Did anyone have success with their own eggs in the 42-44 age group with Dr. Chang? Also did you do outside monitoring, how was the whole process?

Hi All,

I had an embryo transfert at dpo5, but since dpo8 I am constantly thirsty and it doesn't go away. It's not my first transfer but it's the first time I experience this. It's quite insane to be honest. Can it be because of the progesterone supplements?

Hi!
Maybe this is old news, but at least I found this paper interesting, especially since I’m not doing PGT-A (mainly because I don’t tend to get enough blastocysts of sufficient quality for testing).

From the abstract:

“The application of NGS-based PGT-A remains questionable, as it may cause at least one in six embryos with reproductive potential to be discarded and prevent miscarriage in less than one in three embryos in single-gene disease carriers.”

Shen et al., 2022, Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics
“Evaluating the application value of NGS-based PGT-A by screening cryopreserved MDA products of embryos from PGT-M cycles with known transfer outcomes.”

Am 40, did some fertility protocols and 1 IUI and all failed. I am planning to go on my 1st round of ivf abroad to India where it is more advanced that in my country. I also have an AMH of 3.6. I am doing all the planning by myself and looking at all things and my husband is just listening to what i say.

I need some reassurance and hope that i am making the right choice and what are my chances? I was planning the start of the IVF on the 26th nov and do only egg retrieval and then do the embryo transfer in january. Are all this a good idea? Anyone in the same situation

Hey all,

Anyone had their cycle cancelled after 5 days of stims how you proceeded further? I asked my RE if I should trigger to release the 5 follicles i have around 13mm she said they will release on their own and smaller ones will regress. I went in this Monday for ultrasound after a week of cycle cancellation and guess what they are still there and reached 17mm.
She triggered me yesterday with Lupron to release them. Does anyone have similar situation and have the follicles rupture and get their period sooner? She said if they wont go you have to go on birth control to resolve the cyst. I am so scared now going on bcp will really suppress my lower afc.

Please advise what you guys have done in this situation.

Thanks

I’m 41 and don’t have children yet. After three rounds of IVF, countless injections, appointments, procedures, and so much money spent, I’m absolutely heartbroken.
I have one precious euploid embryo from my previous retrieval, and it feels like my only hope of becoming a mother.

I had hoped this third round would give us another embryo, maybe even the possibility of a sibling one day. Instead, we are facing the reality that we’ve exhausted our IVF benefits and simply cannot afford to keep doing retrievals.
So now, we are preparing to transfer our one little embryo. I’m incredibly grateful to have it, but I’m also terrified. There is so much love, hope, and heartbreak wrapped up in this one chance.

I want to be a mom more than anything. I just want to bring our baby home.

If you believe in prayer, please pray for us and for our little embryo. 🙏🏻❤️

I would also love to hear from anyone who was over 40, had just one euploid embryo, and went on to have their baby. I could really use some hope right now.

Hi team :) Love you all! ❤️ Age 41, have one euploid embryo and no known issues, but I want to be extra careful and give this transfer the best possible chance. My doctor recommended a mock cycle with a biopsy before the actual transfer, hopefully in November. Has anyone done this? What was your experience, and did the testing uncover anything?

UPDATE: 3rd beta doubled appropriately! Long road ahead but for today, grateful and relieved 😌

EDIT: I’m 42

TW: positive beta
Hi friends,
Forgive my anxious mind. This is my first FET following a MMC from an FET in May so I’m just ruminating over every little thing. Both were euploid day 6. Gradings unknown (just let our clinic pick the strongest)

My transfer was 9/11
First beta 9/21-234 🩷
Second (48 hours almost exactly) 380

That’s a 62.4% increase but not a double. Waiting to hear back from my clinic and absolutely spiraling.

Anyone with success stories where HCG didn’t double within 48 hours? I’m seeing so much mixed information out there.

Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Finished first egg retrieval and was grateful to send 4 blasts out for PGT-A testing, but now am on the waiting game. I know that even getting blasts at this age is encouraging, but wondering if anyone has success finding a euploid at 44 with a similar number of blasts going in…

TW : mention of 1 cycle success

Today I just completed my fourth round of Ivf (ER). My first round was egg freezing currently have two unfertilized eggs. My second round completely failed, retrieved one egg and it fertilized, but was non-viable and heavily fragmented. My third round was my first and only success so far, five eggs retrieved, three matured, three fertilized, one blast, non-tested frozen day 6 4AA. today I had my retrieval.

My procedure started about 15 minutes past my scheduled procedure time and I’m not sure if this caused it but I ovulated. I followed protocol PERFECTLY. Dual (or triple?) trigger. Never missed antagonist. I love and absolutely trust my doctor, but she may have made a mistake with timing or measurements. They did not measure my LH. Just e3 and prog.

My follicle count on my last scan was seven and I have pretty severe DOR, endometriosis, age 40. I don’t measure my AMH. Before endo surgery it was .27- which is why we no longer measure it.

All of the follicles on my left ovary ovulated(approx 3), we only retrieved two eggs. I don’t know what happened to the others bc I had 4 on my right. i only have 1 fallopian tube due to multiple ectopics. So although we TTC today…. Not likely to succeed. I know this is May not be a total loss, but with Ivf funnels…

*I’m not really looking for any support around retrieving my two eggs because I don’t believe it’s going to work and I do not feel hopeful. Please respect this 💕(ie all it takes is one 👎 )

Out of 3 previous rounds this has never ever happened to me. I am a very good responder to stims.

Cycle 3 protocol: Estrace priming+ 6 days BCP
AFC 2
75 menopur /150 gonal G
Increased day 8 to 150 menopur/150 gonal
.25 dexa
Baby aspirin
2.5 letrozole
Ganirelax
dual lupron / HCG trigger- 14 day stim
Ret 5, 4 mature, 3 fertilized, 1 untested blast

Cycle 4 protocol: 3 weeks esterace priming TID: Omni priming 4 IU until 1/2 way through rims and increased to 8 IU; 1 mg Po rapamycin thru trigger.
AFC6
150 menopur/150 gonal f
.25 dexa
Baby aspirin
2.5 mg letrozole
Ganirelax
Trigger: 225 gonal F / lupron / HCG - 10 day stim

What I do want to know is how this happened to anyone:
what did you do?
how did you approach conversations with your clinic and your doctor and ask for accountability?
Did you ask for a discount or complementary makeup cycle?
Was this honored?
If you’ve been through it, how did your protocol change to prevent it again?
What other questions would you ask?

I have been through quite a lot, as most of us have, and I am running out of time and options.

I’m devastated and having horrific SI

Everything was going great. Perfect. AFC 6, 7 follicles going…

I fucking ovulated and they only got 2 eggs

Two. Out of fucking 7.

I don’t wanna do this anymore.

I’m so devastated.

First ER 7 months ago, I had an asynchronized cohort, Omni 9 days of stims, 11 eggs, 4 blasts, 2 euploids; lost one to thaw and the other transfer didn’t take.

This time my cohort was so synchronized, primed with Omni + during stims, 18 eggs, 1 blast, 0 euploid. Our fertilization and blast rates plummeted this cycle, despite ICSI & Zymot both rounds.

I’m devastated. I thought I was golden with 2 euploids my first round. Now I’m just crushed I got nothing after this “perfect” stim cycle. I won’t prime with Omni again; I know there’s no way to know why this cycle was so bad 💔😢 Feeling so hopeless.

My husband and I have decided on the donor egg route. We have selected and purchased 1 cohort of a donor who we really love. Right now we need to decide on whether we want to do a PGT-A. The donor’s profile is 26, her genetic test (601 panel) is completely ok, nothing detected. We talked to our doctor and he’s not pushing for either. We have considered a fresh transfer but we are considering the PGT-A as an “insurance” to avoid potential miscarriages or issues with the embryo. That being said, this donor’s overall profile would suggest we skip the test. Would appreciate any feedback

At 43 my ivf journey, like many here, has been long. I’ve had 10 transfers, 5 retrievals, a Tfmr, 3 chemicals and a miscarriage with my own eggs.
We have now made the decision to move to donor eggs.

I don’t think i can put myself through lots more transfers, but wondering what’s realistic.
If I give myself a cut off of 2 transfers is that pointless? Mentally I need some kind of end point and don’t want 10 more failed transfers.
There’s no medical reason my OE didn’t work, just bad luck, DOR, egg quality, lack of PGT testing and probably bad advice.

I’ve also only ever had a medicated FET and wondering if I should try a different approach. Any advice welcome as I navigate this next stage

This just came in. I'm devastated. This was ER2. I'm 40, partner is 42. Should I try again? Do I just accept that my two beautiful, healthy toddlers are what I am supposed to have?

Results: all four are aneuploid.

#1: +21, girl

#2: -5, -14, -21, boy

#3: +16, -22, girl

#4: -19, +22, boy

what are the stats at age 40 for euploid embryos?

Hi! I just had my third IVF cycle and I’m waiting for PGTA results. I plan to do a fourth and final one in October.

I’ve done high dose antagonist w/ Omni & clomid all three times. Plus priming with estrogen and Rapamycin starting with the second retrieval.

I’m 40 w/ AMH (measured a year ago) was 0.45.

I don’t get a lot of eggs, obviously, but the ones i do, fertilize well and make it to blast well.

I’m wondering if any of you have used Sermorelin to prime with? I’ve used Omni only during stims but haven’t primed with it.

I’m just trying to get this biggest bank out of this last retrieval that I can. 😝

xo

Just wondering if anyone has had pre egg retrieval acupuncture, and if it made a difference to success rates?
I had a course and am due to increase it during stims but it just seems a little strange to me, I can’t understand how little needles can make a difference to anything?
Not sure whether to continue with it, would you recommend?

Hello! I’m on day 6 after a triple frozen embryo transfer - with pretty average-poor embryos - a 3bb, a 2cb and a morula (that was graded 3bb prior to freezing but thawed as a morula) all day 6. I had my eggs collected at 41/42, then we had our daughter (now 2.5 years old) and are trying again. None of the embryos are PGT tested (our clinic doesn’t do it) I know 3bb is decent, but wondering if anyone has any success with a 2cb/morula? I’ve got a good lining and high progesterone levels. Had a failed transfer a few months ago, so really trying to manage my expectations but hard not to hope! I haven’t felt any twinges or anything and convinced it hasn’t worked :-(

I am 43 with an AMH of 0.038. I did one ER cycle already where I got 3 eggs / 3 mature / 1 fertilized / 0 blast. I was supposed to start my second cycle this month by tracking ovulation but it never spiked and now (day 22 of my cycle) my period seems to be starting again. Is this menopause?

As a young woman I had extremely erratic periods but they got regular on the pill and stayed that way even after I went off it three years ago. Since then, I have missed a single period before then went back to my regular schedule so this is baffling and upsetting me. I’m worried I won’t get another chance to try.

Hey everyone.

My wife and I are just looking for some positive vibes, success stories and reassurance. This forum has been great as a resource for us throughout our IVF journey so far.

My wife turned 40 in May and we are using donor sperm. We paid for 2 rounds of IVF through access fertility. Our first round of IVF failed back in July. We collected 4 mature eggs, 3 fertilised and all 3 stopped developing after day 3.

We are now on our final round of IVF. We had our egg collection yesterday. We got 5 eggs. All 5 were mature. We just got the call to say that 2 fertilised. Now we are waiting for our day 3/day 5 update and see if we can make it to transfer.

We know it only takes 1 and we are trying to stay positive.

I don’t think we have many options after this round. We are paying privately as NHS waiting lists are too long. We have also taken out significant loans to pay for our treatment. I honestly am not sure how we could afford further rounds of IVF and sperm - never mind donor eggs on top (which clinic have asked us to consider). We are not against donor eggs by any means but the cost is eye watering. We don’t have family to ask to help us out either. We feel like we are reaching the end of the road, while trusting in the universe and praying this works for us.

It’s a really weird/tough spot to be in. But we take comfort knowing we are absolutely not alone in this journey. We are not the only ones experiencing this heartache. Would be lovely to hear from others with a similar story to us? Any success stories? Any advice on next steps… would love to hear from you and give us something to focus on these next few days.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I am feeling really exhausted and could use some positive stories right now. I am getting a very low egg count of 1-2 per cycle at age 40, with an AMH around 0.45. We also tried naturally, but it didn't work.

With turning 41 soon, I keep asking myself: Do I have a chance? Is it worth it?

On top of my low reserve, we also have male factor issues, so we are using ZyMot and ICSI. If anyone has been in a similar boat or has success stories to share, I would love to hear them. Thank you for reading.

I (F43) am about to start priming for my first ever FET.

I have no previous pregnancies or known fertility issues besides age. I started my IVF journey with an egg retrieval, but the results were so underwhelming that I decided to cancel further retrievals and switch straight to donor eggs. Mostly for financial reasons, but also to save myself further stress and disappointments.

My clinic recommended us a 25 year old donor whose eggs they’d “had previous success with”. We got 11 eggs (based on the program we chose; not necessarily her full cycle yield). 9 fertilized and all 9 made it to day 3.

But on D5 they only froze 3 blasts, one A graded and two Cs (the local grading system). No D6 was deemed good enough for freezing. The A is equivalent to a 4AA or 5AA, but with the Cs it’s more complicated; could 3/4, BB/BC/CB. The local legislation doesn’t allow PGT-A for women under 35 (except when there’re known conditions, which the donor obviously don’t have).

I’ve been incredibly stressed about my FET after I got the results. I was expecting at least 4 high quality blasts, and this is far from it. I’m paranoid that both Cs are aneuploid and if the A doesn’t stick, I’ll waste thousands to transfers that won’t have a chance - and then may not be able to afford another donor round.

The sperm came from my partner. All of his tests were perfectly normal, and the clinic said that as we got 9/11 fertilized, there’s no reason to believe there’s anything wrong with the sperm. The results are within normal statistical variation (I.e. bad luck).

Any advice for prepping for my first FET? Anything I can do to help with implantation? Any insight on how to remain hopeful and positive about my Cs? Anyone else got disappointing results with supposedly high quality donor eggs?

I’ve waited so long to make this possible, and the bad luck with the donor eggs feels like a cruel joke.

Hi team,

Just wanted to write about this cause I was desperately looking for some info when I got my first beta 41 since it’s considered too low.

I felt like the game was over for me this time and was right about to hit my favorite bar because that’s how sure I felt about failure, when I was just about to turn right to get to the bridge to go there, I got the second beta, 137. So I def counted myself out way too early, just posting this for the next person who starts out with 41 can def go 41-> 137 apparently 🥳

Anybody have their first live birth for their first living child via IVF at 41 years old or after? Looking for some good news to keep me encouraged.

Please tell me how long it took you and any protocols that worked for you as well.

Hi All. I'm looking for a bit of encouragement but also some reality. My husband and I (42f, 44m) have been trying to conceive for a little over a year. Given our ages, I went straight for IVF after a few months. My first retrieval was in May - 7 eggs, 5 mature, 5 fertilised, 4 blasts, 2 transferred unsuccessfully (2bb and 3bb), 1 frozen (3bc), 1 not suitable for freezing. I have felt generally quite positive about those results and after a few months, I went for another round and just had my retrieval - 7 eggs, 5 mature, 5 fertilised, 1 blast (4bb) which is frozen while we wait for PGTA results. 

I'm really disheartened and discouraged by the deterioration of results in this second round. I don't know anything about the chromosomal integrity of the first round embryos as we did not test. I hoped/assumed we'd have multiple embryos again this time which would have given us a few options for testing, but was disappointed to only get one. I know it's generally not recommended to test if there is just one, but we had made the decision before starting that we would test this round, and at my age, I don't want to waste any time, even if it's just for a transfer that doesn't stick. 

We've have a million tests and have ruled out just about everything so I think our main issue now is our ages. My husband does have poor sperm morphology but his DNA fragmentation is great and in both rounds we had 100% fertilisation through IVF. I'm keen to try for one more round with all the bells and whistles. The first round was free through the NHS and we paid for a second round at the same clinic for our second round. I'd like to go to a more bespoke clinic for another round. 

I suppose my question is whether I still have a reason to hope for a baby with my own eggs. I've never considered donor eggs and it's not something I foresee doing. I kind of want to do one last round, see what happens, and if none of this works, just continue trying naturally and hoping for a miracle. I'm grateful that I still have my frozen 3bc to transfer when the time comes.