Back to back pick-up cycles- any thoughts?

[keepea]

Hi all,

I'm 37, and had my IVF pick-up on 4th Feb.

Got only 2 Blastocysts, so been advised another round of pick-up. My doctor says I can do it right away (short protocol starting Day 2 of periods I'm expecting any day now), but a friend who has gone through something similar says her doctor advised a gap month to improve chances of better retrieval.

I'm not getting any medical literature to suggest taking a break month would be helpful.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

[CreateIVF]

Hi keepe, I think that this one is really down to personal choice. I did 3 cycles back to back for embryo banking (low AMH). It was also short protocol and the clinic said we could go straight into each one. I decided to take a break in between though, more for my sanity than anything else and each time took an extra month break before launching into the next one. Wishing you the very best of luck with it, xx

[keepea in reply to CreateIVF]

Thank you for replying! Right now I feel like I would rather just go into the next pick-up right away- not drag it out further.. but probably need to take time to think of how I feel before committing to either scenario. Thanks again!

[Fruitandflowers]

I did two back to back, got 9 eggs first time but low fertilisation and 5 next time and all those went to blast and I have a daughter from those - the first time was probably a one-off sperm quality issue but doing back to back certainly didn't hurt. I actually had a third round about 2 years after that last one and it was a bit of a disaster - they changed the protocol and made a mess so suspect that was the problem rather than the delay (I got pregnant naturally not long after for the first time ever, so the eggs and sperm were still OK!) I think only thing I found is that one ovary seemed to respond way more than the other and was even the only one to gets eggs on the second round, and I think that just like natural, one ovary can be stronger and they can also alternate each month, so timing wise if you know one has more follicles and it alternates, it's possibly better to time it for when that might happen?

[keepea in reply to Fruitandflowers]

Hadn't thought of this- relevant point worth considering. Thank you!

[Laurapax]

Hi Keepea, I did 3 back to back egg collections in August , September and October last year. Each collection I got x1 more mature egg (starting from low numbers though so 3, 4 and then 5 respectively) I was happy to keep pushing through as I wanted to catch my youngest eggs possible, I’m 37 so feeling the pressure of time. It is a personal choice but if you feel well and want to get it done then go for it xx

[keepea in reply to Laurapax]

Hi Laurapax, I'm thinking of pushing through and doing another cycle without a gap- hoping for more mature eggs and blastocysts this time 🤞Thank you! Xx