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44 and 3 follicles do I have another cycle of drugs

2K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Jane1970 
#1 ·
I am near the end of a short protocol of Ivf meds, collection is due on Monday but I have to decide whether to gamble on 3 follicles or whether to freeze them and have another cycle of drugs and do a second collection to hopefully get more eggs. I'm 44 so age is against me, if my eggs aren't good enough this time, will they be if I do it again. Has anyone else experienced similar? The clinic are advising freezing and going through a 2nd set of meds but not convinced.
 
#2 ·
three follicles at egg collection might mean only one embryo. in that case i'd say put it back, since you can't guarantee it would survive freezing. in the event you got three good embryos, i could see the argument for freezing and trying for some more before a transfer, given that time is so pressing. we had frosties after our miscarriage and i refused to use them insisting on another fresh go for similar reasons in that i knew i had time for the frosties but the chances of fresh eggs was fading fast. good luck, i think just go on the embryologists advice but better to put it back if it is a solo embie.
 
#3 ·
Thank you goldbunny, the clinic are advising freezing but I hadn't considered that the embryo would survive freezing.
 
#4 ·
I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I'm pretty much the same age as you and have had two fresh cycles this year.  In each cycle we were hoping to have some embies left to freeze but sadly their quality wasn't good enough by day 6 (the day my clinic decides whether to freeze).  I think at our age we just have to accept that egg quality is an issue, and I agree that with goldbunny that it would be safest to put them back rather than pin your hopes on them surviving the thaw and then also going on to develop normally if they survive.  That said, your embryologist will definately know best.

Good luck - I'm always looking for news of OE positive cycles in the over 40s group! x
 
#5 ·
Thanks Bax, decision day tomorrow and its been one hell of an evening trying to make a final decision. Going to sleep on it x
 
#6 ·
Hi Jane

just seen your post (after taking a break from FF for a couple of months) and thought i'd just let you know my experience as was in a very similar position to you a few months ago. Although i appreciate it may be too late as i see you are due for ec today. I was 44 (i'm now 45) and did a cycle of IVF (long protocol). I decided, because of my age just to go for it and in fact my clinic never even discussed egg freezing as an option with me. In any case i had 4 follicles, only 3 of which produced eggs. Amazingly all 3 eggs fertilized (i'm single and used donor sperm) and were looking good at day 3. Had all 3 embryos put back in me as i was advised at my age it was virtually impossible all 3 would survive and therefore this would give me the best chance of a pregnancy. Unfortunately i miscarried all 3 on day 9 post transfer. I was warned by my clinic that this was the most likely outcome and it would most likely be due to the age of my eggs.

I was in a real dilemma as to what to do afterwards, whether to try another cycle or not, knowing the odds were very low at my age but obviously desperately wanting a baby at the same time and wanting to do whatever it took. I am fortunate in that i did do egg freezing when i was 39 and i decided i am going to try using those next, but i am preparing myself that the odds of a successful outcome from that are also low. I think if i didn't have the frozen eggs i would have given IVF another go at least once more. Then if nothing came from that i probably would have stopped.

It's a very difficult choice. I think if you can afford another cycle and you think you can cope with it physically and emotionally then it might be worth considering but i would obviously talk it through with your consultant.

Wishing you lots of luck with your ec today

C xxx
 
#7 ·
Hey,

I say put the one back in and good luck to you. Though if it's the worst then I will be totally honest with you, I would say go to donor eggs. I went through 3 rounds of ivf, 9 embryos transfers, totalling 12 embryos and not any luck. I then feel pregnant last January naturally, couldn't beleive IT!! But mis carried at 13 weeks, chromosomally  my eggs were too old and I needed to except that, it was just too agonising and costly in the end. The chances of me getting pregnant through ivf with a AMH of 3.6 were only 9%. I made the decision to do dinor eggs in the UK at the same clinic I used for ivf and am 4 weeks pregnant, first time!! Will they keep growing, who knows, will I misscarry, who knows, but my chances went up to 40%, so I'm one happy lady at the moment. Personslly I felt I threw good money after bad and put myself through 3 years of agony, I so wished I'd done it sooner. Any questions, just ask? Xx
 
#8 ·
Hi, I'm sorry for the delay in coming back, thank you for your response. Unfortunately the decision was taken out of my hands, my progesterone levels were too high to do an immediate transfer of the one embryo that I had out of the 3 eggs collected so it had to be frozen. I had another collection last Wednesday, this time 4 were gathered but only 1 fertilised and today we were informed that neither that or the frozen one had made. The frozen one didnt defrost well. The news is fairly raw and I am desperately trying to focus on other options. Either DE or adoption, maybe I need to give myself time to bounce back from today's news but both options scare me.
 
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