Trying to conceive at 43
I want to learn about past experience on ICSI success after 40. I just turned 43 but my doctor tells me my biological age is younger so maybe 38-40?
I just had my first embryo transfer 4 days ago and the 2 weeks wait it is really tough.
Any positive experiences with older moms to share?
Hi Justme. Well, I do speak to many ladies in their early forties who are pregnant following IVF/ICSI. Most tend not to get a great yield at egg collection, but seem to get OK fertilisation. The 2WW can be a nightmare time, so keep busy and up-to-date with prescribed medication. Good luck! Diane
thank you for your answer Diane. We had 12 eggs collected, 10 were mature to fertilize, however 1 got only fertilized. I am not sure what is the reason. Of course my age and my husband has severe sperm count restriction. So out of the 10 I got only one day-3 embryo transferred. I have also frozen eggs from 3,5 years ago but my doctor didn’t want to use them this time. I really don’t know why.
Thanks for all the support. I appreciate it a lot!❤️❤️❤️
Wishing you luck. Hopefully this is your time. I had success at 41 with IVF and 43 now, trying for a sibling with ICSI. Keep us updated x
thanks ! Fresh eggs with me as well. You have amazing egg retrieval! Good luck further with the ICSI 👋🏼
Thank you. My egg collections are good numbers like you, but I've started to struggle with the fertilisations. Let's hope luck is on our side x
🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
Hi there! Only to say I'm here with you, 43 and in my 2ww xx best wishes for a positive result for you 💕💕
thanks!!! Best wishes to you too 😻
My mother got pregnant naturally at 43. And I do know someone who got IVF pregnant with their own eggs at that age. Her amh was good. They tested and did FET though. I recommend having your embryos tested at that age. It would be heartbreaking to finally get pregnant only to find out something is very wrong down the line. PGS testing gave me a lot of peace of mind.
Hi, currently 15 weeks pregnant and 43. In my case they froze 5 pronuclei and out of those one worked. Fresh transfers didn't work for me. This was my 5th attempt.
hey there I’m still on my journey just turned 43, did 1 cycle so far but PGTA results meant we couldn’t go ahead with FET.
I wondered by 5th attempt do u mean 5 IVF cycles? Was there a successful protocol that worked for u? What do u think helped with the success!
Hi,
Before my last cycle ( the one where I got lucky), I was treated at another clinic. I don't know if it is a matter of luck, but what seemed to work for me was to reduce the dosage. Honestly, at the previous clinic they gave me rather high doses, which did not make me feel well. This is something I said to my doctor at the last clinic, and it seems to have worked. Perhaps a coincidence? BTW, before I changed clinics, they also told me that it wouldn't work with my own eggs and that it would be better to consider other options. You never know. Good luck.
thanks for sharing this. I do wonder as believe I am on standard drugs on standard protocol and did suggest to my clinician that a mild protocol would be better for women post 40 but she refused to listen. I’ll see what happens on this next cycle and maybe try something else or somewhere else. Some of these Clinicians seem very rigid in their mindset!
See what happens and if afterwards you are not satisfied, then find a place where they will take the time to listen yo you. Fingers crossed 🤞
Hello,
I was 42 when I had my first IVF cycle. I was 43 and almost 44 when I got pregnant with my own eggs- no PGS testing.. So IVF can work for us over 40. Wishing you all the best in your 2WW 🙏🏾
You are absolutely right. The 2WW can be really tough.
I had my first from a fresh cycle at 39 and am 31 weeks from a FET from my frosties at 41 now, there is hope!
Love this post, thanks everyone! I’m nearing 42 and need this hope!
hi I got pregnant with my first ICSI at 43 with my one and only egg and done a 3 day fresh transfer. My little boy is 5 months old now. If u click on my name u could read my posts ❤️ wishing u luck x
yes amazing story thanks for sharing and directing me to your post. It gave me a lot of good vibes 🥰🥰🥰
hey, good luck and you’re right the 2 weeks is really tough. That’s good on your biological age. There’s really no reason why you won’t conceive. A younger embryo will do better in an older womb (e.g. if you harvested and created embryos at a younger age - they will never age (which is more important than your womb). As long as you have periods you essentially can have a viable pregnancy.
Anyway my embryos are from when I was 39. However due to polyps and covid everything was delayed. I had my first medicated FET that failed when I was 40 and then followed with a naturally modified FET halfway through 40. This worked and I gave birth halfway through 41. All my friends were older mums and all were disposed to pre eclampsia so I was expecting this to be an issue. But nope! Not until week 39 was I diagnosed GDM so from the midwife’s pov I was low risk - unfortunately not all hospitals think this and when it comes to term they place a lot on age of 40+ which annoyed me.
Let me reassure you, my pregnancy was in the main low risk, and my baby was thriving. Don’t let age be your worry - just keep yourself healthy ❤️
thanks so much for the lovely message and sharing your great experience!!! ❤️❤️❤️
hey there I’ve just started my IVF journey last year at 42yrs. 1 cycle with ICSI and PGTA testing. 1 embryo 5 day but PGTA showed it was not viable. I’ve had 2 previous early miscarriages so I didn’t want to put myself through another and would still opt for PGTA testing for that reason.
I’ve heard alot of ladies on here post 40 who have success. I do sometimes wonder the type of protocol you’re on can influence this. What were you on?
I’m sure in your case also if your biological age is younger that will be a great help. Wish u lots of luck for 2WW! 🤞🏼
Hi Angie, thanks for sharing your story. Great to know about stories and experiences of other same- age ladies!
Im not sure about my protocol. In fact I know little about my status. My doc didn’t share much. I don’t know about my progesterone level or any other thing. He didn’t recommend a PGT, so we didn’t do it.
I am aware that the journey could be long but wishing and praying so much that it won’t and I’ll get a BFP soon. And the same thing I wish you and all the ladies here.❤️🙏🏻
thank you. Wish u lots of luck. Keep us updated x
Hi Justme, my mom got pregnant with my brother on her second IVF attempt when she was almost 39 (she has told me all this when I started to have problems myself). She had 5 eggs, 4 fertilized (no ICSI), she has endo and had 3 polypectomies before that. At this time (2008) they were transferring 3-days old embryos, they transferred 3 embryos and my brother is 13 now.
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I did 4 fresh cycles of IVF aged 39-41 , with 4 transfers of a total of 5 embryos. Sadly none of mine ever yielded a BFP 😔 BUT I was very lucky to eventually get a natural BFP in October! So one of my eggs finally seems to have worked 😁 It's still earlyish days, 18 weeks, but so far so good 🙏 There are often stories on here or over 40s successes from IVF AND natural miracles too. So yes, I'd say it can take longer at our age and the challenges are sometimes greater, but there's hope (and if you get results more typical of a younger woman, even better!) Wishing you lots of luck xx
thanks AuroraXen thats a very nice story 🥰🖐️
I hope you get the result you want his TWW, and have no need for further treatment! You really do have pretty good numbers of mature eggs though! Fingers crossed for you Lovely x