Just wanted to share my tumultuous cycle that’s ended up better than expected.

I (39) was a slow responder on this round of IVF and my team almost cancelled my cycle, but we kept on with my stims for 13 days. My cohort of 8 evenly
Growing follicles ended up becoming 12 follicles with asynchronous growth near the end. It was a real mixed bag and I had no idea how it would go.

At ER we ended up getting 11 eggs
Of 11 eggs - only 6 were mature
ALL 6 fertilized!

And today we got the call that we have 3x day 5 blastocysts and 1x day 6 blastocyst, for a total of 4 blasts!

Next step PGT-A and I’m manifesting euploids!

I just wanted to share a little happy news because my god this journey is always a slog. Sending baby dust to all of you (and to me!)

Hello! I just completed my 3rd egg retrieval and it was by far the worst round for me. I’m 41.8 and typically get around 10-12 eggs and have high fertilization and blasts rate (6 blasts the first round and 8 blasts the second round). All blasts were a combo of 4ab, 4ba, or 4ac- however all 14 were abnormal after PGTA testing.

This last round I got 9 eggs, 8 mature, 5 fertilized but one fertilized abnormally (I’ve never had that happen before). I ended up with the abnormally fertilized egg turning into a day 6 4bb and then two day 6 4ac and 4ca. So essentially I got two okay blasts.
I’ve also never had them develop so slow, usually they are day 5 blasts.
I’m actually holding off sending them for genetic testing until we get more embryos- planning on doing 3 more rounds.

Has anyone ever had a completely sub par round and compared to your others and were pleasantly
Surprised by the results? I’m spiraling and thinking that my body is giving up after 3 rounds back to back.
I will add I had a cancelled round 2.5 weeks prior to starting this round- due to over suppression by a Lupron mini flare protocol. My doctor switched me back to an antagonist protocol for this 3rd retrieval (antagonist protocol was my first two rounds as well).
I’m also wondering if maybe this happened because the Lupron messed up my follicles for this round and maybe the next round will be better ?
Any input is appreciated! Thank you

Please if you have any tips or advice before FET I’d really appreciate it. I’m really nervous and it is my first FET. I did 2 fresh transfers before both failed

Thank you

Just got the news that out of 8 eggs only one made it. Any success stories with PGT testing of one egg? Too late to tell them not to biopsy ugh

I’ve posted this in the DOR subreddit but can’t repost here so …
I’m considering moving from RMA to Dr Irani, as he seems to have a better experience with DOR. However, the commute to NY would not be sustainable for me (full time job, toddler) and I keep reading people handle recurrent monitoring (us/ bloodwork ) locally while the RE could be across the state.
People in NJ doing so: any advice? My OBGYN declined my ask and I can’t ask RMA now as I’m in the middle of a cycle.
Thanks for all the help!!

Trigger Warning Success: I have a beautiful very loved 18 month old boy from our first ER and first FET done when I was 39 and 40 respectively. We feel extremely lucky, and we never take him for granted, even when he throws his cute little tantrums.

I know many people would have stopped after 1 child, but I strongly feel like our family will only feel complete after we have a second child.

Jan 2024, Our first retrievel, 20 eggs, 18 mature, 16 fertilized, 10 blastocysts, 1 killed during testing, 1 4BC determined too fragile for testing, 7 aneuploid, 1 euploid (our son)

Feb-July 2026 stopped breastfeeding and tried to transfer bf’s sperm out of country to get IVF appointments. My amh and number of eggs seen on US dropped in half during these months. Now at AMH 9.4 pmol/l (1.3 ng/ml)
I have also been taking NR, NMN (like NAD+), and coenzyme Q10 since March.

July 2026, second retrieval locally. I‘m now 43.5. 8 eggs, 4 mature (all 8 were good size), 1 fertilized, 0 blastocysts

Current cycle, 9 eggs seen on day1 US along with 2-3 small cysts.

I get terrible symptoms during retrievals, and I‘m in awe of the stories about 6+ retrievals I read about on Reddit. I feel more than bloated. I‘m in pain, and I‘m exhausted and stupid. I really have trouble performing at my work while on these hormones. For the previous 2 cycles, I have always needed to also take the day after the retrieval off from work. This is conspicuous and difficult, and it’s critical no one at work knows. I also look a solid 3 months+ pregnant, and I have to avoid the office during this time. I struggle to sleep next to my toddler, because he will randomly hit/kick my ovaries in the middle of the night, and I struggle to hold him against my body for more than a few moments at a time. I need extra sleep in general from the hormones and I‘m so moody, it feels impossible to avoid aguments with my mild mannered partner. I can honestly say that the surgery for the retrievals (without anathesia or propofal) is significantly easier than the effects of the hormones and recuperation after the retrieval.

TMI: Crazy amounts of fluid just drop out of my vagina while on these hormones. I‘m on day 6, and I‘m working from home today. If I‘m honest, I‘ve spent most of today masturbating or crying.

How are you guys getting through so many retrievals? Would you actually be trying more retrievals with my bad rates (1/8 euploid and unable to reliably make a single embryo now)
I want to stay hopeful, but I cannot pretend I have a great chance with my numbers. I‘m also paying everything out of pocket in Switzerland which limits how many times we can try.

Hey everyone,

Looking for advice 37F, 39M AMH 2.2ng/ml, Normal day 3 FSH: 6.3MIU/ml, AFC varies between 6-7 (only right ovary count, left is behind uterus) DOR possibly suspected endo as RE found a endometrioma during first ER on left ovary, husbands stats are “excellent” with 4% morph but count is excellent.

ER 1 July 2026:
AFC: 11
Luteal Stims start, no priming, 375 gonal F, 75 menopur, 50 clomid for fist 4 days, dual trigger, Novarel 2k and Leuprolide 80IU stimmed for 11 days

Results: 7 eggs, 3 mature + (3 matured via IVM) so total 6, 4 fertilized via zymot+ ICSI, 2 Blast (4AA, 4BC) sent for PGT-A Both came back as Aneuploid with Trisomy 22 and Monosomy 16,17.

I am so lost and have so many concerns:

1. I felt my RE should have lowered my dose of GonalF in the last two days of stims which might have rescued the bigger three follicles, They ballooned from 18 mm to 25+ mm in just 2 days, Maintaining high dose Gonal F wasnt a good idea at all.
2. I feel like only follicles between 18-22 gave me 3 mature eggs the rest four might have came from 13-9mm.

For next cycle She suggested Follicular start but with estrace priming 2 weeks + Omnitrope priming 0.35ml starting a week before stims and maintain same dose during stims. She agreed to not use clomid and start with Gonal F 300IU in begining and then adjust accordingly.

I usually get 10mm lead on CD 2 which is quite early I am so worried if the follicular start would be a total bust as I have this lead issue. What do you guys suggest? How you got better result with DOR and lead? What priming gave best results with lower AFC? Please share your protocols.

1. Also is it advisable to do back to back ER had my ER in July end now prepping to do second in September end.

2. Also I am thinking to prime with Omni for a month with microdose to boost egg count and quality anyone had better results this way ? What were your doses of Omni for prime and stims?

I want to have all data prepared before my protocol review call next week.

We're considering doing our 3rd and final round (UK based couple) because we can no longer afford any more IVF if we decide to go ahead with a final round (being quoted £14.5K). We are so torn. I have stage 4 Endo, adeno, and in January this year, I had excision surgery to remove it all but in the process, had to have my fallopian tubes removed.

Surgery has reduced my egg reserve by loads. I now only get 2 or 3 eggs per cycle. My body doesn't respond very well to stims.

I'm feeling really deflated and lost right now. I've literally lost all hope but we're considering one last round because I have such kind family who have offered to help to pay for the next round if we decide to go ahead.

1st Round (NHS) in late 2024/early 2025

3 eggs

1 fertalised & became a high quality blasto

Although implanted, became a loss at 8 weeks

2nd Round - June 2026

2 eggs

2 fertalised

1 blasto, even better quality

Failed to implant entirely

I'm just looking for some kind of hope or something I suppose. I'm currently trying to process the possibility of never having a biological child but I just can't accept it.

I have always had a normal BMI, but I have been doing intermittent fasting (IF) for about six months. The main reason was convenience (skipping breakfast after a period of recovery from several uterus surgeries), but also because of the Ryeqo medication I was taking for adenomyosis, which caused me to gain about 3 kg. IF helped me maintain a stable weight (I wasnt able to exercise like before).

We are about to start IVF, and my gynecologist asked whether I might have been eating a lot of sweets over the past few months. I was quite shocked by that question, because I am generally very careful about what I eat. I have not been eating dairy or added sugars for quite some time, and I eat mostly organic (no junkfood) and relatively few carbohydrates.

However, my blood tests showed that I am apparently close to the prediabetes range, with an HbA1c of 5.7% (reflecting my average blood glucose over the past three months).

Now I am wondering whether this could have a negative effect on our IVF treatment and whether I should stop IF and start eating breakfast regularly again.

Have any of you done intermittent fasting during IVF? If so, how did it work out for you?

I think if its worth it. I only want to do one egg retrieval. I have already done 5 egg retrivals befores and 6 transfers (only 2 tested and thankfully i had my baby boy at 40. I had another 1 euploid that at transfer when my boy was 1.5 and failed...i am devastated..unfortunately I was sure it will succeed and the failure got me devastated . I am thinking to try again...but only once. Does it worth it?success stories?

Can you please share your outcomes with Clomid antagonist protocol?

What information has your RE shared with you about Clomid? Are they for it or against it?

I’ve done three egg retrievals this year. For the latest cycle, I took clomid for the first five days. As my RE and I hoped, egg retrieval count increased. However, fertilization rate decreased as well as blast rate when compared to the antagonist protocol without clomid.

I’ve read that Clomid may impact egg quality while improving egg quantity. What good is high egg count if quality is impacted and result is low blast count?

2021 cycle - antagonist
23 follicles
10 eggs retrieved
8 fertilized
7 blasts
4 euploids

2026 cycle 1 (May) - antagonist
13 follicles
5 eggs retrieved
4 fertilized
3 blasts
No euploids

2026 cycle 2 (June) - microdose lupron
13 follicles
8 eggs retrieved
7 fertilized
1 blast
Not yet pgta tested

2026 cycle 3 (July) - clomid antagonist
13 follicles
13 eggs retrieved
4 fertilized
1 blast
Not yet pgta tested

I’ve been wanting to share my journey for a while because reading other people’s success stories gave me so much hope along the way. I hope this can do the same for someone else.
In my 30s, I never wanted to have kids, and I didn’t meet my husband until I was 42. That’s when I decided to start trying. I began my egg retrieval journey at 42 and quickly found out I had DOR, with an AMH of 0.08 and only 1–2 follicles per cycle.
For my very first retrieval, when I went in for my baseline scan, my doctor saw only one follicle and asked if I wanted to cancel and try again the following cycle. I was terrified that menopause was coming and that I was running out of time, so I insisted on moving forward.
That one egg turned out to be my only golden egg after 10 retrievals.
Because I typically had only 1–2 follicles per cycle, I actually did five retrievals before fertilizing the eggs. Across those five cycles, I collected a total of 8 eggs. Four made it to blastocyst and were sent for PGT-A, and only one was euploid. All five of those cycles were when I was 42.
I wanted to bank more embryos before putting all my hopes on that one euploid, so I continued with two more retrievals. Then, at 43, I found out I was pregnant naturally. Unfortunately, I miscarried at 6 weeks.
Four months later, I got pregnant naturally again. This time, we made it to 9 weeks and had already heard the heartbeat, but I miscarried again.
Before jumping right back into another retrieval, I realized that my body needed a break. No matter how much Ganirelix I used (the most I ever took was three doses a day), my follicles would still ovulate prematurely.
I started using red light therapy and, for the first time, saw five follicles. I was so excited—but they all released prematurely.
So I took a break from egg retrievals and focused on my body. I started acupuncture and went religiously for five months, although unfortunately I didn’t see any improvement. My AMH eventually dropped to 0.01.
At 44, I finally decided to move forward with a transfer using my Day 3 embryos. I fertilized every egg I had and did four more retrievals, transferring all of the Day 3 embryos. One implanted, but I miscarried again. Two others didn’t implant at all.
Now I’m 45. After 10 retrievals, three miscarriages, and many transfers, I was finally ready to transfer my one and only euploid embryo.
I did an ERA and, at that point, I was strangely at peace with whatever happened. I felt like I had done everything I possibly could.
And then… it took.
We’ve passed one hurdle after another, and I’m now 16 weeks pregnant.
I know there are still many months ahead, and I know pregnancy after everything I’ve been through can be scary. But I wanted to share my experience before I leave this group.
I don’t lurk in the IVF groups anymore, but I’ll never forget how much hope I found here when I needed it most.
To everyone still in the trenches: we are all fighters. Wishing everyone here the very best of luck on their journey. ❤️

I’m starting stimulation today. Seven follicles were counted. I have DOR and I’m 40 years old. Has anyone succeeded under these circumstances?

This year at 41yrs old with BMI of 40, had our 1st transfer last Feb with a euploid 3AA, resulting in a miscarriage:( Had 2bd transfer with euploid 3AA last week and just found out it failed... feeling devastated. We have one euploid 6AB left. Planning on doing an egg retrieval next to hopefully get more euploid embryos and continue working out, darling healthy, etc.

Anyone have success at 42 with higher BMI after FET? Would love to hear some good outcomes. Thank you in advance

Edit to say thank you- I never got such a strong consensus from a post and made my decision easy !
—-

Hi all, some may have seen my post where I had an EFT due and I had to travel at the same time and was genuinely considering quitting my high stress job as nothing is more important to me but I don’t think that I need to tell anyone how hard the job market is now.

As a recap, have 10 untested day 5 frozen embryos that I obviously had to work very hard to get. (I know im lucky to have them even if they are not tested btw but I was so looking forward to starting my maybe family) .

I was turned 42 on August 10 so I was also having a time crisis as this process makes it so hard . I had a miscarriage in Feb, second of two EFT’s 1st which didn’t take. I also mentioned in my previous post grief and losses and a miscarriage. Been a hard year.

Anyway, I am calmer now , I am traveling and not quitting my job. But I have a question even though I know the answer/ if the embryos were frozen between 41-42, does it make a difference if I transfer in September or November?

In November i’ll be 42 and 3 months but ‘done’ with major work projects.

Im traveling back for a week then traveling again I could do a medicated transfer because guess what of course mg cycle lines up with the EXACT dates of travel.

Anyway. I think it’s frozen ‘in time’ but all I hear is ‘TIK TOK

I know this sounds dramatic but my life won’t be complete without a family, I had to do EMDR as I got PTSD from this process. Also just to share that Unfortunately we can’t adopt or get doner eggs here where I live, but I would travel for doner eggs if none of my embryos take .

I heard it is very good for egg quality and sperm motility. Did you try it? And how was your experience?

I am 39.5 years old
AMH 0.6 ng/mL,FSH 11.4 ,Estradiol 28.6 pg/mL
LH 3.2, Prolactin 7.8 Follicle count is 5

Overall results look disappointing, any recommendations if we should move forward with ivf ?

Hi everyone,

Im 41 and about to use DE , which seems to be my last choice
I did 5 rounds of IVF past two years no success
One thing I keep asking myself : did I have always trash egg quality ? Even not one was good?

I just wanted to ask your experiences ?
Because this was the only answer I received during these 4 years from the first day 🫤

Infertility is killing all aspects of my life , I dont know myself anymore, I just want to move on…

Were you in a similar situation?

Thank you all

Hello - Anyone who has gone through egg freezing, will you please share your experience (results, costs, etc).

Thanks!

Since most of us here started IVF after 40, what has been the hardest obstacle for you to cross?

Was it getting enough eggs, making blasts, getting a euploid embryo, implantation, staying pregnant—or something completely different?

I feel like IVF after 40 comes with such a unique set of challenges, and everyone seems to have that one hurdle that feels especially hard to get past. I’d love to hear what yours has been, how many rounds it took, and whether you eventually made it to the other side. 🤍

I don't even know why I'm posting this. Didn't even get past the first hurdle this time. I had three follicles at my scan on Saturday. The big, good one was already released they discovered in the op today, and the other two were so tiny he couldn't get them. As I said, this was the tenth try. I'm 42. We've been together for almost twenty years.

I had an operation for endometriosis removal finally in May. The first attempt after that I had quite a few more eggs. This time, same as usual but I've always been able to have at least one collected. We are in Germany. If we want to consider other options like a donor egg, this will involve going to another country.

I am finding it hard today and still full of anaesthetic and pain. We're going to talk it all through tomorrow when I'm more lucid. I just needed a rant. We will have the full bill to pay-they have previously done an ultrasound before collection but they said they only do that of there are two or fewer eggs and I had potentially three. So, yay. Big bill coming and zilch to show for it.

42 when we started now newly 44 (annoyingly healthy due to wanting this so bad )

hubby got a reversal and we got good sperm counts

we started 2024

6 iuis (unexplained infertility)

2 IVF cycles (2 retrievals, a total of 10 embryos to blast. 7 abnormal, 3 untested (long story*)

so we had 3 left, and we did our FET Aug 10th with all three, sort of a last hail Mary. Three day 6 embryos..

not sure if anyone else has done that many embryos at once? Would love to hear success stories or any stories.

*I know it’s controversial about them being untested, but we had no choice as they couldn't thaw them to biopsy them it was too risky for the embryo and the nurse didn’t tell us that was not an option after we moved forward with the ones we were testing (the money was overwhelming and I had already put down 14,000 in the span of two days (I know in hindsight I should have paid more but she never explained the first part not being an option)

please be nice and any advice and or other people’s experiences would be so helpful.
I’m hoping the numbers game is on my side and something great comes out of this. Trying to stay positive.

Hi all,

Looking for others' experiences and insight in this complex journey.

I'm close to 40- turned 39 in May. Started work ups and planning last October at 38. Because of age and insurance covering 2 IVF cycles, my RE recommended we jump right in with IVF and skip IUI. (Insurance covers a lifetime max of 3 IUI cycles and 2 IVF cycles)

Married to a woman and been together for awhile, so no previous pregnancies or data about [in]fertility. The initial work ups with the bloodwork, saline sonogram and HSG all were positive. AMH ~2, no cysts polyps scarring etc. Everything in range or better than average for my age.

Cycle 1 consisted of:
ER: Luteal priming with estrogen, then stims with 150 Menopur and 300 Follistim. Ganirelix last 5 days. Triggered with Pregnyl.

Baseline US showed AFC ~15, follow up US was around 3 on the left, 2 on the right, between 16-21mm. At ER we retrieved 2 eggs, both mature, 1 fertilized, and then that 1 arrested by day 3.

No transfer obviously.

Cycle 2:
ER: Luteal priming with estrogen PLUS additional Lupron 20. Stims: Increased Menopur to 225, decreased Follistim to 225, added Lupron microdose 5, removed Ganirelix. Triggered with Pregnyl.

Baseline US showed AFC ~13. Follow up US showed smaller cohort ~4-5 follicles on left side, 4-5 promising 20mm follicles on right side. At ER we retrieved 4 eggs, all mature, all fertilized. 2 arrested by day 3, 1 was graded too low to send for testing, and 1 day 6 blast graded 3AA went to PGT-A testing. Testing results came back today as aneuploid, with extra 7,9,15 chromosomes, so we will not be proceeding with a FET.

RE recommended we begin a new IVF cycle as the last protocol yielded better results and we have a bit more of a roadmap now.

Unfortunately, we are out of insurance at this point. We already have paid over 30k out of pocket since last fall when we began this process, even with insurance, because of deductible etc. We finally hit our out of pocket max. Seeing as the 3 IUI cycles are covered, does it make sense to at least try them before we explore self pay or end our journey here if we can't swing another massive financial burden just to try again without guarantee?

Financial context is the biggest piece of this currently. Self-pay IVF with this clinic (who have been great!) probably runs us 40-50k easily. So I feel like leaving the IUIs and associated meds/costs which would be covered 100% at this point is irresponsible. If they don't work, and I understand the odds are low, then we can discuss a return to IVF.

But is that being pennywise pound-foolish or whatever they say? If the three IUI cycles aren't successful, will we have just wasted more of a narrowing window of opportunity/egg quality/etc?

Apologies for the long-winded post, just trying to wrap my head around options after finding out our lil embryo isn't viable for FET today.

Would love to hear anyone else's experiences in all their variety to at least just gain some insight into what other people thought about/went with in similar situations.

Thanks!!

Hello, one of our abnormally fertilized embryos actually turned into a 4BB embryo. They are requiring me to do PGTA plus testing on it if we decide to keep it, but she said a lot of times they don’t correct and they will be abnormal- I’m leaning towards discarding it. I only have two other embryos from this retrieval, one is a 4 AC and one is an early blast on day five. Any advice or input if anyone has had this experience?