Are there any statistics anyone has on what is a low, normal and good amount of eggs to be retrieved from an egg retrieval at each age? I know it is about quality as well as numbers but can't tell quality at this point.
I am 37 and have just finished 3 rounds of egg freezing. Each cycle we retrieved 8 eggs (froze 6, 7 and 6).
I regularly see women posting here in their 40's who got 10 + eggs from one retrieval, so wondering if I just naturally have a lower reserve/an unusually low egg reserve as I never got more than 8?
My AMH was 5.4 pmol when I started this process back in March.
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Eggfreezing36
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Thanks, that's interesting to same result as me in the end then. I am just curious if there are stats on averages so I can see where I am. It feels like mine is lower than the norm from each retrieval. It could be my protocol or it could be me?
I am not sure it’s as simple as that. I guess that genes, history of illnesses etc are in play. I was 32 and got 6 eggs only in my second round. 10 in my first round, and in between I had a cancelled cycle due to no development of egg follicles and only had a few. I think lifestyle at the certain point is also in play, for example I was very stressed and had just changed my job when my cycle job cancelled. I got my dream baby with the last egg from my 2nd cycle and now I would be curious to see if more eggs will be retrieved next time now when there is less pressure.
It probably doesn’t help answering your question😅 but you got my take on it.
Thanks! Yep....I certainly had anxiety, stress and upset through these cycles and know that this can impact too. Well, I did a post here and some said being stressed didn't make a difference to theirs.
I am just curious about pure numbers that's all, as I think mine seem low for my age.
I will not know quality unless I try to use the eggs and as I am very much single right now that's not happening.
I don't think there are any stats as every woman is different, then you need to take into account medical history, genetics, and every woman responds differently to the medication and cycle so it would be impossible to give an average number.
Hello, so I've done quite a bit of research during my journey. There are a few things that might be useful to know:
There are at least a couple of "IVF success calculators" online. For example University of Aberdeen, SART
There are stats online that indicate the percentage of eggs which are likely to be abnormal by age
I have seen stats for average number of follicles by age
My clinic indicate that the optimum number of eggs to collect per cycle is 10-15 eggs.
Having said all that I think that numbers don't necessarily mean a lot and quality is the most important thing. I got lucky on my first cycle and now have a beautiful daughter. However I have tried for a sibling since and in 6 further collections I have collected 86 eggs (74 mature) and no luck yet. I have 2 frozen that I'll try soon.
Only you can decide how far you want to go with an insurance policy. Scientifically the best strategy would be to create embryos with donor sperm if you do a further collection and PGTA test them. You could then freeze them until you might be ready. That's the only way to know how many genetically normal you might get. Your heart and funds might (probably will) say different.
It is also the case that embryos have a bit better chance of thawing than eggs which are just one cell.
I hope you find a way forward. The decisions and heartbreak are hard x
74 mature eggs!! Oh my gosh, that is loads. I have not managed to get more than 8 eggs in any retrieval so those numbers are not possible for me. Thanks, I did think my numbers were low and I too have read 10 + is the most successful number.
I did have a heavy drinking holiday a few weeks before starting my second egg retrieval down-regulation (like 10 drinks or more a day) and keep beating myself up that has wrecked any good eggs.
I will consider a 4th round next year but tricky to know if it would really be the one that makes the difference, as if these 19 eggs don't work why would freezing a handful a year later? But of course I could stop drinking completely for 3 months prior which I did not do this time.
I don't want to do do donor sperm embryos as don't fancy single parenting, would be broke lonely and isolated in my view (not bashing it, just saying I don't think I would enjoy) so sticking with egg freezing xx
Which stims are you on? I had more eggs on Meriofert (13, 12 mature, 11 fertilised, 2 duff blasts on day 5), and fewer (I think there were 9 mature, only 6 of which fertilised, with 3 good quality blasts on day 3) with overleap. Of course each month can vary, but your results seem pretty consistent. After what felt like a bumper crop for my age (I was 40y6m at the time) on the first round and then really disappointing results at day 5, I was weirdly reassured when I had fewer eggs collected with ovaleap, and it did actually turn out to be a better result overall. I was on 225IU for both, and my AHM was 25. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the numbers. Xx
- Downregulation from days 14-25 with Norithisterone and Provera (think you start taking Provera day 21 and stop Nori day 21)
- Meriofert and Fostimon stimming for 9 days, 225 iu although the first two retrievals i started off 150iu mertiofert and 225iu fostimon and kicked up to 225 meriofert after 3 days
- Cetrotide after 3 days of the Meriofert and Fostimon
- Double gonasi trigger 10k
I find reading up on the protocols also makes me stressed and gives me a headache, why are there so many different ones and how do we know which is right?!
You just have to suck it and see! 🥴 Will you be making embryos soon? I was really surprised at how different my results were between my two cycles. You’re young so you’re more likely to have more reliable quality than I did regardless of your protocol. You could ask them to switch things up if you’re doing more collections, though, just to hedge your bets. If I’d been freezing on Meriofert I’d have had no idea that it doesn’t work for me for making good quality embryos and that realisation was a little sobering!!! (Don’t let that panic you - most people are grand on Meriofert.) Just keep advocating for yourself. 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼xx
No one to make embryos with sadly! I am egg freezing as I am single. If I had say 30 eggs I would maybe do a few embryos...but with 19 eggs frozen I just don't have any to spare as I don't think I would do the solo parenting with donor sperm so would likely be a waste.
It's sobering to think Meriofert could have not made good embryos, and you are right I just do not know. It's frustrating there can't just be one obvious route. I also read that over 350 IU they said can be bad for egg quality and I was on 225iu of Meriofert and 225iu of Fostimon, so does that mean I was on 500 IU? That also worries me.
Yes I will discuss the possibility of switching things up if I do one more. It's just nerve wracking because I don't want to make a mistake if these protocols were fine!!
Number of eggs is roughly based on AMH, not age. AMH does decline with age so there is a loose correlation but ladies getting 10+ eggs at 40+ are likely to have good AMH for their age. My AMH was 7.6 pmol/L when we started our journey at 39. I did 2 egg collections and got 8 and 9 mature, both rounds having 7 fertilise normally. What is your AMH? Xx
Was 5.4 pmol when I started the process in March with the testing. So probably lower now! So mine is a bit lower than normal....I don't know if it counts as low or just lower than average
I’m now 37 and have had 16 eggs in total from four collections. When I started ivf my AMH was over 11, and in two years it has dropped to less than 2. My egg quality has seen a rapid decline as well, think I’m very unlucky for my age 🫣
I imagine at our age AMH does drop off like that, I haven't had mine re tested but mine is probably the same! I started at 5.4 pmol so was lower than you x
My AMH was the same as yours but I was age 27 when I had mine tested, so very low for my age. I had two rounds of failed ivf, got 5 eggs the first round, 3 fertilised and only 1 made it to day 5 which we transferred. Second round we got 8 eggs and non fertilised! No male factor infertility either. Then we had a miracle pregnancy just before starting our third round, so this could also happen to you! Don’t give up hope x
I just had my collection last week and got 8 eggs (all were mature 5 fertlised normally) they told me after collection that 8 eggs was their average amount per collection (didn’t say about age) from age 37-41 I have had
13 eggs, 10 eggs, 7 eggs, 9 eggs and then last week 8. So I’m personally averaging about 9, 8 more recently.
From that I’ve usually had about 7-8 mature except the first one where I had 10 so I think yours sounds about average for your AMH. My AMH is good (measured on the other scale at my clinic has been above 30 each time measured over the years). Hope that helps xx
I think you are very lucky. I’m 38 and my AMH is 6.2 so slightly higher than yours but I didn’t react well to stimulation and only got one egg from my last cycle. Good luck to you
Really sorry to hear that, could that be bad luck or the protocol? I down regulated and then was on Meriofert and Fostimon as the stimulating agents if that helps for a future round x
Congrats! I think 15 mature eggs to 1 baby seems fairly accurate from what the embryologist told me in terms of numbers actually. He said if I have 20 eggs frozen, statistically I could expect 2 viable blasts out of that. But that of course you can get lucky or unlucky with the quality of the eggs so it can either be better case or worse case xx
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ok thank you x
No eggs retrieved- end of the road. What now? 
32 eggs retrieved! But is this too many?
DAY 1 POST EGG RETRIEVAL STATS
Only 2 fertilized out of 21 retrieved 
egg collection today - 5 eggs retrieved
