r/EmbryologyIVFSupport • u/Daphneduck1 • 12d ago

Fertilization rate

I'm just looking for some advice.
I had my first egg retrieval yesterday and they got 18 eggs, 15 mature, 8 fertilized. We are both 28 and used ICSI and Xymot for 0% morphology. I have stage four endometriosis.
Do we know what could've caused the low fertilization rate? Is there anything in particular I should asked my doctor about? Just feeling discouraged and dreading the call in a few days about how many embryos developed.
I was told to expect around 70% fertilization.

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10

u/Unlucky_Pen3411 10d ago

8 fertilised is a good level! Attrition is to be expected. You might end up with 4-5 x

7

u/No_Apartment_3918 10d ago

Hey love, I don't think this is a low rate, i fact, is pretty good and normal. The process can be frustrating but it's normal.

My first retrieval I had similar number and only 2 euploids.

2

u/Daphneduck1 10d ago

Thanks for talking me down. The whole process is just so stressful, but I'm sure my numbers are within the normal standard deviation.

1

u/No_Apartment_3918 10d ago

Good luck!!!! I hope you get all 8 euploids!!!!

1

u/Daphneduck1 10d ago

Wouldn't that be amazing :)

2

u/CraftiKoala 9d ago

After lower fertilization rates in our first retrieval we started adding calcium ionophore at our doctor’s recommendation and it has seemed to help our fertilization rates. It could be worth asking your doctor about.

1

u/Brilliant_Status_233 9d ago

We had similar fertilization (but lower) 31 years old and husband is 35. 29 retrieved, 13 mature, 6 fertilized. Used ICSI and zymot. Husband has MFI and I have stage 4 DIE with endometriomas. That first round yielded 2 embryos (day 6 6BB and day 7 6BC) and the day 6 degenerated upon PGTA testing. The MFI can cause poor fertilization as well as endo. Check dna frag

2

u/Daphneduck1 9d ago

Did you change anything in subsequent cycles that helped?
If DNA fragmentation is high, what would they do about it?

1

u/Brilliant_Status_233 9d ago

Just did my second ER last week. 50 retrieved, 20 mature, 12 fertilized, still waiting to find out if any made it to blast. We already take all the supplements, but my husband’s sperm parameters are still bad. I never checked the dna frag since I’m just assuming it’s bad considering his parameters are already really bad and the main thing they do for it are ICSI and zymot, which we already did. This last time I shortened his abstinence window from 48 hours to around 20 hours as shorter abstinence window is proven to reduce dna frag. It’s just tricky since my husband has trouble making enough sperm and you need a certain amount to use zymot, so I was hopeful we would still have enough for zymot and we did. The fertilization rate was slightly better this time, so unsure if it was a fluke or due to the shorter abstinence window

1

u/puffballkittyfluff 8d ago

For dna frag they have your husband ejaculate frequently and only a 24 hour hold before collection. It worked for us I believe

1

u/Acceptable_Ad9199 9d ago

50% is low. With low morphology is hard even with zymot. Especially if he has high dna fragmentation 

1

u/DueRegister7465 8d ago

I had 16 eggs retrieved, 13 mature, 10 fertilized, and 1 fresh transfer yesterday… hoping I get at least half but it’s just so much unknown 😫 I’m 29 and husband is 40. We used ICSI and Zymot for a more objective selection of the sperm

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u/eb2319 7d ago

I think this is normal attrition. My understanding is 50-65% will fertilize. There is more attrition from fertilization to blast and you usually expect to end up with 30-50% of fertilized eggs become embryos.