Time to try IVF?

[TellyTubby123]

Hello everyone

I am 35 years old (turning 36 next month). My husband and I have been trying naturally for 8 months. We tried IUI in July and this month but it didn't work. My AMH is low (3 pmol/L) and latest FSH is 8 (though it was 23 three months ago in June, apparently it is normal for FSH to fluctuate). My AFC tends to be 5-6 (2 or 3 follicles in each ovary). I have had opinions from two fertility doctors. The first doctor said that I am not a good candidate for IVF because of my low AMH - IVF success depends on how many eggs they can retrieve. The second doctor told me that my chances of natural conception are 10% per month and IVF would increase it to 15%. However, they would still recommend going to IVF straightaway as the younger I am, the better will be my chances. Given the benefit of iVF in my case is marginal (only 5%), I am in two minds about whether to continue trying naturally for 4 more months (so try naturally for a year) or jump to IVF straightaway. I would really appreciate any thoughts or advice, especially from women who may have been in a similar position to me. Thank you so much!

[Mallorca89]

Hi 😊

I am in a very similar position, I’m 35 years old and have a low AMH of 2.9. We were told in January we would need IVF and because of my age and low AMH, they recommended we had it as soon as we could. Fast forward to July and we had our date to go ahead. This was our first time trying IVF but had previous tried Letrozole and trigger shot with a private consultant that didn’t work.

During the follicle scans I was so disheartened to only have 5 follicles but I held on to the positives; we could have 5 eggs. On egg collection day they only collected 1 egg which my husband and I were so upset about, as like you, we had been told our chances of it working were very slim.

However…our one egg fertilised and I had a day 2 embryo transfer. To our shock, we are now almost 6 weeks pregnant so still very early stages but I wanted to share our journey with you to give you some hope, as our consultant always said to us “all you need is 1 egg” and that really did give me hope.

I would suggest speaking with your doctor and getting the ball rolling for IVF as it takes a few months to come through anyway, but you may get it sooner based on your age and AMH, and you can still continue trying naturally in the meantime.

I hope that’s helpful 😊

Wishing you lots of luck xx

[TellyTubby123 in reply to Mallorca89]

Thank you so much for responding to me and huge congrats on your pregnancy! Would you mind telling me which IVF protocol you used? My IVF consultant is recommending mild / natural IVF because apparently it gives higher quality eggs if your AMH is low. Thank you!

[Mallorca89 in reply to TellyTubby123]

Thank you so much ☺️

I had a long protocol, I also took (and am still taking) Cyclogest 400mg pessaries and 25mg Lubion injections which are for progesterone.

I also forgot to say I was taking CoQ10 for 6 months before IVF and that’s meant to help with egg quality so that might be worth trying too 😊

[TellyTubby123 in reply to Mallorca89]

thank you! Would you mind telling me your FSH? I think the FSH level dictates how many eggs they are likely to retrieve during IVF and hence succes rate!

Yes I have been taking CoQ10 on the advice of my doctor and omega 3. She also put me on DHEA 25mg for a month to help with egg quality.

[Estherlovescats]

Hi i thought my story may help. I was told at 37 ivf was my only option due to low amh of 3.4pmol. I lost 40lbs to qualify then 2 failed nhs cycles i had given up hope. First natural cycle after the last failed round got pregnant naturally with the help of mira ovulation tracker and fertilily conception cups coq10 ubiquinol 600mg and 75mg dhea tho u need dhea-s and testosterone bloods for that first. Also did mediterranean diet and keto at times but that was for weight loss. Happy to answer any questions. Im 40 and will be 41 next month. Baby boy born 23.9.24 two days ago healthy after a difficult labour. X

[Rjfguitfg]

I have the opposite - high amh due to pcos. We conceived a couple years ago when I was 37 with letrozole (I don’t ovulate on my own) but lost the baby at 21 weeks. We tried again for almost a year with letrozole but it just didn’t work. We moved on to ivf and three transfers later I’m 20 weeks pregnant with twins at 39. I do believe everything happens when the time is right but there is a part of me that wished we moved to ivf sooner. It’s a personal choice though as it worked for us. I would probably feel differently if I didn’t have multiple embryos to try.

[Beacon78]

I was older than you and was diagnosed with low AMH. We saw several doctors. One doctor wanted us to bank embryos as soon as possible because of my age (I was 42) and the other doctor who we saw said we should try naturally for a few months before starting IVF. We did two rounds of IVF. I only got one egg each time and neither embryo/blastocyst implanted or was viable. However I did get pregnant naturally at 43 and have a little boy now who is 20 months. What I learnt from this process is that IVF didn’t make a difference in my case as I was only getting one egg each time which was no different from me ovulating one egg every month. Re: IVf - I did one long protocol and one short protocol and regret not trying mild IVF because that would have suited me better especially as I was only yielding one egg each time. Please note I had about 5/6 follicles. Regardless of my experience I would recommend IVF as you are younger and may also get more eggs. You don’t know until you try. I wish you the best of luck and hope you are successful, x

[TellyTubby123 in reply to Beacon78]

Thank you Beacon78! And huge congrats on your baby boy

[K_LNB]

After a very easy natural conception with 1st child (age 35), we tried for 6 months for 2nd (age 37) with no success. Had one round of IVF which was unsuccessful (30 eggs collected but only one embryo which resulted in a chemical) and were lined up for a second cycle when I fell pregnant naturally. My situation was a bit different in that the “issue” appeared to be male factor. I suppose the moral of my story is sometimes things just do take a bit of time. However do I regret being £6k+ out of pocket and having gone through all the stress of it effectively needlessly? No, because ultimately it was all part of the journey which has got us to be being pregnant with our second. Good luck whatever you choose.

[TellyTubby123 in reply to K_LNB]

Thank you! I’m glad to hear that everything worked out for you. Trouble in my case is that it is my low AMH and high FSH that is the issue. I’m worried my eggs are poor quality this is why I’m not falling pregnant. Given IVF only marginally improves my chances I’m wondering if it is worth doing it at all! They will get a maximum of 1 or 2 eggs if I’m lucky.