IVF low fertilisation

[Sera9]

Hello - has anyone else had lots of eggs retrieved through ivf but low (25-30%) fertilised. Apparently, eggs looked a good shape and size and sperm was within the normal range for everything. We had 22 follicles drained (almost all on one ovary), 16 eggs and only 4 fertilised. Waiting for day 5 results but I don’t hold out much hope of getting many through to blasts. They said about trying ICSI in future rounds if needed. I’m 40 and first ivf cycle.
thank you!

Just takes one healthy embryo to stick in the end. Good luck

This might be better on the Infertility board where there are more people undergoing IVF.

There can be lots of reasons why sperm won’t meet egg but very broadly these are down to sperm quality and egg quality.

Has your partner had his DNA fragmentation checked? 20 eggs almost all on one side at 40 is on the higher side of normal I would say. Any mentions of PCOS? If they were mostly mature then quality could be an issue. What are you taking for egg quality? Have you had your testosterone levels checked?

Hey!
When I had IVF I got 17 eggs and 15 were ok to fertilise and only 7 of those fertilised. We did have a big drop off. Day 5 there were 2 left- one poor quality and one good quality.
The good quality one is my son who is 2 in a month.
Honestly I had such low hopes after the transfer and really didn't expect it to work but it did. You only need one good embryo. Good luck

We got fourteen eggs, four fertilised. Three made blastocyst, one was too poor quality to freeze, one was frozen (5bb) and my 5ab embryo was put in, and is my fifteen month old

I had (I think) 17 collected, three got to day 5 and the third ('lowest quality') turned five in October! I had ICSI.

Thanks, I’ll see if I can post over there- couldn’t find it in the options( I’m new here).
Thank you for your reply xx
I have been taking for months coq10, omegas, proceive max and other half has been on proceive max men.
My amh was 20 (2.6 rough equivalent ) and afc was 13. I asked about PCSO and they said it’s not likely, as my AMH wasn’t 40 or 50.
On paper, everything ‘looked positive’ but it’s the fertilisation rate that’s rocked the boat. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting a huge number of embryos, after all we’d been trying for 2 years with no success so obviously there’s an issue! But I did think 4/16 was especially low to fertilise at the first stage. If we end up with 1 good one, from this cycle, we’ll be very happy and surprised. I’m just so puzzled, given my numbers on paper.

Thank you! That gives me some hope for sure. Not being nosy but do they give any sort of explanation as to why they think fertilisation is low after the cycle? Just wondering, if they ever find out and tell the patient or not.

You'll probably have them do a look back after the cycle. They have a staff conference to evaluate unsuccessful ones, ours does it monthly.

1st at 36: 18 eggs, 9 fertilised, 3 embryos
Fresh success (DS3), frozen 1 chemical, frozen 2 didn't work. As that original cycle yielded a child and there were extra embryos, they didn't do much.

2nd at 39: 16 eggs, 9 fertilised, only 1 ok embryo, unsuccessful suspected abdominal ectopic

As a result of the conference, they us offered some male diagnostic tests which we won't do (doesn't matter results, we won't go for a donor) and duostim which is this horrific back to back double IVF which we are doing for our final.

Thank you for such an informative response. Good luck with your back to back!! Is that supposed to be more successful or is it done as a time saver? I’d wondered how long is best to leave between cycles - as at my age, I don’t think waiting too long is a good idea…

It's because my numbers are good but half would benefit from staying in and growing more. So they go in and get all the big ones the first go and leave the little ones- then more needles as another round and another surgery.

I'm 40 now and it's the last attempt so we are really going for it. But it seems rough. The drug list made me feel a bit ill. And so did the invoice.

@Sera9 I'm 38 and only had 3 fertilsed eggs. 2 made it to blast and I'm 6 weeks despite them being labelled poor quality blasts

Regarding ICSI it sounds like it could help. We were on the margins for it with DP's motility and antigen numbers. They let us be tentative on the day but we didn't end up needing it- he upped some supplements and tried to avoid impact (not easy with a toddler),

Ours had us pre-pay for it and then evaluated on the day that we were fine to go without- and then eventually refunded it after a bit of chasing.

Congratulations! That’s such uplifting news. All the best for the rest of your pregnancy.

We had maybe 1 or 2 of 7 eggs fertilise. And dc is 11 now.
Round 2 2 of 8 but that failed.
Round 3 tube got blocled
Round 4 i think 2 fertilised again so 2 put back and dc is 8 now. But i was younger 32 and 35.
It was sperm quality and pcos. I think the pcos meant they triggered too early so unripe. Then with poor sperm very low quantity that didnt help.

I am most worried about none of them ever making it to day 5 because I suspect I’ve got genetic factors, which would be unfixable. Could explain why I’ve always had issues since my early 20s.
I’ve had previous miscarriages years ago and one child with suspected mosaic ( different dad). Not even had a hint of a pregnancy with my husband and he has kids of his own. Maybe my eggs are plentiful enough but genetically poor.

My wife had 29 collected and 6 fertailised - five made it to say five or six and blastocysts. All were frozen and the first transfer led to our two year old. I know how stressful it is (I have also had egg collections and transfers myself) but don’t give up hope yet. Wishing you lots of luck and support.