Hi everyone š
Does anyone have any success stories of IVF they can share around my age (44)?
Iām about to embark on ivf icsi, pre base line scan shows 4 follicles. Waiting for my day 1 this week for my baseline and bloods
would love to hear from anyone in a similar position
thank you šš»
Hope you have people around you for support Take a look at our website fertilitynetworkuk.org Access Support then select Fertility Groups and scroll to UK-Wide Groups to find "40 and over Fertility Group " and follow prompts to register
Take care
Janet-Partner
Hi, Iām 43 and 13 weeks pregnant. I did end up using donor eggs though - cycle 3 for it to work. I did two cycles with my own eggs - all tests looked perfect, I had around 25 follicles all of which grew and I was excited. However, I got the same result both egg collections - 9 eggs collected, only 3 mature and one low quality embryo each time that didnāt implant. Cycle 3 with donor eggs I bought 7 eggs, got 3 āoutstandingā embryos, first 2 didnāt implant, I did the EMA , Alice and ERA, found it was a timing issue and the 3rd one worked! I would advise you to try a cycle of your own eggs to see what kind of quality they are because you never know until you try. But be prepared to move quickly to donor eggs if yours are low quality like mine turned out to be because it all takes so long. IVF is so much waiting. I started when I was 40 and the waiting to get going each time was the worst part because youāre very aware time isnāt on your side. Wishing you lots of luck x
Can you explain more what you found with the timing issue?
I am with Care Fertility who as standard plan for 5 days of progesterone and then transfer on day 6 of progesterone. The ERA test recreated that - a mock cycle with the same meds but instead of transferring on day 6 you have the biopsy of your lining to check if youāre receptive on day 6. Mine showed I wasnāt receptive at that time. My lining wasnāt ready after the 120 hours of progesterone and the results predicted after 150 hours of progesterone it would be ready. So they added 30 hours and transferred my last embryo on day 7 instead of day 6. It worked! Apparently lots of people have a different window of receptivity to the standard. Theyāll try you on the standard timing and only when you have repeated failures will they suggest the ERA. I think everyone should have it at the start so embryos arenāt wasted - and all that heart ache! Some people can be post receptive meaning that they went past their window and should have been transferred on day 5. The result could also obviously be that you are receptive and the timing is fine. It was what worked for me. Good luck x
Wow this is so interesting and I agree. I hope if I do get one viable embryo I can have that test done. Thank you so much this information and advice is really helpful beyond word x
Thank you so much. Did you find the donor egg route fairly simple or is it a long road and wait lists etc? Would you mind sharing approx costs or any other tips for the donor route as I think youāre right. Just one cycle with my own then time to move on. I only have 4 follicles so 4 or fewer eggs is all anyone is expecting so I donāt have good numbers either but we will give it one shot. Thank you for your reply šš»šš»šš»
Hi, I found the donor route simple but the waiting periods are frustrating when youāre already older. Iām with Care Fertility. I really pushed to rush all of mine through and it took from November 2022 when I asked to start the donor process - to August 2023 when I got to start a donor cycle. I had a transfers in Aug 2023, Nov 2023 and March 2024. That was with me really pushing to get going and making it clear I didnāt want to waste time! I think I was lucky by all accounts as well because they had donors available. I had read on the forum people saying there were no donor eggs available through Care - I think this was particularly after Covid and people had to wait for sets to become available. I think if youāre fussy about what particular hair colour, eye colour etc it might make the wait for the perfect donor even longer. I know some ethnicities are more scarce. I wasnāt too fussy and I was lucky that I got access to the egg bank and saw 6 donors. They just have basic info and no photos. I chose one and they sent me a letter she had written. I liked the sound of her so I confirmed my choice, paid, filled out the forms and had to wait about 5 weeks for the eggs to be moved to my clinic. I wasnāt allowed to plan the treatment until the eggs were there. After that it was pretty much exactly like a FET cycle of your own eggs- meds to prepare your lining then transfer. Cost was roughly Ā£10K for the donor eggs and fresh cycle. Meds were a few hundred. I had 2 frozen embryos so it was about Ā£350 to freeze and store. But then each frozen transfer cycle was about Ā£3K with meds and everything. So I paid that twice as well. The extra test I had were about Ā£2K. Hope that helps x
Iām 43 and 33 weeks pregnant. I had one round of IVF in Denmark and it worked.
My Amh was low and it was advised that there was about an 11% chance of success.
The only thing I would say is that itās not an impossibilityā¦ be positive, follow the advice of your dr and do your research on your clinic.
Best of luck xxx
Thanks Louise this is amazing and congratulations šš» Iām worried my max is 4 eggs with the expected drop off but trying to keep a positive outlook š¤
I had 5 eggs and one was not matureā¦ they were all good quality! It only takes one egg.
I read āit starts with the eggā and I followed the advice on diet and supplements for 6 months before starting. I do also think that made a big difference ā¤ļø
Iām going to order it now and see whatās missing thank you so much ā¤ļøšš»
Hi, I would go for a day 3 transfer because you have low numbers.
That's amazing news. Us over 40s xCongratulations Louise, I wish you a healthy pregnancy.
I had a 3 day transferā¦ only because the clinic was closed on day 5!
I didnāt tell anyone but a few close friends that I was trying (with donor sperm- Iām single). This defo meant less pressure and I think taking my time to consider the options, prepare my body and mind was important.
Also worth noting that in Denmark, the treatment is less invasive, i was awake for all of the procedureā¦ I watched as the eggs were harvested and then watched as the embryo was transplanted and I had no pain at all.
This experience was not scary, nerve wracking or stressful. I was very calm throughout and I think this also has an impact. Not to mention a huge amount of luck.
All of my drs were women and they were very much more positive than the men that I dealt with when looking for clinics!
I have been told the whole pregnancy to be careful, all of the things that can go wrongā¦but so far not one issue, each person is different and as I said before, age is not the only factor here.
Sending lots of positive and happy energy to you. Xxxx
Thank you and thank you for sharing your story. Yes she isn't the only issue. Many Dr's will use age against those over 40. But reality is they are just going by stats and research. Lifestyle changes and mental health can make a positive impact.
Congrates @louise. What supplements did you use and for how long did you get them. Did you also use HGH?
Following this as I'm in a similar situation, 41 and thinking about doing another fresh round. I have 4 follicles and AMH of 1.4. The consultant said it's a possibility to do another fresh round but I'd have to accept that there'd be a low chance of a live birth. I'm holding onto the fact he didn't say it was game over and that there's still a chance, and for that reason I think it's worth giving it a go.
I had success at 38 with 7 follicles I got 5 embryos ( 1 live birth, 2 miscarriages and 2 still frozen albeit lower quality hence why I was thinking about trying fresh again before attempting those)
Good luck xx
Thank you. I was going to try fresh but they said at my age I should be doing the genetic testing before implanting. Itās such a minefield sometimes which way to go for the best: I was meant to start stims this week but my very regular never late cycle is late by 5 days! Canāt believe it! Good luck šš»š«ā¤ļø keep us posted
Iāve been taking DHEA so not sure if that might have caused the cycle to be a bit off has anyone else ever had that?
I can't comment of the DHEA as I never took it but I'll definitely be doing PGTA too ā¤ļø
Please please do your research about PGTā¦ itās illegal in Denmark and itās NOT advised in the UK- if you look it up, itās a potentially a money making thing and not advised- check with HFEA.
thereās a lot of scare mongering about ageā¦ thatās not the only factor!
I agree with Louise re. PGT testing. It's a lot of money and many embryos can correct themselves once transferred. I would not give up on your own eggs. I wish you all the best x
Oh wow this is so good to know. Iāve been told itās a must at my age and also that so many embryologists insist on it. Also that frozen is better than fresh but if Iām lucky enough to end up with one embryo which at this point I think would be a miracle then maybe I should push for a fresh transfer?
I'm almost 44 with 4 failed fresh transfers. My successful transfer was a day 3 frozen transfer. Only reason why my embryos were frozen was because I was at risk of ohss due to overstimulation where most of my follicles were empty because they over matured. I never have anything to freeze. Frozen transfer is easier on the body especially if you respond well to meds. I would ask your clinic to freeze your embryo.
Thank you I appreciate all the advice šš»ā¤ļøš« so best to do a frozen but no pgta testing
If you only have one embryo then I wouldn't spend money on PGT-A testing. Ultimately it's your decision. Everyone is different.
Hi. I did 2 cycles of IVF with my own eggs last year when I was 44. I would definitely recommend PGT-A at our age. I was on a race against the clock, and personally didnāt want to waste time transferring embryos that were chromosomally abnormal - or to risk having a miscarriage. Around 90% of eggs are unfortunately abnormal at our age, and so I personally think itās a wise thing to do. The HFEA do not advise against it - they are merely flagging that it doesnāt improve your chances of pregnancy. Wishing you the very best of luck x
I had a 3 day fresh transfer. I donāt know where your clinic is but I would be shopping about to hear what other clinics recommend- for eg in Spain I was told I must have PGT, in uk itās not recommended, in Denmark itās illegalā¦ thatās a wild spectrum.
The most critical thing for me was trust and when I met my dr virtually we just hit it off, she was positive but not OTT and I felt a genuine rapport. I didnāt have that with any other clinic and I trusted her to do what she thought was rightā¦ I had not even tried to be pregnant before so it was all a bit guessing game to see what would work.
I followed the programme of drugs here, I had tracking scans locally and then I flew to Denmark for the final scan, harvesting 2 days later and a transfer 3 days after that.
Go with your gut ā¤ļø
Hi Louise, congratulations. Can you please pm me the name of your clinic in Denmark.
My friend is 45 this year, yesterday she got positive beta hcg. She had transfer of two 3d embryos ( ivf was done in our country, in Belgrade, Serbia ) with her own eggs. This gave me so much hope!
Hi there I'm 42 but did my first round of IVF back in February. Long antagonist protocol. Got two embryos 5AA and 6AA. I was adviced to not to test them since they were very good grades on day 5. We inserted both only one sticked. Currently 37 weeks pregnant.
first attempt at IVF
IVF at 43
Ivf at 41
Ivf at 37
Having ivf at 37 is too old??
