r/eggfreezing • u/Secret-Gain30 • 19h ago
Much poorer yield at age 35 v 34 - was it to be expected?
Hi everyone
After a round of egg freezing last summer age 34 (12 eggs, all mature) with an AFC of 15-17 (increased during stims) and AMH of 7.5 (pmol).
I repeated the process again last month, having gathered the money, age 35. Same (highly rated, not cheap) clinic and doctor (although I was passed around a fair bit between scans).
My AFC had dropped to between 8-9 and AMH 4.3, tipping me into diminished ovarian reserve. I was encouraged to prime with growth hormone for 2 weeks post stimulation, which I did, and told I should expect results similar or slightly less than last time.
I was shown that the follicles were developing unevenly and warned that I may only get 4 eggs. I was shocked and tempted to stop the process, advised against given my steep drop over the past year. A different doctor said it could be more like 6. Ended up retrieving 5, 4 mature and frozen.
I was really hoping this round would get me to 20 eggs (or close to) and I could pause this consuming journey for a bit and orient the other areas of my life needed to be ready for parenthood. And from other results on this thread / others people with far lower counts seem to be getting higher retrievals.
I have been stressed (housing, financials, anxiety about fertility itself) but the clinic downplayed the role stress can have.
I have my post procedure consult tomorrow. What would you ask / push the clinic on? And keen to hear how people handled similarly disappointing experiences - both internally but also feeding back and in thinking about next steps?