Only 2 fertilized out of 21 retrieved

[Devi2021]

Hi ladies, Looking for some support and suggestions.This is my 2nd round of IVF. I had my egg retrieval yesterday . I am really disappointed with the result. out of 21 eggs only 2 got fertilized . I changed the clinic , changed the doctor, improved my diet, took multiple supplements ,did acupuncture .did everything possible to do from my end to improve egg quality and ivf retrieval outcome, just to see this result. This is way worse than my previous clinic. I am at a loss now. I do not know what to do now.

I have lost trust in the process.I am based in New Jersey, USA . Can anyone of suggest any clinic or doctor I can check with.

Appreciate your suggestions.

[Luka_Ru]

Hi Devi, did the clinic say anything about why they think the fertilisation rate was so poor?

I had also had poor results, 29 eggs collected, 21 mature and 7 fertilised. In our case they said the sperm quality was very poor - no motile sperm. We knew my OH has severe MFI so did ICSI, but even then still had a poor result. If it's a sperm quality issue there's not much you can do yourself.

Did you do regular IVF or ICSI?

[Devi2021 in reply to Luka_Ru]

Thank you for your reply.They did ICSI. Clinic said only 7 was matured. And out of that 2 got fertilized.MFI is an issue but clinic said with ICSI that should not be the case. I need to schedule a call with doctor to get an answer but I don’t know how much she will help.

[Ivfgotadream in reply to Devi2021]

If only 7 of the 21 was mature then sounds like the issue was either triggering too early or not enough trigger so more of an egg issue than male factor? What size were your follicles when you did the trigger shot and did you do a double or single? X

[Devi2021 in reply to Ivfgotadream]

I got a double shot of lupron and 5k hcg then lupron alone again 12 hours later. My estrogen was 2200 before trigger so they wanted to lower hcg from 10k to 5k.Before trigger I have 7 follicles which were greater than 20 and 8/9 within 15-19 range

[Seren0119 in reply to Devi2021]

If egg immaturity is the main issue, I would change your protocol. I had huge egg immaturity issues (60% immature), I moved to long protocol (no cetrocide and growth hormone) and got 100% mature eggs x

[Devi2021 in reply to Seren0119]

That’s good to know. Do you mind sharing your protocol details with me please

[Seren0119 in reply to Devi2021]

Sure, each protocol is tailored to the individual but you should be on a long not short protocol for immature eggs - this means not taking cetrocide.

I took - down regulation meds then - meriofert, growth hormone x

[Devi2021 in reply to Seren0119]

Cetrocide or ganilerix is to stop ovulation right. Is that not required to ovulation during retrieval cycle and before trigger shot?

[Seren0119 in reply to Devi2021]

reproductivehealthgroup.co....

Long protocol - you take it before stimulation, not before trigger. This way, eggs grow more mature

[Devi2021 in reply to Seren0119]

I started with estrogen twice a day after my ovulation of the prior month. That is before starting stims. Stopped on day one of my period then started stim drugs

[Seren0119 in reply to Devi2021]

That doesn’t sound like long protocol. I would check with your doctor

[Devi2021 in reply to Seren0119]

Sure thank you

[ebonyebene in reply to Devi2021]

Not necessarily. I didn't take cetrocide as I took one injection of depot (a down regulation drug) on day 21 of my previous cycle. That remained effective till EC.

[Redsequin]

Hi Devi. Ugh how awful for you after going through the whole process. Hopefully, the two that fertilised make it to blast 🤞

Has your partner's sperm been tested for DNA fragmentation? I believe this can cause low fertilisation rates and it's something that often gets overlooked.

[Devi2021 in reply to Redsequin]

Hi Redsequin, yes we did DNA fragmentation. Results were okay . Doctor never raised concerns

[HollyT7]

I had 24 follicles, 16 collected, 9 mature, 3 fertilised, they said maybe my eggs take longer to mature. Bfp from my first but early loss, bfp from my second (our little boy), bfp from the 3rd (7+2 weeks).... I know it feels absolutely crap but these 2 little beans could be all that you need!! ❤️

[Devi2021 in reply to HollyT7]

Congratulations on your success. I am hoping for the best

[ebonyebene]

Hi Devi,

Did they change your protocol? That sounds like a very low fertilisation rate for the amount of eggs collected.

[Devi2021 in reply to ebonyebene]

Hi ebonyebene, I am yet to consult with doctor. This results I got to know today from the clinic.

[ebonyebene in reply to Devi2021]

It may be worth asking if they reduced stims dosage due to the risk of OHSS.

[Devi2021 in reply to ebonyebene]

My stim dosage was quite high 225 Gonal f and 3 vials of menopure

[ebonyebene in reply to Devi2021]

That might be why. High dosage doesn't give the best quality egg/embryos. Perhaps a lower dosage would be better. I was given the highest dosage of menoupur twice, which resulted in no embryos being fertilised on the first round (4 mature eggs being collected). Second round, only 2 fertilised our of 6. I got two embryos but was BFN. Other rounds, I still had low numbers, but they reached day 5.

[Devi2021 in reply to ebonyebene]

They started with little bit lower doses but said I am not responding well so they increased and maintain same dose. But I will check with doctor once I have the consultation

[Jumpppy]

Is MFI your "diagnosis?" Do you have any issues on your side, e.g. age or DOR? Certain female issues make it VERY difficult to get mature good quality eggs - this is precisely why some folks get good results with "mini" or "natural" IVF. But it's very hard to comment without know diagnosis or age. As others mentioned, the fact that you only had 7/21 mature is a big deal to investigate. Not sure if your previous protocol was similar, i.e. 33% mature? You had 2/7 fertilized, this may be a separate or related issue to the low percentage of mature eggs (egg damage during stims or other egg concerns). As you get a high number of eggs is useless if they aren't mature. If you can truly eliminate MF issues, find a clinc that will focus on the female side and will tweak this could take a few cycles so best to find a good RE you can trust and stick with them - if you need tweaking changing clinic will do more harm than good. I've had success with 50% mature eggs and no sucess with 100% mature eggs - and variations in between. 2 fertilized can be enough...I have used a clinic in NYC - may make sense depending on your diagnosis.

Good luck!

[Devi2021 in reply to Jumpppy]

I 34 years old and amh is around 5. In my previous ivf stim doses were much higher and I had 17 eggs retrieved out of that 5 fertiland 3 made it to day 5. That time I had only 8 days of stims so this time doctor wanted to have around 12 days of stims . Not sure what make this worse.Do you mind sharing the nyc clinic details. I am based in New Jersey and this ivf was done in one of the best clinics

[Loveheart6]

All I can say is I’m sorry and try and stay positive. I had 9 eggs and only one fertilised due to my partners sperm. That only one survived the five day wait and then implanted and I became pregnant. Sending you hope .

[Devi2021 in reply to Loveheart6]

Thank you Loveheart6. Did you do icsi . How did you know that it was due to sperm

[Loveheart6 in reply to Devi2021]

No but when they called me to say only one fertilised she said in future they would do ICSI Altho it’s not certain it always helps. She called it ‘limited sperm binding issues’ the shape of the sperm can’t pierce the eggs to fertilise them so only one managed out of 9. I was just extremely lucky that only one survived ( they said it was touch and go) and then implanted. I just want to give you hope that you never know which one might be your miracle. His tests on the nhs were all good in the past because they don’t test for sperm shape only speed and straight lines!

I felt cheated that my only nhs free round they found this out and hadn’t routinely tested for that before.

[LJT22]

Hi Devi, sorry to hear you are disappointed but hope that one of these little guys is your one!Not sure how commonly this is done but my sister in law had treatment in Ireland and after consistently getting poor fertilisation based on poor egg quality, she changed doc and he effectively gave her a triple trigger shot. That can somehow ‘fast track’ to maturity of the eggs and out of her last round she got 5 embryos, 3 of which have resulted in pregnancy!!

Maybe could be worth discussing with your clinic if you’re thinking of going through another round xxx

[Devi2021 in reply to LJT22]

Thank you LJT22. I will definitely check with doctor on this . They give the trigger shot based on estrogen level. Since it was little high (around 2200) they lowered the trigger little bit

[LJT22 in reply to Devi2021]

Yes I am sure they alter it based on your bloods. In her case she had low AMH and poor egg quality I guess it depends on diagnosis. Good luck 🤞🏼

[Goldenegg1]

Not sure I’ll be of much help but it’s that old cliche you only need one as the nurses keep saying. I would look for the positives where ever you can. 2 is 2 more steps closer to your goal.

Good luck 🤞🏻