TTC at 40 - what would next steps be if we have difficulty?

[Matthew's Mum]

Hi good luck with it all,i'm 39 and fertility specialist put me on clomid after 3 cycles of unsuccessful ttc as blood tests and longer cycles indicated menopause looming,so far have not had success with clomid,there is no harm in going and talking to a specialist to discuss options.

[juniper76]

The rule of thumb seems to be that you can seek medical assistance after 6 months if you're 35 or over. However, I'd add that if your BBT charts showed any irregularities or hinted at any problems (eg annov cycles, short LP, etc) that you could probably ask for assistance earlier.

[blackduckies]

Hi, we decided when I was 38-39 that we wanted 1 more baby.. Up until that point we had had no trouble concieving (1-2 cycles) and thought that we would'nt have an issue again??? well it time took 18 months, and 3 early MC's.
After the first MC we went to see my OB by the time I got to see him I was BFP but with low HCG numbers and it was only a matter of time before we lost bubs, he referred us to a FS (highly recommended) where we had lots of testing done showing no real problems then it was on to insemination, after a few attempts and no success, with good follie numbers etc, I was very concious that I was depleting my egg supply at an alarming rate so it was decided that we would move to IVF in an attempt to a least collect the eggs!!!
Resulst were devestating it seemed even on higher doses my body did'nt respond well with only 1 mature follie and 1 immature one, cycle was cancelled. Basically I gave up hope.. my next cycle was booked for early the next year, DH and I had come to the conclusion that even with help the job was'nt getting done, so we had little hope ourselves, sex had become abit of a chore, so we did'nt really worry about it too uch decided the break would be good in readiness for the following year, all it took was one time, one good eggie and we were BFP ourselves when we went back to see the FS in Jan. A healthy baby girl was born when I was 41, it was stressful a bit of a tricky pregnancy , and we had put so much effort into the trying that we had'nt thought to much about the other things eg: risk factors for downs etc, in the end it alll turned out well with lots of worry for no real reason.
Our family was complete DH was booked for a vas, we had a vas sex celebration one time only and GUESS what baby no 5 is on her way!!! So I think the best advice is when you are'tn really trying seems to be when these bubs make there way to existence, but not much help when you need/want to try!!! Try and keep it as relaxed as possible, take some time away or mini celebrations, dinner ,movies and enjoy DTD.
Good luck.

[onthefly]

Yeah, I would say 6 months, but don't wait that long if you suspect anything is not as it should be - ie, irregular cycles or whatever. I hope very much it doesn't come to it, but going down the ac route is very time consuming. Before you get to start IVF there's generally months of testing and procedures. then it usually takes at least a couple of cycles just to get the right mix of meds...

Good luck!