Low fertilisation rate

[sueandcheeks]

We're on our first round of IVF this cycle and we had our egg retrieval yesterday. We had 17 eggs collected, which I am very pleased about!

The clinic called me this morning to confirm that only 5 of the eggs were fertilised. They said they'd call me again tomorrow once they have some sort of explanation why the turnout was a bit lower than average. Has anyone had a low fertilisation rate like us? I would like to hear some success stories.

[Zest11]

Hi @sueandcheeks Well done on getting through egg collection. I have heard numerous people on here get pregnant when only 1 egg fertilised and they had no frozen etc. Sometimes, fertilisation is the problem and so as some have fertilised you've got past the next hurdle. I have heard of some having just 3 eggs fertilise but then all of them making it to blast so it really depends. Good Luck and I hope you have good news tomorrow.

[sueandcheeks]

Thank you, @Zest11. I think in my head, I hoped that I'd have better fertilisation results, which would give us better chances for transfer and freezing. I read somewhere that only around half of the fertilised eggs get through day 3 or 5. My expectations are clearly making me feel sad. I guess we are just going to take this one step at a time. Thanks again!

[Teddybear45]

Yes I had this in the first cycle. 9 eggs collected but the protocol wasn’t right and so only 3 were mature. Out of the 3 only 2 became blastocysts and on the day of transfer only 1 was of implantable quality. Consultant changed my protocol and prescribed q10, waited longer to give me hcg. Second cycle they retrieved 30 eggs, 16 fertilized, and 4 blastocysts were produced which they considered an excellent result. After the next transfer failed I paid for L1/L2 testing and they discovered a range of problems - had a second double transfer and one of them did produce a bfp.

Just hang in their and trust your consultant. If you feel you can’t then move to another clinic.

[sueandcheeks]

Thanks @Teddybear45! If you don't mind me asking, what's L1/L2 testing?

We're only on day 1 post egg collection, so hopefully all the 5 stay strong until transfer!

[Teddybear45]

I’m sure they will. L1/2 testing is your thyroid / clotting disorder / autoimmune / karyotype testing (can be called chicago tests at some clinics).

[itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted]

Are you doing standard IVF or IVF with ICSI?
Many clinics only do ICSI now as fertilisation rates much higher

Can be a number of reasons why fertilisation hasn't happened - egg quality usually dictates the first 3 days but if there is an issue with the sperm that will also affect fertilisation rates

[sueandcheeks]

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted we only did IVF as there's no known male issue. The embryologist hasn't really explained any reasons yet, he said they'd have to look into it with the director and hopefully have more concrete explanation tomorrow.

[Teddybear45]

Sometimes even egg quality issues might lend themselves better to ICSI. I have PCOS and was told that the eggs might be more difficult for sperm to penetrate and so ICSI was used instead.