41 with very low antral follicle count

[SashaPearce]

I am 41, never been pregnant, and in the process of looking into becoming SMBC with donor sperm. I’ve become aware that my antral follicle count is very very low - still waiting for confirmation from most recent scan but it sounds like it’s about 3. My AMH when I tested it 6 months ago was 5.5, I don’t yet have the most recent result. Does this basically mean give up? Does anyone have experience of conceiving naturally at this age and with that kind of AFC?

I’d prefer IUI to IVF - and from what I understand some clinics may refuse to perform IVF with such a low AFC anyway (not sure if the same applies to IUI?) I do know that the success rates for IUI are much lower than IVF but it sounds like one of the defining features of low AFC are that you don’t respond well to the IVF stims anyway, so wondering if I’m trying at all whether it might not as well be IUI. I’m not quite ready to think about donor eggs, but aware that I may have to.

I’m wondering if there’s any chance I might get a slightly better result if I tested for AFC at a different point in my cycle? I was a day before starting my period when they last tested, so presumably in the lut

… luteal rather than follicular phase, not sure whether that would make any difference?

Any advice and experiences very gratefully received (sorry, not sure why my first post got cut short above)

It doesn’t really matter, it’s pretty stable No matter which part of the cycle.
hope you’ll find your way

Hi @SashaPearce. I'm 38 and conceived naturally with an AFC of 2 and AMH of 3.4. It took 13 months and a LOT of trying. I also had a FSH of 24 which, according to everything I read, meant conception was pretty much impossible. We didn't get very far down the IVF route but it was looking like we wouldn't be good candidates based on my results above. So we decided to just keep going naturally and see what happened. Best of luck to you.

Thanks @Lucy304 - so glad it worked out for you!