna frag testing to see if that is an issue. We are currently waiting on these tests before starting a new round. May be worth getting these checked out if you haven’t already. X

[Lancal]

It is a really personal decision, but I understand what you mean about just wanting a baby.

Whether you just keep trying with your own eggs really depends on how deep your pockets are (or how much debt you can go into), how long you are willing to wait to become a mum, and how much importance you place on your own DNA.

Egg grading - getting a 5AA for example - does not translate to an euploid and chromosomally normal embryo. You can produce a very good looking but chromosomally abnormal blastocyst.

I had the decision taken out of my hands, which was likely much easier than having to make it myself. I wanted to be a mum, and if that meant donor eggs, that was what I was doing! But for full disclosure, the donor route isn't necessarily easy. It is not a guarantee of pregnancy, it can be just as expensive (or more so) than using your own eggs, and there can be long wait times depending how you go about it.

I wish you the best of luck going forward. x

[Lancal in reply to Lancal]

Oh - and like Krystal above said, you should definitely get all the implantation tests done before deciding the reason for failure is your eggs. Donor eggs won't fix an implantation issue.

xx

[Tilly8135 in reply to Lancal]

Hi, thank you for replying, how would I get an implantation test? Thank you x

[Lancal]

Well, what I mean by 'implantation tests' are tests to determine whether or not there is an issue with the embryo's ability to implant, not the embryo itself.

You can ask for ERA/ALICE/EMMA tests, which require a biopsy from your uterine lining. The ERA will tell you approximately the best time to have an embryo transfer after starting progesterone - your window of implantation. The EMMA/ALICE will determine whether the uterine microbial environment is optimal or not for embryo implantation.

You can have a hysteroscopy or saline sonogram to check the surface of your uterus for any scaring or other issues. You should get your thyroid checked, to make sure you are not hypo or hyper thyroid. You can get a host of immunology blood tests done, to make sure your body isn't attacking the embryo.

I would ask your doctor/specialist about these, and if there are any other tests you can do to rule out anything else that isn't related to the embryo.

Possibly other women on here can think of other tests I have forgotten.

xx

[soccerkt6]

Hi Tilly

Sorry for the late reply but I've just seen this post.

I just wanted to chime in and ask if your partner has had a sperm DNA fragmentation test done. The sperm DNA comes into play on day 3, so if you have good embryo development up until day 3 but then the quality drops off after that, it can indicate a problem like high DNA fragmentation of the sperm. Your clinic should be able to test for this.

I would definitely make sure everything is good on your partner's side before you start considering donor eggs.

Best of luck xx