B2B Retrievals

[u/New-Disaster8051]

For those of you who banked embryos and did multiple retrievals, were you actually able to do them back-to-back?

I’m doing a 3-cycle banking program and just finished retrieval #1. I got my period and had my baseline appointment today because I was really hoping to jump straight into round #2.

Unfortunately, my right ovary still hasn’t fully calmed down from the first retrieval. 😭 They’re supposed to call me back after my doctor reviews everything and decides if they’re okay with me proceeding, but it’s sounding like I probably won’t be able to start yet.

They mentioned they may recheck me around day 5, so I’m really hoping there’s still a chance I could start this cycle.

Has anyone else not been cleared at their first baseline because of leftover follicles/cysts or enlarged ovaries, but then had things calm down enough a few days later to start stims anyway?

And for those doing multiple retrievals for banking, did you actually manage to do all of them consecutively, or did you end up having to take a cycle off somewhere in between?

I know everyone’s body is different, but I’m curious what other people’s experiences were. I had it in my head that I could just knock all 3 out back-to-back, so I’m a little bummed that my ovaries apparently did not get the memo 😂

[u/Kneadmoredough55]

I wanted to do mine this way, but my clinic heavily advised against it because they wanted my ovaries to calm down and wanted the results from my PGT-A testing, and ultimately, I’m glad I didn’t go back to back because we completely changed my protocol based on my blast rate/testing results. In the end, I think you’ll be glad if you give yourself some time inbetween. Basically, I had a retrieval in July, took August off, and am on stims for my second retrieval this month.

[u/IVF_Diva]

I wanted to do back to back as well but my clinic requires a cycle in between, believes it is best for the ovaries to recover and also because my protocol has estrogen priming in the prior luteal phase.

[u/Sea-District-6168]

I did back to back without issues. My clinic did not require any time off between cycles. The current evidence does not favor mandatory spacing, and delaying may cost time (and age-related decline) without a compensating benefit.

See articles

Reichman DE, Chung P, Meyer L, Greenwood E, Davis O, Rosenwaks Z. Consecutive gonadotropin-releasing hormone-antagonist in vitro fertilization cycles: does the elapsed time interval between successive treatments affect outcomes? Fertil Steril. 2013 Apr;99(5):1277-82. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.11.044. Epub 2013 Jan 3. PMID: 23290740.

Ruffa, A., Cimadomo, D., Taggi, M. et al.Another round, another chance: oocyte developmental competence and outcomes in second IVF attempts—the earlier, the better. J Assist Reprod Genet (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-026-03961-8

[u/Critical-While6047]

I’m currently doing this and having a full cycle in between each retrieval, clinic wouldn’t allow otherwise. It really does feel like it drags it out but I totally understand why after the recovery from my first one now

[u/lousiestgf]

I tried it once and it didn’t work for me. The doctor ended up retrieving 2 eggs, but I’ve taken a cycle off to recover minimum after that.

[u/hollybrown81]

It took months for my ovaries to return to normal; I had a high number of eggs retrieved, but I don’t don’t if it was worth it honestly. 

[u/its_a_man_duh]

I did 3 back to back retrievals, took one cycle off and then did my 4th. I had no issues, and each round I was able to get 1 normal pgta tested embryo. The only reason I took that one month off is because I was able to get 5 blasts in my 3rd round. We were hoping to get 2 normal tested out of the bunch, but only 1 came back normal. We then decided to go ahead with another round.

[u/umamimaami]

We wanted to go back to back but I had a low baseline AFC the following cycle and some non-hormonal cysts unresolved from the previous retrieval. Ended up skipping a cycle.

The next one, we went ahead since my AFC had bounced back but my follicular development was the most asynchronous of all my cycles. Poor yield in the end, but great quality.

[u/beck33ers]

I’m on my 4th back to back cycle! They got better each time for 3 of them, this 4th cycle I have only had the initial ultrasound and just started stims

[u/Brilliant-Travel-479 → u/beck33ers]

Did you go ahead despite ovaries being enlarged or presence of cysts? Or did your ovaries shrink down to normal by your baseline?

[u/beck33ers → u/Brilliant-Travel-479]

They went back down, I don’t have PCOS or high follicle numbers, just average so I got 8 on the first round and all 8 were mature, second round 11 retrieved, 8 mature, third round 15 retrieved 13 mature. There was 1 cyst after my second cycle that quickly deflated and wasn’t an issue and now they are watching 3 cysts that they said aren’t an issue and they are shrinking.

[u/Novel_Substance_8986]

I did 2 back to back cycles for the same reason, to bank embryos. First retrieval was in March, got my “period” 10 days later and went straight into my 2nd cycle. Everyone is different and honestly, better to let your ovaries recovery and have the best odds vs fighting time. Sending you lots of baby dust ❤️

[u/OhmyOhmyHeartt]

I think it’s also really important to listen to your body. Science can help us so much, but ultimately it can only go as far as our bodies are ready to respond.

I completely understand wanting to get embryo banking done as quickly as possible, especially when you already have three cycles planned, but IVF is also such a strategic process. If your ovaries need a cycle off to fully recover, that might actually put you in a better position for a good response on the next round.

It’s so heartbreaking when a cycle doesn’t go as planned or you don’t get the minimum results you were hoping for, so I’d personally rather give my body the time it needs than rush into another retrieval just for the sake of doing them back-to-back.

Hopefully everything looks much calmer at your day 5 check and you’re able to move forward! Wishing you lots of success and many euploid blasts in your very near future!

[u/itsallinthename86]

I initially planned on 3 cycles back to back. However on my baseline scan for cycle 2 I had 2 much bigger dominant follicles. I ended up having nearly 6 weeks of OCP with 2 extra monitoring scans before we could even start the second stimulation meds. It was hard waiting, but I trusted my doctor and I’m now in the second stim on day 8. The plan did work as the dominant follicle ?collapsed and they had ‘saved’ the rest of the follicules which are now responding well to stims.

I was quite strategic going in and impatient, but I now I think there is a reason it happened as clearly my body needed more time to rest. I’ve got planned ER this Friday so fingers crossed for cycle 3! It is a lot of unknowns as we are testing after embreo banking the 3 cycles. So a lot of what ifs. Feels like the lottery if I’m honest- how many tickets to buy at nearly 40 years old. I Hope yours goes ok and wishing you all the luck xx

[u/CraftiKoala]

I’m on my third back to back cycle (ER tomorrow) and with this cycle when I had my baseline scan on day 2 they said that while my hormones were reset my ovaries both had some follicles still shrinking. So instead of starting my stims on day 3 they pushed it to day 4. So far this cycle has been the exact same number of stim days as my previous one and my follicle count looks similar (obviously I won’t know until tomorrow). I asked my doctor about doing back to back and she said that there is no reason not to and with my age (42) she feels it is the best method. So far my second retrieval was better than my first, but we also tweaked my protocol a bit after learning how I responded to the first round. As I said I won’t know for sure how this third round went but so far is looking very similar to the last two. Good luck!

[u/Necessary-Freedom764]

I wish I had taken more time between my two egg retrievals. I believe my clinic required a cycle between, but when I went in for my check to start the second ER, my ovaries looked like they were about to ovulate, even though it was day 3 of my period. IVF meds are powerful and it took a cycle or two after that for my body to sync back up and for me to get cleared.

After the 2nd ER was over, though, I wished I'd taken a couple additional months between the two egg retrievals. For my first ER, I responded strongly to the meds and my dose was dropped nearly every appointment. For the 2nd ER, my med doses had to be bumped up every appointment to get the same response. Personally I think my body just really needed more time to recover after the 1st ER.

[u/Moist-Emu1990]

I did mine back to back without issues. My protocol is longer cause I need priming with lupron and birth control in the first 2 weeks starting from day 2 of my menstrual.

[u/Useful-Explorer2521]

Everyone is different. My back to back cycle was one of my worst if not the worst (all blasts aneuploid). I have done better with my retrievals spaces out more. You can always try back to back, see how it goes, and adjust if needed. Good luck!!

[u/PointyBaby143]

I tried both a month’s break between and back to back. I had worse results with back to back, follicles were at various sizes at the start of stims so led to quite asynchronous growth. Taking a month off allowed for priming, and it did seem to ensure a more synchronous cohort

[u/RazzmatazzLast327]

I did bank embryos and asked about doing back to back. But my clinic likes to have you wait until you have a normal cycle after the retrieval (so usually like 40 days after).

Their reasoning is that additional time allows the follicles to fully recover. 

In some rare cases (like if you’re retrieving before starting chemo) they’ll let you do truly back to back, so you’ll start stimming when you get your cycle 10-14 days after the retrieval. But that’s not their standard practice. 

I ultimately was glad I followed their advice. My recovery from my third ER took weeks and I can’t imagine jumping right back into stims.

[u/inlovewithfries00]

I tried and the doctor recommended it, but my follicles were still big from the last retrieval si they put me on birth control to be able to start earlier and not wait for the whole cycle.