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Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

Infertility

Do I need IVF?

20 replies

SammyL100 · 28/07/2017 10:32

Hi,

Hope you can help.

After 3 months of trying at the age of 39 I fell pregnant. Unfortunately I had a mmc at 12 weeks.

Four months later, I went to 3 IVF clinics who all told me to start IVF immediately due to my age. My AMH (after much retesting and a few scares even being told I was infertile!! ) was 8.

I was all set to go down the IVF route when (8 months after the mmc) I discovered I was pregnant again. Unfortunately last week I miscarried at 6 weeks.

I am 40 and (4 months to be precise!) And wondering whether I now consider IVF at all again?

After a total of 11 months of trying I did get pregnant twice. I am loathe to go to a IVF clinic again because they advised me to do IVF becauae of my age and AMH level, when I did get pregnant naturally again (without the need for drugs/costly treatment).

My doctor told me that IVF helps you get pregnant but not stay pregnant. As I have managed to get pregnant twice would I need it again? My age will make both natural conception and IVF tougher. Or is IVF my best hope? I am confused.

Any advice from would be appreciated.

OP posts:
LapinR0se · 28/07/2017 10:35

I think if 3 IVF clinics have advised you that you need treatment them you probably do.
However it is true that IVF cannot help you to stay pregnant. It would be good to try and uncover the reasons for repeat miscarriages although any decent clinic will try and do that anyway.

sparechange · 28/07/2017 10:41

Have you had any investigations into what might have caused your miscarriages?
IVF clinics can do a number of blood tests which can look at things like the clotting factors in your blood, whether you or your DP carry any genetic issues, or whether your immune system might be attacking embryos

A lot of the medication that is used after IVF can be beneficial in supporting a pregnancy, such as additional progesterone, blood thinners and steroids

Have they discussed IUI with you? It will be a lot less invasive and costly than IVF but gives you access to the doctors who can prescribe some of the medication which might help, as well as doing the blood tests which might indicate if there is an issue?

SammyL100 · 28/07/2017 10:45

My concern is all 3 clinics said do IVF on the basis of age and AMH alone (not my scans/blood tests/ medical notes).

I was actually going to start IVF the month I fell pregnant but only delayed so I could get a holiday out of the way!

But perhaps I need more tests with regards to my mcs than anything else.

OP posts:
SammyL100 · 28/07/2017 10:49

Spare change, I had IUI discussed but was told it's success rate was akin to natural conception so not worth pursuing.

But maybe worth discussing mc tests you have mentioned with the clinic and pursuing that line first with IUI as conceiving is not the major issue for me but more sustaining the pregnancy.

OP posts:
sparechange · 28/07/2017 11:41

I'd ask them to do a thyroid profile also...

Good luck Flowers

Spam88 · 28/07/2017 11:52

Private IVF clinics..?

As you say, you don't seem to have problems conceiving, so I would see your doctor to get your recurrent miscarriages investigated. There should be things they can do to help you stay pregnant without going through IVF.

LapinR0se · 28/07/2017 14:16

The issue might be egg quality. You do have low AMH and you are considered upper age bracket for conception. If you do IVF you will know if this is a causal factor.
IUI would not be relevant in your case.

SammyL100 · 28/07/2017 14:41

Lapin, I am not too sure how IVF can help if it is egg quality that is the issue?

Bar possibly diagnosing that, there is no treatment for poor egg quality and I've heard one clinic tell me IVF drugs can actually lower egg quality due to the amount of drugs involved. They said the egg naturally chosen in your cycle is likely to be the best quality anyway.

I have looked at PGS but was told that it does not improve live birth rate so was rather flummoxed as to what benefit it would be to me.

OP posts:
SammyL100 · 28/07/2017 14:48

Sorry it is all very confusing. The people who are fertility experts are very often IVF practioners so stand to gain financially from your decision, so it is very difficult to ascertain what would be best.

In contrast my GP after my first mc told me to just keep trying and recalled how one 46 yr old patient she treats, is 7 months pregnant with no complications after 2 years of trying. I at the time dismissed her as not a fertility expert but really not sure now.

OP posts:
LapinR0se · 28/07/2017 14:49

It will just help diagnose it if it's egg quality that's the issue. It can't help to treat it unfortunately, you are right.
But at least you would know

Needsomeflapjacks · 28/07/2017 14:57

I had ds at 43 - thinning of the uterine lining can be an issue over 40. . So research!
I drank a twinings cleansing tea every morning and lots of green veg. Exercise is great for increasing blood flow in there too!! My dh took 1000mg of soluble vit c twice a day (ivf consultant recommended to a friend) for top sperm.

cherryontopp · 28/07/2017 16:12

Its true when they say IVF gets you pregnant but doesn't help you stay pregnant...however you do get extra monitoring, scans and care.
I fell pregnant on my first round of IVF and they given me
--progesterone (you may not be developing enough of this, a possible reason for your miscarriage).
--a scan at 8 weeks which wouldn't have happened if it was natural
-- prednisolone steroids for immune issues. Good for people with multiple failures of IVF and recurrent miscarriages.

So it's worth a shot.

Juliam1 · 30/12/2017 21:27

Any updates, Sammy?

My story is very similar to yours. Did you find out what your FSH level is? Did you decide for or against IVF? As for AMH, I heard DHEA can be useful

gg1234 · 30/12/2017 21:33

Poor egg quality can't be treated unfortunately but certain things you Can do to do like keeping a BMI 25 .BMI or body mass index is very key factor in fertility issues .Also I would consultant a good gyno and take all.missing hormones and give a shot before I go for IVF

RavingRoo · 30/12/2017 21:43

My IVF consultant actually told me that over 35 some miscarriages can have functional causes. Going to an ivf clinic for tests means they can do all the tests to find those causes. If nothing can be found then chances are it’s ‘just’ a spot of bad luck.

Chattycat78 · 31/12/2017 12:37

Agree with the above. There’s also no test which will “diagnose” poor egg quality as an issue (unless they can’t find any other problem) and there’s no “solution” to that per se.

However, it is worth investigating whether you can do anything about the miscarriage factor - but it does sound like you don’t “need” ivf to actually get pregnant in the first place.

430West · 31/12/2017 14:31

I can't see that IVF will give you any benefit at all tbh, you are conceiving, so what do you think IVF will give you over natural conception?

There might be some benefit in that a cycle of IVF will give you several eggs from which to choose, so you effectively get 6 months or so of TTC condensed into one month. Given your age, this might be worth doing, but it does seem a bit extreme.

Much as I hate to say it, the reason for your miscarriages is likely to be simply your age. Obviously there are exceptions, but the vast majority of eggs from a 40 year old woman are likely to be aneuploid, and a miscarriage is unfortunately inevitable from the moment sperm meets egg.

What I mean is, the embryos that you miscarried were always destined to fail, it's not really a case of 'recurrent miscarriage' which suggests there is an issue with uttering lining etc.

IVF itself isn't anywhere near as bad as it is made out to be, so might be worth a cycle or two? If nothing else, you can be sure that you gave it your best shot?

Chattycat78 · 31/12/2017 17:26

I wouldn’t necessarily agree that a miscarriage is inevitable for the vast majority of 40 year old women (which is how I read the above, unless I’ve misinterpreted the post). Otherwise, there would be far fewer people over 40 giving birth. It’s just a matter of finding that good egg I think- which is clearly possible, although yes, harder as you get older.

Good luck.

430West · 01/01/2018 21:50

I meant that if the egg is aneuploid, then any pregnancy resulting from that egg would inevitably end in miscarriage, not that any pregnancy would be miscarried!

I'd agree its just a matter of waiting to find the 'good' egg, but as you age, statistically that egg will take longer to find and the chromosomal competence of all your eggs will deteriorate in the meantime.

There's lots to be optimistic about though, 2 natural conceptions is really good going so quite likely that IVF would work...

RubyBoots7 · 02/01/2018 09:30

Sorry to hear about your miscarriages. It sounds like a tough and confusing time for you.

If you really want children, and can afford it, then personally I would go down the IVF route. It's not going to make your eggs magically better quality, but hopefully you'd produce a heck of a lot more of them and then be able to choose the best ones.
They can also test various things that might be factors in the pregnancies not lasting.

Keeping it going wise, it totally depends on why you're miscarrying, but they will throw anything they can at it (steroids, blood thinners, progesterone, etc) to try to make it stay.

And agree with pp that being able to conceive naturally is a good sign that IVF may enhance that, not that IVF is therefore contraindicated as uneccessary.

At the end of the day, you can only do what feels right for you. I think you are being a bit focused on IVF clinics and their interests. Its in their interests to make it work/take on cases that are appropriate as it affects their success rates. As a business, this is important to them.

I also think it's really irresponsible of your GP, as a scientist in a position of power, to use an anecdotal piece of information to sway your decision. Conceiving naturally at 46 is incredibly rare!

With regards to the miscarriages, I am not sure about this, but I've heard that a lot of areas they will refer for investigations after three. I hope this doesn't affect you, and I would push for investigations anyway, but I'd be persuing IVF alongside this as time is a factor.

Good luck! :)

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