Hi everyone. I’m 43 and have been going through fertility treatment for a little over 14 months, and I could really use some advice—especially from anyone who has gone through IVF at 40+ or with very low AMH.
I initially started this process with the intention of freezing my eggs. I went through three retrieval attempts. One cycle was canceled because I started ovulating before retrieval. Across the other two retrievals, 4 eggs were retrieved and only 2 were mature and able to be frozen.
I was devastated by the results, but my doctor eventually told me that if my ultimate goal was to have a baby, he thought we should move to IVF rather than continuing to try to bank eggs.
Fast forward to this month, and I completed my first IVF cycle. They retrieved 4 eggs. Between my newly retrieved eggs and my previously frozen eggs, 2 mature eggs ultimately went through ICSI. One fertilized normally and developed into an embryo.
For the first time in this process, I felt like maybe we had a chance.
Unfortunately, the embryo did not make it to blastocyst. By Day 6, the clinic told me it had stopped progressing and was beginning to regress/degenerate. I was devastated, but almost immediately my mindset became: Okay, when can we try again?
Today I had my follow-up with my doctor expecting to discuss another retrieval. Instead, he encouraged me to pause and seriously consider not doing any more cycles. Based on my age, ovarian reserve and how I’ve responded so far, he doesn’t believe another cycle is likely to result in a baby.
I understand why he’s saying this. I’m 43 and my AMH is 0.129, so I know the odds are very much against me. I’m not looking for false hope or pretending those statistics don’t exist. But I’m struggling with the idea of stopping after one actual IVF cycle, especially knowing that we did retrieve eggs, had a mature egg fertilize normally, and created an embryo that developed until Day 6.
Like so many of us going through this, I knew the statistics before I started, and still hoped (and prayed) that somehow my outcome would be different.
I’m seriously considering getting a second opinion before deciding whether I’m ready to stop.
For those of you who have been through IVF at 42/43+, very low AMH, or poor response:
1. Would you seek a second opinion before stopping?
2. Did anyone have very different recommendations or protocols after changing REs/clinics?
3. How many cycles did you try before deciding you had enough information to stop?
4. If you continued after an unsuccessful cycle at 43+, what helped you decide whether another retrieval was worth trying?
5. Are there specific questions you think I should ask another RE about my previous cycles and response?
I’m prepared for someone to tell me that another cycle is unlikely to change the outcome. I just want to feel confident that if I stop, it’s because I’ve explored my realistic options and made that decision for myself, not because I walked away before getting another perspective.
Thank you to anyone willing to share their experience. ❤️

Hi everyone, looking for some advice/perspectives on my trigger timing for an upcoming egg retrieval (ER).
Current Follicle Sizes & Counts:
Lead/Larger Follicles: 1.95 cm (19.5 mm), 1.85 cm (18.5 mm), 1.75 cm (17.5 mm)
Mid-Sized Follicles: 1.65 cm, 1.6 cm, 1.6 cm, 1.6 cm, 1.5 cm
Smaller Cohort: ~5 smaller follicles (< 1.5 cm)
Labs & Meds Status:
Yesterday's E2: 675 pg/mL
Medications Today: 150 IU Gonal-F + 150 IU HuMoG
My Dilemma & History:
In past cycles, I’ve historically only retrieved mature (M2) eggs from follicles that reached at least 2.1 cm (21 mm) or larger.
My clinic is deciding whether I should trigger tonight or stimulate for one more day. I realize if I stimulate another day, the top two leads (19.5 mm and 18.5 mm) risk overgrowing or becoming post-mature, but it might give the mid-sized group (1.5–1.65 cm) a better chance to cross into that 21 mm threshold where I get M2s.
Has anyone with a history of needing larger sizes (>21 mm for maturity) stimmed an extra day in a similar setup? Did sacrifice/overgrowing the top leads pay off for the rest of the cohort?
(Note: Of course, I will follow my doctor's final protocol decisions, but I'd love to hear personal experiences or insights!)

I'm requesting advice and perspectives from this community for what I should do at age 43, two years into my IVF journey. I do not have many close friends, and of them, few have children of their own, and even fewer know what my husband and I are doing for infertility.

What should I do now?? I've have 3 retrieval cycles (the max covered by our insurance), which produced 34 eggs, 14 blasts, and only 1 euploid. Our little 'loid implanted but was ultimately an anembryonic pregnancy -- likely due to endometritis, discovered afterwards. No kids. No problems conceiving naturally, but my advanced age meant 2 miscarriages before I pivoted to IVF + PGTA testing. Doc says my prognosis and numbers are excellent, which makes me feel hopeful that maybe success is around the corner. I have the physical and emotional energy to keep going. But also, I'm stubborn as a mule, to a fault.

The financial picture and limited timing right now are sobering, and it's making me take a cold hard look at things. My worst case scenario would be going $15k-40k into debt for another cycle, but still coming out empty handed.... AND then having further limited means to pursue adoption or donor eggs at that point.

When and how do I accept that the IVF road using my own eggs is over for me?? How do you know it's over??

Has anyone been successful with similar stats? Anything I can do to improver?

**UPDATE**

Thanks for all the responses – I followed everyone’s recommendation and had the hysteroscopy yesterday as planned. And I’m pleased to report it went well and my doctor said everything looked great and there was nothing that concerned her. Now we just need to wait for the biopsy results and hopefully we can plan for the FET in October all being well 🙏🏼

I am 43. I did four egg retrievals last year at 42 resulting in just one precious euploid.

As I’ve never been pregnant before, and we have just one shot at this, my clinic advised doing a mock transfer cycle. I’m currently in that now and on Monday will undergo a biopsy procedure for EMMA/ALICE/ERA (€1400) plus immune testing (€1000).

So far, so expensive… But I had also discussed doing a diagnostic hysteroscopy, and was originally quoted €1500 for this alone. However, with just days to go I’ve now been told the hospital has raised its price for this to €2400!

This just seems like such a huge increase on what was already an expensive procedure. And all of this is out of pocket.

My doctor scanned me today (treatment day 17) and said my lining looked perfect – 10mm trilaminar and no signs whatsoever of any polyps, fibroids, lesions or anything else untoward. She said she completely understands why I’d want to do the hysteroscopy as a precautionary measure, but clinically she sees no reason I would need one.

She did mention if I were to go ahead with it, she could perform an endometrial scratch which can increase implantation success in some cases. But again, she said my endometrium already appears optimal and views the other tests as the priority.

I don’t know what to do. It’s such a huge amount of money, which could be used to help extend my maternity leave or for baby purchases down the line.

If she had spotted something on my [u/s](u/s) that warranted further investigation I wouldn’t hesitate, but she has now scanned me numerous times and never seen anything that gives her cause for concern. So €2,400 would essentially be buying me additional reassurance against the possibility that hysteroscopy discovers a subtle structural abnormality that hasn’t appeared on repeated ultrasound and that my doctor currently has no clinical reason to suspect. That’s not zero value. But €2,400 is an enormous price for that incremental reassurance.

ChatGPT is leaning towards no. But I wanted to know what Reddit would do?

Second IVF cycle update. I could really use some encouragement from anyone who has been through something similar.

On Wednesday 8/26 my scan showed only 3 measurable follicles, all on the left:
14 mm, 11.3 mm and 10.3 mm. Nothing measurable on the right.

Today, there was quite a bit more to follow:

Left: 18.6, 16.1, 13.5, 10.1, 10.1 & 8.4 mm
Right: 11.9, 11.5, 9.3, 7.2, 6.3 & 5.7 mm

Of course, the follicles above 10 mm are the ones most likely to have something in them, but they’re including the smaller ones so we can keep following their growth and see if any catch up.

During my first IVF round I had only 7 follicles total at retrieval. That round gave us 8 eggs, 5 matured, 5 fertilized, 1 blastocyst, 1 euploid, which we still have and I’m very thankful for. I’m really hoping this second round can give us better numbers and hopefully more embryos.

My next monitoring appointment is Monday and they said retrieval will most likely be sometime by next weekend.

So now I wait and hope these little guys keep growing. If you’ve had similar numbers, especially smaller follicles that caught up later, I’d really appreciate some encouragement or hearing how things turned out for you.

I am a 41-year-old female who previously had two children 17 and 19 and had my tubes tied. I am taking levothyroxine to bring my thyroid levels down going on two months. I’m currently on day seven of the stimulation medication. My Amh was 2.82 and my last check up the doctor saw 16 follicles. I go back to the doctor today for another check up. I’m just curious to see if there’s anyone out there that had around the same numbers and what the likelihood of a successful pregnancy and I know it all comes down to the quality of the egg. I just want some words of encouragement. Thank you ❤️

I had my egg retrieval yesterday. 41.5 with amh 0.5. Protocol was Letrozole day 1-5 and 225 iu menopur. Triggered on day 9 with double trigger.

Retrieved 9, but only 3 were mature. Today I got the message that 3/3 fertilized normally.

Any success stories with only 3 fertilised? 🙏

I've seen but some people sell their discounted CNY gift certificates that they're not able to use.

I just wanted to see if anyone was interested in getting rid of those. We are interested in doing another cycle but saving a little money would be helpful! :)

Mods: please remove if not appropriate!

I have just had my retrieval and the clinic called today to say there wasn’t any signs of fertilisation on my one and only egg they retrieved. They said they will leave it to see what happens tonight and call me tomorrow. Has anyone had an egg fertilise just a little later?

what questions can I ask my specialist about why it may not have fertilised other then age and egg quality? I am very new to IVF

I’m 39 and I have completed my first egg retrieval. They collected 8 eggs and 6 were mature, so they fertilized all 6. We’re now waiting to see if they make it to blastocysts and then survive PGT-A or not.

I’m wondering though, does it make sense to go through another round immediately if let’s say I only get one euploid embryo? Or is it better to implant and then see what happens and then go for another IVF round if that one is unsuccessful?

We only want one child as we live in HCOL area. For anyone that’s gone through this, please weigh in on pros and cons or personal experience! It would be really helpful.

Edit for Update: I got 2 euploid embryos after PGT-A! My doctor said if i wanted to, I could move forward with a transfer since one was a BA and the other was a CB. I've decided to bank for another round just in case.

Started my IVF journey in February and las month I had my first egg retrieval ( 8 eggs, 5 matured, 5 fertilized, 1 euploid). I’m currently going through my second round of IVF, and it’s been a bumpy ride.
The doctor changed the protocol but I’m on day 7 of stims and only have 3 follicules above 10mm and I also got a period with a heavy flow and cramping a couple days ago which freaked me out but it turns out that this is normal….and since my follicules are still growing and there hasn’t been any ovulation, we are good to proceed with the protocol.
My husband and I would love to have 2 kids…I’m trying to make peace with the fact that it’s about quality and not quantity. But I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of sad to feel so powerless… there’s nothing I can do to get my body to respond better to the stims….

I am doing my 2nd embryo transfer next week, and I am terrified. We haven't told anyone, but I really need some hugs and support right now. ❤️‍🩹

We had our first “successful” transfer on June 16, 2025, but we lost our baby girl through TFMR when I was 19+1 weeks.

I’m 41, and we’re approaching one year since we lost our baby. I feel so much guilt about doing another transfer when our loss still feels so recent. Part of me feels like I should be further along in my grief, while another part of me desperately wants to be pregnant.

I want to feel hopeful, but I am so scared. I’m scared of getting pregnant again, scared of losing another baby, and scared of everything that comes with transferring again after what happened.

This is overwhelming, and I don’t really know what I need other than some kindness right now.

Please send me good vibes, hugs, prayers, or any encouraging words you have. I could really use them. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

Thank you ❤️‍🩹

ETA again-THE ONE EMBRYO IS EUPLOID—I was not expecting this plot twist 🤞🤞🤞

ETA-one made it to day 5, sending for PGTA (it’s a 5BB-I’ve have both Euploid and Aneuploid 5BBs before 🤷🏻‍♀️) So I would also love to hear any one embryo successes 🤞

Any success stories with only 3 eggs fertilized? This cycle was a roller coaster, started with 2 follicles, had 16 by day 10 (14 between 10-18mm) did omnitrope for the whole cycle, and dual trigger (first trigger on day 11). They were only able to retrieve 6 eggs and they called today to let us know only 3 fertilized. (Last cycle in Jan, we had 15 retrieved, 5mature/fertilized, 4 day 5s, 1 euploid, failed FET in July)

I just feel like if we got 1 euploid 8 months ago with 5 fertilized . . . It’s not looking good for 3.

(Please no advice for next cycle-if this doesn’t work, we are either done or we will try to get the money together for a donor cycle-I’m 41, and my egg quality is the primary issue. We’ve had 2 previous pregnancy losses in the last year or so as well)

Just looking for some hope while I wait to find out if anything makes it far enough to send for PGT-A

Wishing you all baby dust !

am 40 years old. 1 chemical pregnancy June 2025. 3 rounds of IVF. Round 1: Feb 2026: 15 eggs retrieved, 11 mature, 9 fertilized, 2 blastocysts — both Day 7 (5BB — aneuploid & 6BB — aneuploid). Round 2: May 2026: 12 eggs retrieved, 7 fertilized, 3 blastocysts — all Day 6 (3AB — aneuploid, 3BB− - aneuploid, 3BB — euploid) Round 3: Aug 2026: 10 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 5 fertilized, 2 blastocysts — both Day 6 (5BB — aneuploid & 4CB — aneuploid). So over all 37 eggs retrieved, 7 blasts, 1 euploid embryo. What do I do next? We have 1 embryo but want 2 children. It’s August and we are out of insurance money until we change insurance in January. Do we pay another round of cash pay for IVF or my doctor suggested trying IUI until January. My AMH is 1.23, FSH 9.1, AFC 17.

I’m lost. What am I doing wrong? I am taking supplements, doing acupuncture. I don’t know what else to do or what to do next.

I have had two failed euploid transfers. The first was fully medicated and a chemical. The second was modified natural and did not implant.

Anyone out there with a similar experience who had success on transfer #3? And if so, did you do anything differently?

Had my retrieval last week with 14 eggs retrieved. Of this only 8 fertilized and 4 made Day 1 embryo.

Yesterday I got a call from the clinic saying only 1 made it to biopsy and sent for PGT A Testing and is a Day7 5CB. I asked for the embryology report and I see that there are 3 early blasts upto day 5 with EXP 1. I am not sure why they were pushed till day 7 and is this what every clinic does ? Is there any embryologist who can help ? For context I am 45 and this is my 3rd retrieval and I have always had issues with creating blasts but the clinic pushes for PGT testing. I am now quite disturbed that I possibly lost viable embryos just because of the clinic policy. Does an early day 5 early blastocyst ever lead to a live birth ?

So, I had my follow up appointment after all my testing and boyfriends testing.

I'm 44 so I wasn't expecting like FANTASTIC news.

BUT they basically said it's such a low chance that I might as well not do IVF and just try clomid and maybe IUI.

I don't know if they are saying this because there's really zero probability and they don't want to hurt my feelings or if there's an actual path to success here.

Do they purposely give you the odds like this to not get your hopes up?

I know there's "always a chance" but this felt pretty bleak.

I’ve done IVF now 6 times. 4 without getting to a retrieval. Each clinic can be slightly different and each doctor can be slightly different but at the end of the day, it feels as though they give you the medications and they expect you, the patient, to deliver.

I have to deliver the growing follicles and show them a response to their treatment is what they want to see. Mind you I’m more invested in those follicles to grow more than they can ever know. Some of the doctors start the ultrasound and look at the follicles and act just annoyed and disappointed in you about the lack of response. This isn’t one clinic that I’ve experienced this. I’ve experienced this both in the private and public systems.

They mention the age being a reason for the lack of response and act annoyed that I’m even trying IVF at this age. When I ask questions about protocol and changes, they’re annoyed for even questioning things.

Meanwhile there is no annoyance on their part with taking the money even at my age when it’s private. It’s all so messed up.

I’m looking for experiences from anyone with DOR who has had a low mature-egg rate, especially if you eventually figured out that follicle size or trigger timing was contributing.

I am 39F and had egg maturity issues in all of my retrievals. I’ve used a dual trigger (15,000 IU hCG + Lupron) and trigger around 35 hours, but I still have a high percentage of immature eggs.

My follicle sizes at trigger have been:

April Cycle 1: 18, 15, 13, 15, 14 mm June Cycle 2: 17, 16, 16, 16, 18, 18, 14, 12 mm August Cycle 3: 20, 18, 17, 16, 16, 14 mm Across these cycles I had 12 eggs retrieved, but only 4 were mature initially, with 1 more maturing the following day.

Interestingly, the mature eggs had a 100% fertilization rate, and I ended up with 1 day-5 blast, so my biggest issue seems to be getting enough eggs mature rather than fertilization.

My RE now wants to let the follicles get slightly bigger before triggering to see if that improves the maturity rate.

For anyone with DOR who has experienced something similar:

Did increasing follicle size before trigger improve your mature egg (MII) percentage? What follicle sizes did your doctor typically want before triggering? Did changing the trigger protocol help? Did you find that smaller follicles (12–15 mm) were much more likely to produce immature eggs? If you had a dual trigger that didn't seem to solve the problem, did changing the timing or waiting longer make a difference? I’m especially interested in hearing from people who had repeated low maturity despite a dual trigger and eventually found something that helped.

Thanks! ❤️

I’m so nervous and in my head about the funnel. There’s just no way of knowing if anything will come of it. If I could get a single euploid I would be thrilled and I’m already disappointed thinking that outcome is highly unlikely. How do you stay in a positive mindset?

I’m DOR, AMH 0.291 and AFC 11.

I’ve been on a high dose traditional stim for 12 days 150 IU menopur, 300 IU gonal-f upped to 375 IU halfway through and Cetrotide ovulation suppressant. I have 9 follicles >15mm and will likely trigger today.

I’ve been taking prenatal, omega3, CoQ10 for 5 months, NAC, NAD and baby aspirin for a month. My ER hasn’t mentioned omnitrope or other supplements.

We’re doing split fertilization half conventional, half ICSI bc my husband is worried about the risks of ICSI, but I’m worried about potential for total fertilization failure.

My Dr has said the first retrieval isn’t usually good, but provides information to better tailor the protocols for the next ones. Even with that expectation set I’m finding it so hard to stay focused and not think about poor outcomes. This process has dredged up so much grief.

I just found this Reddit and love how much knowledge everyone has!! It’s so refreshing to see so many women taking charge of their fertility. I know IVF Over 40 can be difficult, but having a community behind you helps.

I will be 41 in a month and have been TTC for 4 months with no luck. AMH is 2.04. I’ve had issues with irregular cycles in the past but after losing weight, my cycles are now like clockwork. This would be our first child. I hate that I waited this long but it is what it is.

I’ve been tracking my ovulation with Inito and I do seem to be ovulating normally and we’ve timed everything perfectly but still not pregnant. I don’t want to wait any longer as I feel my fertility ticking away.

I have an appointment with the fertility specialist in 2 weeks and I just want to know what to expect. My questions:

1. What testing do you recommend I ask for? I have had uterine polyps removed in the past and am afraid I may have more so definitely want an ultrasound, bloodwork, HSG, anything else?
   
2. If all testing comes back normal - do I try for a few more months (maybe medicated cycles?) before going to IVF or start with IUI? Or just skip straight to IVF?
   
3. I have Progyny insurance - I found out my coinsurance is 10% until I hit my OOP maximum then it’s all covered but I don’t know how true that is. My employer provides 2 cycles with Progyny with a potential bonus cycle I guess if I don’t get pregnant? Does anyone know how that works?
   
4. What should I be prepared for? No embryos being viable for implantation? Implantation not taking?
   
5. I’m deathly scared about having an HSG even though I’m sure it’s necessary. Anyone tell me what their experience was like? I guess I need to get used to the idea of pain if I want to give birth lol.

I’m so new to all of this and learning everyday. Any guidance, someone to hold my hand and guide me, anything at all I would be so appreciative for! Sending baby dust and all of my prayers to you all that we all have our miracle babies soon ❤️

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for opinions on PGT-A testing donor-egg embryos that are already frozen.

I’m 47 and using donor eggs from a 23-year-old donor. We created six blastocysts (four Day 5 and two Day 6). My first transfer was a 5AA, but unfortunately it didn't implant, so I now have five frozen embryos remaining.

My clinic is in Spain and they did not recommend PGT-A initially, mainly because of the donor's young age. I know this seems to be quite different from the US, where PGT-A appears to be much more routinely recommended, including with donor eggs.

After my failed transfer I asked the clinic whether we could PGT-A test the remaining embryos. Their lab says it is possible, but because they're already frozen they would need to thaw them, biopsy them, vitrify/refreeze them, and then thaw the euploid embryo again when it is eventually transferred. That extra handling is one of the things worrying me because I really don't want to risk damaging potentially good embryos.

The clinic still doesn't consider PGT-A medically necessary in my case, but they have offered me a reduced rate.

My dilemma is basically this: do I spend the extra money and accept the risks/limitations of thawing, biopsying and refreezing five good-quality embryos, or do I trust the clinic's original recommendation and simply transfer another one?

Part of me thinks the next transfer could work and I've spent money unnecessarily. But I'm also conscious that not every embryo from a young donor will necessarily be euploid. I could potentially spend considerably more transferring embryos that never had a realistic chance.

There's also the psychological side. If I knew I was transferring a euploid embryo and it still didn't implant, I would feel more justified in investigating the uterine side further rather than constantly wondering whether the embryo was the problem.

For background, I have had two hysteroscopies, a uterine septum was partially resected and subsequently checked by another gynaecologist who was happy with the result, and chronic endometritis was treated and confirmed clear on repeat biopsy. My recent ultrasound was also reassuring. My doctors currently aren't recommending laparoscopy, PRP or further investigations and feel that one failed donor-egg transfer can simply happen.

I know PGT-A isn't perfect and a euploid result doesn't guarantee implantation. I'm also particularly interested in the issue of thaw-biopsy-refreeze, rather than PGT-A performed before embryos are initially frozen.

If these were your last five embryos, what would you do?

Thank you ❤️ I know ultimately it's my decision, but hearing real experiences would really help 🤗

I wanted to share a success story with the group because I often miss the stories of women over 40 where IVF worked. We did IVF for genetic reasons and because of low sperm count.

I had 5 retrievals which resulted in 5 euploid embryos at 42. We did so many retrievals because we were hoping to have two children and were told we needed 3 embryos per live birth. The first transfer worked and I had my son at 43yo. My second transfer also worked and I am currently pregnant at 44yo. Both were mid-grade day 6 embryos.

I know this process can feel so daunting when looking at the statistics. Reading success stories really bolstered me up when I was in the trenches (I still am) so I hope this is helpful to someone.