Any success stories of conceiving naturally after ivf?

[Jmkee]

Hi everyone,
Three years ago we were told we could never naturally have a child and ivf was our only option. Thankfully our first round worked and we now have a beautiful boy. Since we were told we can't have kids I never tracked my dates, 4 weeks ago I took a pregnancy test and to our surprise and shock it was positive! But last week I miscarried. The lovely doctor not knowing our situation said, wait a cycle before trying again... I instantly thought... This would've probably been our only ever chance and it has been taken away from us. I know we are extremely lucky to have our little boy and I worship the ground he walks on. But I feel quite sad that after everything we had been through that this would happen to us, when most couples and I say most couples go on to have kids as and when they decide healthy and no issues. Does anyone have any stories of been told they could never have kids to go on and have kids naturally?

Two of my friends were told they needed IVF and each used it to conceive their first child. One went on, after having her first child, to have a miscarriage and then 2 successful pregnancies, all natural conceptions. The other used IVF for her second and has since had her third child without IVF.

Both couples’ fertility issues were male factor, which I guess could be relevant (in that you only need 1 sperm).

I don’t think it is that uncommon to conceive naturally when doctors have suggested that isn’t going to happen - so much of conception and infertility remains a bit of a mystery.

Good luck!

I know a couple of ladies who underwent IVF first time round (one for blocked tubes, the other unexplained) only to fall pregnant naturally with DC2.

We’ve gone the opposite way and are due to start our first round of IVF next month for secondary infertility (which looks to be down to MFI). It’s ironic really, we’re probably healthier now than we were pre-DS and at 34 and 36 when we first started ttc#2 we were hardly ancient.

I’ve lost count of the number of people I know who struggled to conceive first time around, eventually getting pregnant quite far down fertility investigations route (one had even had an unsuccessful first round of IVF and got pregnant with her first the very next month), only to get pregnant very quickly with DC2.

I also know two ladies with very low AMH scores, who both got pregnant naturally.

It goes to show that fertility isn’t linear and lots of those who struggle are subfertile rather than infertile. It’s just that some get lucky, and others, sadly don’t.

I shall be keeping everything crossed that Lady Luck is shining on you and that you get that natural, sticky BFP very very soon.

Thanks both for replying! Great to hear the stories. I've come to the conclusion that doctors aren't always right. I feel a bit awful wanting a second child now, like I'm tempting fate since I always said if I was blessed with one I'd not be selfish and want a second, then there's a lot of people out there who have none and I feel really selfish then. But in the other side I think my little boy would love a sibling as he's such a loving child.

I know someone this happened to. The infertility was her rather than her partner. They were going to go ahead with ivf and fell naturally.
I know someone else who had ivf twins and then went on to have an unplanned pregnancy naturally.
I know nothing about it but I sometimes wonder if conceiving one by ivf kickstarts things naturally for some women when their cycles return.

Sorry to hear about your miscarriage. And good luck for the future.

I'm always surprised when I hear "my doctor told me I'd never conceive" in my experience the doctors were very frank and said they couldn't say never but chances were slim and t may take a long time. Therefore because of my high FSH we went down the ivf route to not waste time.

Currently pregnant with my first - I'd love to think it might happen naturally in the future but who knows? I don't think anyone can ever say for sure.

Good luck

Well it is certainly possible to get pregnant naturally after infertility. What was your reason for not being able to have children?

I know three women in their 40s who have recently had surprise pregnancies having been told that they couldn’t have children. One has twins in her mid 40s!

I was ttc for 4.5 years. Nothing at all for 2.5 years so was referred for IVF as unexplained. Cycle #1 - BFP but chemical pregnancy. Cycle #2 - bfn. Cycle #3 (frozen transfer of embryos from the previous cycle) - BFP but then a mmc at 11 weeks.

Then, after all that, a natural bfp straight after the mmc. Sadly another mmc at 11 weeks but then three months later - bfp again! This time it stuck and I’m holding a sleeping 4 month old as I type. My issue was blood related, and aspirin helped me get pregnant and Clexane helped me stay pregnant. It was never really IVF that we needed it seems....I try not to dwell on it but if testing around fertility was different, we could have been spared a lot of heartache and loss.

Thanks everyone for replying!
We were told we couldn't concieve as my husbands sperm had extremely low count.. My husband also has a son from his last marriage and the doctor told him that he could never have had him which has also put a lot on strain on his relationship with him... He has been debating getting a paternity test to see.... So when this happened we couldn't believe our luck... I really think it was a once off and it won't happen again....

How low is your dh's count? My dh had 7 mil - we had 3 failed ICSI cycles and I'm now pregnant naturally. Still early days though.

My friend had ivf for her first then conceived naturally for her second and they had MFI too.

I can't remember exactly but I'm 90% sure it was 4 mil.... He also told us that sperm count cannot be increased as its hereditary... But I'm looking online and it says it can get better with better diet, exercise and vitamins.... So I'm at a loss at what to believe.... Can it get better??

Sperm can definitely be improved by lifestyle factors - no smoking or alcohol, healthy diet, loose boxers, no laptops on lap, etc.

So sorry for your miscarriage, life can be very cruel.
We were the opposite. Miracle dd1 just before starting ivf, then dd2 via ivf.
Our friends had twins via ivf and conceived naturally when the twins were only 6 months old!
So it does happen.
Good luck xx

Meant to say ours is also mfi, with less than 1 million! In my opinion, lifestyle cannot improve numbers significantly, even if numbers doubled your husband's count would still be classed as very low x

Sperm count can definitely improve by changes to diet and lifestyle. My DH had a low sperm count after a vasectomy reversal, he cut out peas, smoking and generally ate better and he no longer had a low count - it was such a great number the dr had him retested in case a mistake was made!