We had our 2nd opinion with another clinic last night. To cut a long story shot - I knew I had poor egg quality, but I hadn't been told from our previous clinic, that the eggs that were fertilised, and subsequently transferred, showed signs of poor quality as well. I thought we had some good eggs and they were used, not that all my eggs were crap. So this FS seems to think I'm not getting pregnant because of an egg quality issue. Said the small things that showed up in my blood tests last year are small and insignificant, not big enough to cause problems (ie the cariolipin result). So he said he wouldn't put me on immunosuppressant drugs.
So, basically I asked whether there is any point doing any more IVF. He said he would suggest trying 1 or 2 more cycles (full cycles) and then we'd have to look at other options (which I believe would be egg donor but that's not an option we want to take). So I'm a bit devastated. With all my negative thinking that it won't happen, deep down I did still have some hope it would. But now I feel like my hopes are really dashed. I guess it's hitting me that we may never have a biological child. To think it could be over in one or two more cycles. I wasn't expecting that, but I am glad we got someone else to look over our case notes.
So I guess I'm looking for some kind of hope, someone to say that they had poor egg quality with low chances of success and managed to get pregnant. Anyone?
First of all - if your FS has told you that your issues are small enough that you don't need to take any immune suppressant drugs, then I don't think its a fair call to tell you that you should be looking at other options after only another 1-2 goes
Everyone is different - and everyone knows how long they personally can push for without crossing to a different step, or whether to carry on further with the one they're curently taking.
We did 6 full stim cycles - never got a frozen embie... my egg quality wasn't terrible but it wasn't brilliant - too much damage over years of not knowing how bad things were inside.
This current cycle we both took fresh royal jelly (from health food store) for the month previous & the month throughout the stims.... and my FS also added Luveris to our list of stimming drugs - both of these along with weekly acupuncture is supposed to help with the egg quality.
I'm not sure which one or the combination of all worked, but after 6 cycles, no frozens, and 9 embryos transferred overall we finally got our very first bfp after 7yrs of IVF.
Like I said previous, it is completely an individual thing how long you continue for until you get to a step where you might want to go further (like donors etc).
Maybe ask your FS about drugs for egg quality (like Luveris) - and see what he thinks.
It was pricey ($149 for each shot, I had 3 shots) - but honestly on top of $6000+ for a stim cycle, whats an extra $450?!
There is always the option of changing FS/clinics as this can make a big difference just in approach... plus different clinics have different culture medium/growing conditions.
There's also the option of different day transfers - we have always had blast, but this cycle tried day 2.
Who knows what works in the end, but there's plenty of different things to try first
Best of luck & if you need anything don't hesitate to ask
Last edited by Hollybolly; December 2nd, 2009 at 08:35 PM.
I can imagine you are feeling a bit stuck right now. Poor egg quality can be because of a range of factors, age being the most common. DHEA a drug common in the US and I think perhaps now becoming available in Australia (limited) has been shown to help improve some women's egg quality after treatment.
You mention that having an egg donor is not an option for you. I had the same reaction when it was first suggested to me. In fact I was never going to do IVF but over time I came to understand more about what these different options entailed and when faced with limited options explored my feelings and knowledge about them a whole lot more.
There is a great private Australian egg donor forum where there are many women who are or have been in your position who you could chat to and read about their stories which you may like to consider joining. I have found talking with others who have poor egg quality/reserves very helpful over time. I recently read of a woman who started DHEA and 2 months later fell pg naturally. While this is not common it is helpful to hear these stories. If you are interested you can google Aussie Egg Donors and can apply for membership (they are really careful about who they let on which is great) it normally takes a couple of days.
There are many many women on there that have not only found donors but have been successful in creating their families through known and anonymous donors as well as using their own eggs.
Good luck to you. I know from 1st hand experience, being given the news of poor egg reserves and poor quality can be devastating. I've found that the FS never likes to just come out with it, but they dance around the facts. My twin sister started her having-a-family journey 2 years earlier than me, so mentally I think I've skipped some of the natural shock you experience when you find out there's a problem, I guess I always knew we'd have issues too seeing my sis's identical to me (and we've proven so over and over). We're on DHEA. Who's to know if it works, studies have shown it has, but I've been on it for 16 months, and it has not improved my egg numbers (1 or 2 a go). During the 4 full stim, max dose IVF attempts we've had, we were lucky enough to get pregnant on the 4th recently. Sadly our little one died at 11 and a half weeks and we had her tested and she had Trisomy 18 (Edward's syndrome). Again evidence of poor egg quality. I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to rule things out for sure. Time makes certain issues clearer, for good or bad, and then decisions can be made a lot easier. Again I wish you all the luck in the world.
Success with poor egg quality?
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