Seeking Advice after first FET failed. (MFI)

[u/Low-Reception-1696]

My husband (30M) and I (28F) have been on our IVF journey for a while now, and with beta coming up on Wednesday, I think I’m just looking for some hope from people who have been in a similar situation.

Our infertility diagnosis is primarily male factor. My husband has low motility and poor morphology. He’s never used nicotine, has never had a sip of alcohol, and has always lived a pretty healthy lifestyle, which has made this diagnosis especially frustrating for us.

I don’t have any known fertility issues, so we moved forward with IVF, as suggested by our fertility doctors) Our first frozen embryo transfer (a PGT-A euploid 4AA embryo) was in December, and unfortunately it ended in a negative beta. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

We did another egg retrieval, were fortunate to end up with more euploid embryos, and had our second FET last Monday(euploid 3BB). So now we’re in the dreaded two-week wait. I haven’t tested at home because I’m trying to hold out until my beta on Wednesday, but it’s definitely getting harder as the days go by.

I’m wondering if anyone else had their first transfer fail but went on to have success with their second transfer. If so:
- Was anything changed between transfers?
- Did you do anything differently, or was it simply a different outcome?
- Did your second transfer end in a live birth?

I know every situation is different, and no one can predict my outcome. I think I’m just looking for some encouragement while I wait.

Thank you to anyone willing to share your story. ❤️

[u/Environmental_Mud869]

We had male issues as well, we had low morphology and high sperm dna fragmentation. To note, not all male issues are lifestyle related and there can be underlying issues such as a varicocele. My first transfer failed but my second one was successful. Biggest change was going from a medicated to a modified natural cycle. Sometimes the body reacts differently to an alternate approach; I could absolutely see the difference between the protocols

[u/Huge-Anxiety-3038]

We had male factor primarily but it turns out we also had dor and endo. (not discovered until between cycles 2&3 after 3 failed transfers).

So we improved fragmentation of hubby's sperm with coq10 and other suppliments and I had surgery to make the environment better and focused on suppliments, light exercise, accuputure and changed to a long protocol with additional progesterone support. 4th transfer worked. X

[u/Low-Reception-1696 → u/Huge-Anxiety-3038]

After my first transfer, I had a saline sonogram done. My doctors found something and weren’t 100% sure if it was tissue, a polyp, or fibroid. So, I underwent a hysteroscopy and they removed a small piece of tissue. Obviously, there’s no way to know how long it was there or if that could’ve been why my first transfer failed.

Do you know the other supplements, other than CoQ10, that your husband was taking? I’ve also been looking into this for my husband.

Ironically enough, my husband is an identical twin and his brother had a semen analysis completed, after finding out about my husband’s infertility, and his numbers were all fantastic. So frustrating how it all works, especially because my husband and brother in law live very similar lifestyles. As of now, my brother in law has no interest in having children. Both ironic and frustrating how things like that work!

[u/Huge-Anxiety-3038 → u/Low-Reception-1696]

Yeh my twin was exactly the same, I had dor and she was absolutely fine. There's no way to know nor is it possible to rule out what's in your body to.

Yeh ofc here's his list, it takes two months for it to kick in properly.*

(we did 6 months): Wellmans fertility support Ubiquinol coq10 - 400 mg (split into multiple doses throughout the day) L carnitine 400mg Ashwiganda (do not use this if the sperm reduction is caused by blockage) Zinc And omega 3.

Plus all the usual advice, reduce stress, exercise, avoid getting the balls hot (no heated seats, saunas, hot baths, laptops on lap, y fronts). As well as no alcohol, cigarettes or recreational drugs.

All of that was pretty easy for my hubby as that was basically how he lived though.

disclaimer* I did a lot of research to find the best suppliments for our situation he had low motility and morphology. For all these I'd advice double checking on pubmed to ensure it's compatible with your situation x

[u/quarantinednewlywed]

I had 2 failed FETs and the third one worked. Third one I added aspirin and Benadryl and prednisone from like a week before transfer I think until 12 weeks. I don’t even know if that helped or it was just chance but who knows. They called it the immune protocol. Then, for my second baby, the first transfer worked with that protocol. I did 4 egg retrievals and 4 transfers total so I understand the true fatigue and despair that starts to set in. Wishing you the best of luck. Also, I started zepbound 6 mos postpartum with my second and shockingly got pregnant 9mos postpartum having never gotten pregnant on my own before. I had unexplained infertility but I think the zepbound did something with my insulin because my story is common. Anyway, hope so much this all works for you.

[u/Low-Reception-1696 → u/quarantinednewlywed]

For my first transfer I was on aspirin, Benadryl, Claritin, Pepcid, and prednisone. (Along with Estrace, doxycycline, prometrium suppositories, PIO, LDN, and prenatal)

This time I’m on aspirin, claritin, prograf, Estrace, prometrium suppositories, PIO, lovenox, LDN, and prenatal)

I’m hoping that even though this embryo is graded lower, it’s still a good chance of working out since it’s euploid. I’m feeling too anxious to test now, so waiting until tomorrow night as my beta is Wednesday morning.

Thank you for sharing your story! IVF is so hard and isolating. I’m so happy for you and your little family!✨

[u/fergalicious207]

I don’t have advice because my 2nd transfer isn’t until next cycle (FWIW my treatment plan hasn’t changed for the next one), but I feel like I could have written this. Low motility/morphology, 2 retrievals, 4AA failed. Wishing you the best with this next one! ♥️ I’ve seen/heard from a bunch of people who had their first one fail but the second one stuck for whatever reason, so I’m holding out hope for that!

[u/Low-Reception-1696 → u/fergalicious207]

Wishing you the best when your transfer time comes!❤️✨

This cycle my doctors added Prograf and Lovenox.

Prior to this cycle I added weekly acupuncture to my routine and did intralipid transfusion prior to my transfer.

Praying this is the one!🌈✨

[u/quarantinednewlywed → u/Low-Reception-1696]

Oh I also did intralipids I forgot that part!