"A diagnosis of bad luck"

[neonpg]

Hey folks, I hope you're all holding up as well as you can today. Just wanted to post to share the outcomes of my WTF appointment following last month's failed IVF cycle. (For those who don't have the context, I got 9 mature eggs, 7 fertilised... but none made it to day 5 except an ungraded early blast that didn't implant.)

As the subject line says, the consultant is basically chalking it up to bad luck. He ruled out an egg quality issue as I'm still in my 30s, and hasn't advised changing my sperm donor unless I really want to. For my third and final attempt he says he would advise keeping the protocol exactly the same and hoping for a better outcome.

One thing he has suggested for peace of mind based on my two failed transfers and early m/c is a thrombophilia screen-has anyone else had this done? He said I should nag my GP to order these for me, on the basis of same-sex couples getting "F**k all" (his words not mine 😂) from the NHS.

Anyway I'm just sharing on the off chance that anyone finds this useful at all. I'm always interested to hear these kinds of reports from others as sometimes there are little pearls of wisdom (and also cos I'm nosey!).

So yep... the plan is to continue my health kick for 3 months (following recommendations from It starts with the egg) and then giving it one last shot in the summer. And I guess just hope that our luck finally changes for the better 🍀

[elphabamonkey]

hi,

Yes I got thrombophilia screening, positive so now on blood thinners. I’m also of the being told basically it’s bad luck camp. However I chose to change donor, did the health kick like you and whilst low egg collection (6) I got 3 day 5 embryos from it so was pleased.

Good luxk

[neonpg in reply to elphabamonkey]

Hey thanks so much for sharing your story. Three embryos out of 6 eggs is amazing. It's really reassuring that you got a better outcome from a new donor; you're the second person I've spoken to on here who has seen better luck with a different sperm.

[MiniCeeCee in reply to elphabamonkey]

Hi there, hope you’re well! Can I just ask, did you manage to get your thrombophilia test on the nhs? Thanks

[MiniCeeCee in reply to elphabamonkey]

Hi there @elphabamonkey hope you’re well! Can I just ask, did you manage to get your thrombophilia test on the nhs? Thanks

[elphabamonkey in reply to MiniCeeCee]

I did but only because I have a great gynae who put it forward. I know not everyone is able to.

[alma88]

Hi, have you considered changing clinics or ask for a second opinion? is it part of a package?I am not in your situation but would seriously consider other clinic if the consultant is keeping same treatement and said just to hope for a better outcome. I started my journey in Uk but I followed my gut and decided to go abroad, had my first egg retrieval in Feb (I’m 35) had 9 eggs retrieved after 8 days of stimulation and got 5 embryos: 1 FET and 4 frosties. Cost wise so far actually was less, saved around 2k£ compared to uk and had additionals methods included(microfluidic sperm selection, embryoglue).

[hoping_for_our_time in reply to alma88]

Would you mind messaging me which clinic abroad you chose? I'm scoping clinics overseas at the moment after various failures with a UK clinic. X

[neonpg in reply to alma88]

This is already our second clinic and believe it or not it's worlds apart from our first one, so I hadn't considered switching. I think the doctor's rationale is that I had a textbook response to meds and I'm otherwise young and healthy. He said that my attrition rate is "completely normal" and that most folks end up with only one or two embryos per round.

None-the-less thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I will take the advice in mind.

[Twiglet2]

We are at the stage of doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results too! For the test you mentioned I just take the blood thinners (clexane) I didn’t bother with the test as it would only slow down the treatment (I’m very impatient and at 41 time isn’t on my side lol) . At this stage we obky get 1 or 2 embryos from -about 9 collected and 7 fertilised each round and they have all either been miscarriages or negatives so it’s also being put down to embryo quality and (since had a previous success in 2020) we just have to keep trying to find the ‘lucky’ embryo. We are using the same donor throughout as keen that a sibling is the same genetically as our son but I do wonder if each straw could be of different quality ie depending upon on when they donated the sperm might have been healthier one month compared to the next etc. I don’t even know if that’s a thing! Xx

[neonpg in reply to Twiglet2]

It does feel a bit like insanity to just do the same steps again and hope for a different outcome, doesn't it? I am really keeping everything crossed you find that lucky one soon. You're so strong for keeping on with it. We've decided that the next round will be our last and today I started making a bucket list of all the things I want to do if I become childfree not by choice.

[neonpg]

I pressed enter too soon! Our donor has had confirmed pregnancies which made me worry that I'm the problem, but you never know if we've just had some slightly subpar straws. We know it's a gamble changing donors but we're leaning towards it now. It's one of the few things we can actually control.

[Twiglet2 in reply to neonpg]

Yeah we changed donors when our IUI didn’t work (to one younger) but now we are sticking with the same one for a sibling but if we hadn’t had success with that donor we would defo try another like you say it’s one thing we can switch and try xx

[RedFox23]

we’ve had one failed transfer and one miscarriage and have one frozen left. I asked our consultant what he would recommend and he said blood testing but agreed to just give me clexane without paying for the investigation. I’ve read online that clexane is given as standard in some clinics abroad x

[neonpg in reply to RedFox23]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, and keeping everything crossed for your final transfer 🤞🏻

[RedFox23 in reply to neonpg]

Sorry that was supposed to say clexane! Maybe your dr could just prescribe it without having the expensive testing! Worth an ask x

[K_LNB]

This may offer you some hope… after TTC for a sibling with no success, our first round of ISCI resulted in 24 mature eggs, all fertilised, but only one average blast which led to a chemical. Our son was conceived naturally on the first time of trying. It’s possible bad luck is a thing!

[Endofitall]

I’m sorry to hear all you’ve been through. I hope the next round brings success.

Sounds sensible to try a different donor.

Squeeze whatever you can out of NHS. Fertility treatment is so poorly funded. As heterosexual couple we’ve had F all either despite being under 35 starting our treatment, simply because my AMH low (surely a reason I need treatment and ASAP) the postcode lottery if it drives me mad. My GP won’t even do bloods. Had to pay for all our viral screens pre IVF and all the autoimmune/thrombophilia/thyroid antibodies etc. It sucks.

[neonpg in reply to Endofitall]

that really does suck. As a same-sex couple we expected no support and in a way going straight to private (which is a massive privilege to be able to afford) was less stressful as we didn't have to jump through any hoops. It seems completely illogical that those with diminished reserve are discriminated against when surely this should bump up the urgency?! Make it make sense!

[Endofitall in reply to neonpg]

It’s infuriating isn’t it. I know someone who had one cycle, and then should have had one more based on local funding rules but because of poor response in first cycle their second cycle funding was cancelled. If they’d known they would only have one funded they’d have taken a refund package private but now they can’t get one of those either because of history of failed cycle!!

Reality is that government does not want to fund fertility treatment. Anything they do is tokenism.