Unexplained infertility, any issues during IVF?

[LillyLeaf]

We've been told due to the length of time TTCing (actually only 16 cycles), not a single BFP and being 35 that it looks like unexplained infertility. But I can't help feel that there must be something wrong. We'll probably be starting IVF in Oct/Nov and I'm expecting it to fail as maybe my eggs or his sperm are not good quality or there is something wrong with my womb lining affecting implantation. There must be a problem otherwise we would have conceived.

Has anyone with unexplained infertility gone on to find problems at IVF stage? Or even no problems and it all went well?

Have you had all your test for sperm mobility etc and they all cane back fine?

Yes, all pre tests done and are fine. SA was just ok on morphology but not low. I ovulate every cycle and they are regular.

Then it does seem unexplained and unfortunately some people just don't conceive quickly. I know how it feels we were three years ttc all unexplained. It's crap. Someways you wish there was something wrong so you could have a plan or know for sure.

Not sure it's quite what you're asking but I started TTC in June 2013 when I was 32 and didn't get a hint of a BFP so we were referred to a consultant we've since been through numerous tests and the only thing found was a right hydrosalapinx and this lead to the right tube being removed but the consultant didn't think in the grand scheme of things this would've made that much difference and even after it's removal I still didn't get a BFP so onto IVF it was and we are in the unexplained category. We had our one and only funded att at IVF in June and tomorrow I'll be 10 weeks and we have an embie in the freezer. We are still non the wiser as to why IVF worked but nothing else did but I'm just grateful it did work and fingers crossed having got this far it'll stick until March.

@TheArtfulScreamer that's great, so glad it worked for you. I guess you did answer my question, it worked for you with unexplained infertility. Congrats on the little bean. I guess I'm over thinking it all.

The thing is, unexplained is no diagnosis at all and means they can't find the cause. So really any couple who is unexplained can have a different reason for their infertility from another unexplained couple. So the true cause may or may not have any impact on the odds of ivf.

We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility after 18 months trying and no BFP. Ended up doing 2 rounds of IVF/4 transfers in total to get DD then conceived naturally shortly after!

We were also diagnosed with unexplained infertility, we started IVF last January and our little boy is 1 year old next month. My friend was diagnosed with the same unexplained and she also now has a little girl so I don’t think problems would be found at IVF stage. Good luck!!

@Positivevibes36 that is great to hear. Hopefully it will go smoothly. Thanks

Unexplained to me often means subfertile - I had IVF after spending years ttc and it failed once, succeeded once. Then conceived naturally but miscarried. Then successful IVF. Never found a specific issue so I suspect I just had a very low chance every month,Ike 1% instead of the more usual 20%. Of course there would still have to be a reason for that too... So who knows!

@LillyLeaf hi its funny i was thinking the same! did they ever investigate if u had polycystic ovaries or endo? We re the same only had my bloods tested and OHs sperm checked theyr going to check for blocked tubes but i feel like there could b soo many other things wrong. I asked the gynae if i should get my bloods repeated incase i only ovulate every 2nd month or something and she said no ur bloods have came back normal basically end of but if you have polycystic ovaries can that not stop you from ovulating every month?!

@thisisouryrfx18 because I have regular cycles, no random middle of cycle bleeding, no pain during sex and I ovulate every month they wouldn't test for anything else. I had all my charting printed when I went for the NHS fertility appointment and he didn't want to see it. Unless you have symptoms of those things, they won't test. I really thought there would be more testing or they would want more info about my cycles but they just said 'see you in 9 months for ivf', and that's it. They didn't even care about a 10 day luteal phase, which I thought was a problem.

@LillyLeaf yh u get the feeling its just a rush to get the nxt patient in dnt u? Theyr not interested in any charts etc or even checking for vaccines and sti tests which i was told would happen confusing

@thisisouryrfx18 you would think they would try to find the problem rather than go straight to IVF, when a problem is found after a costly process. Although I do think they hope people will either conceive naturally during the long waiting list or go private.

@LillyLeaf u say u ovulate every mnth which is what they told me but how do we know we do ovulate every mnth ive only had my bloods done once. What if the following mnth i didnt ovulate?!

We have unexplained infertility. We were tested for everything and there were no issues with either of us. We did five years of IVF and multiple cycles. We also did a few rounds of ICSI and it has an 80% success rate. We failed every time. We stopped everything after five years as we could't put our lives on hold any longer and the financial, physical and emotional toil was getting too much. I know that everyone wants to hear the success stories but I think hearing about the failures is necessary too. The specialists told us that the reason we most likely failed was due to three possible reasons: The sperm head failing to dissolve, the egg wall shattering as it was to
thin or the sperm and egg essentially being allergic to each other.

@IvyFluids thanks for this, I do want to know from both sides. I'm realistic and want to know the facts. It's hard to know weather to go into this thinking positively or realistic, I guess both is best. I'm at least thinking of the first round of ivf as a practice run.

@thisisouryrfx18 I bbt chart so I see a clear indication that ovulation has happened every month, from what I understand bbt and blood tests are the only way to know.

The reason your tests aren't exhaustive is because for most things they find, the only treatment option is ivf anyway. So they save money net and risk by not doing all of the invasive procedures that would prove you need ivf anyway.

I was told unexplained infertility for two years, despite a miscarriage, by the NHS. I started the IVF process earlier this year (privately) only to find that they hadn't tested my AMH levels with were at 1.2, or as the doctors put it 'a level where the only only surprise is that you ever conceived naturally'.

Like you it looked like I was ovulating every month and my husband's SA although on the low side was considered within normal parameters. My GP thought I was too old to be a mother, at 35 when I started trying, and wasn't happy about helping us.

I'm very lucky. My IVF worked first time and I'm 18 weeks pregnant with a fairly easy and low risk pregnancy (so far, touch wood).

Honestly though I'm quite cross with the NHS, had they tested my AMH 18 months earlier I would have started IVF a year and a half ago. I try and look at it from the perspective that if I had done more research and understood all the tests better I could have advocated better for the tests I needed or had them privately.

The amh test isn't offered on the nhs but has to be paid for privately, is my understanding. I had an nhs cycle without amh (just fsh taken 11 months before).

@physicskate yes I know, but it's ridiculous. So many "unexplained infertility" case could be easily explained if they tested it. It's not an expensive tests either.

I'm probably just focusing on this one because I'm bitter about the extra year and a half of heartache I had for the sake of £45.

@IvyFluids u bring up a gd point about the sperm and egg being allergic to one another i mentionef it to my OH some ppls dna just doesnt seem compatible ive known ppl who have tried for yrs with no success only to split up meet and a new partner and get bfp straight away v sad.. @Si1ver sorry whats amh? @LillyLeaf ive not been charting very long so im not 100% sure i do ovulate every mnth @physicskate yh i understand ivf is the solution to most infertility problems but what about cysts or endo that might need burned away would that show up on my hycosy?

They rely a lot on symptoms... cysts would definitely show.

For example I never had any sort of tube test (hsg or hycosy) because I tested negative for chlamydia antibodies... so I couldn't possibly have blocked tubes, right?!

They don't much look into endo unless you have other symptoms, but endo is only really a problem in terms of fertility in certain locations, which might be detected on hycosy.

@physicskate i had mentioned i have heavy painful periods but they didnt seem interested so its gd if the hycosy would show anything up..it does seem to b a total postcode lottery how ur treated ive been told by loads of ppl to b prepared to b asked for an sti test, it wasnt even mentioned. I think i might sort one out at my docs or health clinic just to check it off the list. Cant believe they thought that was the only cause of blocked tubes it does make u wonder if they have ANY common sense!