Low AMH/High FSH Cycle Buddies - Part 7

[Babyhopeful]

Pickle123 - I’ve done a bit of research around donor eggs over the last few weeks and I’ve settled on Gennet. It has a six egg guarantee per cycle, the treatment costs are reasonable so several rounds could be done if required and logistically it’s easy for me to get to from local airports. In the meantime I’ve put myself on the waiting list at my current clinic.

Katkat - Thank you for kind words. I just knew this time it was a BFN. I’m more gutted because I thought I had a bit more of a chance this time with a double transfer.

MSJ - I hope you’ve now recovered from your surgery. A change of job does sound like it will help with your overall well being. I find it very difficult to deal with any additional stress at the moment so it’s important for me to be happy in my job.

Klik - I hope you’re doing well? I totally agree that psychology plays a large part in all of this. I find it very difficult to let things go and I will keep on working for something I really want. I think other aspects of life have reinforced my attitude such as academia and my career. My attitude has been rewarded in these areas, but ttc does not seem to work the same way. I am working hard to try and let things go a little more, but it is a struggle.

Queenie123 - I’m sorry to hear about your sister. I agree with the others to perhaps mention egg freezing to her.

Rillischen - It is difficult to know what to do for the best. I’ve been having similar dilemmas. I’m starting to feel more ready for donor eggs, but I’m not willing just yet to shut the door on my own eggs. It’s a very personal decision and I would do as much research as you can into all the options and also weigh up the financial and emotional costs.

Helenbeau- I’m sorry I’m a little bit late with this - the day of my egg collection and the day after were medication free. I then used cyclogest in the evening 2 days after egg collection (approximately 56 hours after EC). For a 3 day transfer I would have had one full day of progesterone and an evening and a morning, so added together, two full days. I hope this makes sense! Good luck with the transfer!

Briss - I’m so sorry to hear about your interview, I’m sending you lots of hugs as you’re just dealing with so much at the moment. Things will get better, but sometimes it just doesn’t feel like they will. I hope you have someone you can talk to day to day and off loading here is helping xxx

Hopeful_81 - I’m so sorry to hear about your negative result. It’s such a blow especially after transferring two. Switching to a short protocol may be something to try. Do you have a follow-up with your clinic, that may help you decide what to do next?

Afm - I’ve been trying my best to get on with everyday life and to improve both my physical and mental wellbeing. I’ve done a photography course, which I’ve wanted to do for ages and thrown myself back into swimming and yoga. I have also done a lot of research into our next steps and with advice from our clinic DH are going to do a few more rounds with my own eggs. I considered other clinics initially, but I have come to the conclusion that it’s probably best to stick with what we know as we have a formula that seems to work (apart from last time when we messed with it!). I contacted Create, but they wouldn’t let us have an initial consultation without all the usual tests, which was £385 in total. I felt this was a lot to spend out when we didn’t even know if we wanted to go with the clinic. Also I felt the telephone advisor was giving me a scripted sales pitch, which was completely off putting. ARGC looked promising, but logistically it would be a nightmare as I would need to find accommodation close to the clinic with secure wifi for work. I’m also aware that costs can easily escalate with the daily monitoring. Our follow up appointment with our clinic was positive and I feel they do have our best interests at heart. We will try and do some embryo banking and potentially do 3 rounds. In the meantime I’ve asked to be placed on the donor waiting list. It’s a 9 month wait and eggs will come from an egg sharer, an altruistic donation (which is the least likely) or Manor IVF. I’m waiting for the clinic to take a few details from me to help them find a match. I haven’t heard anything from them yet, so may chase the clinic this week. I’m also keen to try Gennet as a donor egg option if we did go down this route. DH is still not completely on board with DE, but seems a lot more open to the idea if my OEs don’t work.

[FertilityFriends]

[odashwood]

Found this thread and decided to write. My AMH is very low and I can't conceive naturally. I've tried IVF+OE but failed. Now I'm having my FET tomorrow +DE. Not so long time ago I heard about 'three-parent baby' and started searching for the info. I found out that there are only a few places in the world which conducts this procedure. So I am curious if there is anybody of you who know anything about that. I have a sort of overview but wanted to find somebody who has already undergone this procedure.

[queenie123]

odashwood - I have not, but I have thought hard about it, in England I wouldn't qualify as I don't have a mitochondrial disease, but I would be interested to know where you can have it done, or if they would even do it when I don't produce very many eggs via IFV.    Have you looked into Augment instead?   Please let us know what you find out.

[odashwood]

odashwood - I have not, but I have thought hard about it, in England I wouldn't qualify as I don't have a mitochondrial disease, but I would be interested to know where you can have it done, or if they would even do it when I don't produce very many eggs via IFV.    Have you looked into Augment instead?   Please let us know what you find out.

Hey there. It's me again. I found an interesting article about this matter. There is some kind of explanation of what it is:
https://newseurope.info/ukraine-has-overtaken-greece-with-three-person-baby/

[odashwood]

I think that they provide this treatment not for those who have the mitochondrial disease but for those who have poor amh and only several eggs. This method helps women's eggs to become stronger and more energetic that is necessary for better development. If the amh is poor, thus mitochondria are poor as well and it is not an indication of a disease, I think.

[queenie123]

Go for it.
Let us know how you get on!  I might follow you soon!  Where in Ukraine can you have it done? what are the costs?   And can you get it done in Greece as well or not yet?

As I understand it it is similar to Augment https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(18)32082-X/fulltext
which uses autologous transfer (ie.  mitochondria from other cells in your ovaries)  So it is still 100% your own DNA.   I was going to try it, but I think they haven't had as much success as they were hoping to have had.

The downside with donor mitochondrial transfer is that there is a small amount of DNA which is in the mitochondria, and there is some evidence that it can switch to the nuclear DNA - but personally for me, I wouldn't care - I think from memory it was mainly non-coding DNA anyway.   

It also looks like the process they do in the Ukraine is slightly different to mexico (which is pro-nuclear transfer),  ie. they take the fertilised nucelus out of the egg and moving it into a healthy fertilised donor egg.  - For me, I don't like this method as much because you make duplicate un-needed embryo's and I have ethical issues with making embryo's you aren't going to use / transfer;  and also from a biological point of view it requires a lot of energy for a normal fertilization, so it makes sense to do the mitochondrial transfer before fertilization not after to me.

If you are looking for someone who has had it done, I don't think you will find anyone here I am afraid, but we would love to know how you get on.  I have had Stem cells transferred in 2016 in Athens - which had temporary success, I got more eggs for 6 months or so but I didn't see an improvement in quality.

[klik]

sorry, been lurking and will try to do personals one of these days, but in the meantime I'd heard about the Ukraine three-person baby thing and my ears perked up...

Here's an article on Greece (looks like a pretty tight research project, though):

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-47889387

and one on Ukraine (looks more commercial already, but queenie is right about using two embryos for this purpose):

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/06/06/615909572/inside-the-ukrainian-clinic-making-3-parent-babies-for-women-who-are-infertile?t=1556173109926

One thing that made me a bit sad was to read that the Ukraine attempts so far not been successful for older women. I guess it makes sense, though--by the time we oldies have an embryo, our eggs have already divided, and the chromosomal abnormalities have already been introduced into them. As a layperson, I'd think that the best use of this tech for older women would be to transfer the nucleus of a less-mature egg into a donor egg and let it complete its division there... or perhaps to insert a donor's mitochondria into a not-yet-mature egg.

But for the younger ones among us, it looks promising. Frankly, the tech is so new I'd be scared to try it, but kudos to those courageous enough to go for it!

[klik]

odashwood, welcome... trying with OE can be daunting and can potentially take ages... and we DOR ladies need a combination of finding the right treatment for ourselves and having a big stroke of luck... I wish you both, soon, however you decide to proceed...

[katkat2014]

Sorry selfish post coming, need help please! So after I took the Tamoxifen my lining was just 4mm and triple layer and nothing happening no big follicles on days 16 or so. Then I never got my period and on day 34 had lots of ewcm and went for a scan. There was a 21.6mm and a 13mm follicle and my lining was about 6mm. Took cetrotide then triggered that night and today the big follicle was gone so I had already ovulated!! In any case my lining today is 9mm!! I can't believe it, it looked perfect. So either the Tamoxifen suddenly did it's thing (menopausal state then bounce back effect), or its the trigger shot that gave it the boost (I usually trigger when follicles are more like 20mm) or maybe it's cause there were 2 follicles. so a transfer would be perfect. But it will mean I will only find out on a Friday if bfp or bfn and I need to fly to Africa on the Sunday for work! What should I do? On the one hand I am worried that this is my only good lining but on the other hand I don't want to transfer and spend 2 weeks worrying what to do if it's a bfp.i could transfer my worst embryo (day 6 early blastocyst) and play it by ear but what if it's positive? Dr Pavel said a long haul flight isn't a problem at this stage so I could do my trade show in Cape town.  But malaria tablets aren't possible so I'd have to cancel the subsequent week in Botswana.
Seriously what are the chances? DF said it's too stressful to go ahead but I've been waiting since January for a lining like this. Help? What would you do?

[Briss]

Kat, 9 mm!! I'd totally go for it and if it's a bfp then I'd pretend to be sick and cancel both trips. I wouldn't travel long haul after ET if I'm honest. I know it sounds drastic but somehow I feel implantation is a bigger issue here than egg quality so I would want to use your lining and make it count. When was the last time you had a chance like this? In any case it's great news that tamaxofen seemed to have worked.