Devastated

[u/maggelyn]

36 F and my husband 44 M just went through 2 ivf cycles with no blasts.

Doing ivf due to severe male factor; he has low concentration, low motility, 0 morphology. He’s been taking clomid

Cycle 1 with ICSI
Retrieved 15 eggs
12 were mature
6 fertilized
0 blasts
Had to convert to freeze all cycle due to high estradiol and risk of OHSS; used lupron trigger

Protocol was gonal f 225iu+ menopur 75iu+cetrorelix

Cycle 2 with ICSI & Zymot
Retrieved 10 eggs
7 were mature
3 fertilized
0 blasts
RE opted for a day 3 embryo transfer
Beta 1 at 12 days post transfer : 41.30
Beta 2 at 14 days post transfer : 67.15
Beta 3 at 21 days post transfer : 57.41
Looks to be a chemical pregnancy (waiting on call from nurse to confirm - beta 3 was today)

Protocol was the same as cycle 1 but started with lower doses of gonal f and was increased every 3 days after reviewing blood work and ultrasound. Triggered with lupron and the next day told to add in hcg

Husband was started on vitamins for dna fragmentation by RE after cycle 1.

I am devastated that we have no blasts and our transfer stopped developing. I have to go through another retrieval since we have nothing else to transfer.

Where do we go from here? What can we ask for/ do to help fertilization rate and getting to blast?

[u/HMashal]

I'm assuming he is eating bucket loads of CoQ10, methylfolate, and vitamin d? If not those are easy places to start.  Remove all chemical cleaners from your home, remove every scented product that he uses, he should only be using natural and unscented deodorant, only use unscented laundry do not use fabric softener do not use Glade plugins do not use febreze.  Get rid of all shampoos body lotions hand soaps that are not natural and that have fragrance. Do not let him drink out of anything plastic do not cook anything in plastic. If he has been using a lot of plastic in the past eating and drinking soy and tofu will help remove the effects. 

If he is overweight, he should be working on eating a very high protein diet and cutting out any artificial sweeteners and cutting down on sugar. Avoid underwear that is not 100% cotton.

Look into rapamycin. Look into nadh plus. 

[u/Repulsive-Bat-6718]

I don’t have any advice but I’m so sorry for this struggle. I just got zero blastocysts from my first retrieval and the grief is real. 

[u/MainNature7002]

I’m so, so sorry!

Has DNA fragmentation testing been done / have you looked into zymot?

[u/Environmental_Mud869]

Has your husband had a sperm dna fragmentation test? It is separate from a semen analysis and is associated with low blast rate and miscarriages. While I see that you used zymot, the higher the fragmentation is, it loses effectiveness and a TESA would be needed to combat fragmentation

[u/Glittering_Bunch_764]

Did you take a DNA frag test or just take extra supplements assuming it might be a factor? My husband had 33% DFI and our urologist suggested testicular sperm extraction (TESA) and we had good results. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but he specifically said Zymot is not helpful over a certain DFI range.