Help with Choices IUI/IVF/ICSI or none

[MrsLouB]

Hi a little background we have been trying for 13 years and have had a few chemicals pregnancies one being just last week.

I have had 3 work ups at fertility clinics over the years but the last being with a private clinic. My tests came back as Very low AMH 2.5 at Age 39 but had nine follicles. DH had all normal results but has had previous Low mobility.

Now they are saying to lose weight BMI 31 but I m 5ft 9 and 14stone so not massive but on their Chart I am ! The consultant has said the best option is ICSI but we just cannot afford that.

The access fertility cannot help us as again we can only afford 1 cycle on IVF! But I am not sure if we should do IUI with drug help for more eggs, but as my egg reserve is low I will likely have an early menopause....I am just so upset and confused right now.

We seem to be able to make a baby but implantantion fails us.

Any help or ideas or anyone just want to talk xxxx

Hi @MrsLouB I'm sorry for your losses 💜 have you had any recurrent miscarriage testing? I'm just wondering if not whether that would be helpful? Ivf is a lot of money and if you appear to have implantation issues the they are unlikely to resolve with ivf (I am not an expert in this though!)

I've had 2 mmcs and am seeing the rmc next week, hoping it will provide some insight insight. I'm also under an NHS fertility clinic and had the hsg and having a hysteroscopy soon - did you have any investigations?

I think iui has low success rates, but its cheaper. I don't know about amh levels and response rates - hopefully someone else will be along shortly!

Are you eligible for NHS funding? Some areas do offer one cycle although if going private you might get in quicker.

Xx

Age 41 trying to conceive no. 3. I have 2 children to my previous marriage and hubby has no other children.
looking at IUI or ICSI and looking for support and advice.

Best wishes to all those out there trying 🐣

I'd be pushing to Investigate the cause of your chemicals. If you've suffered multiple losses there's a reason why. Weather its age related, which is could possibly be . The older you get egg quality declines and eggs are more likely to contain chromosomal abnormalities which means they wont implant or stop developing after implantation and unfortunately theres nothing you can do about that other than test them. It could be sperm related but you said your recent tests are normal, although again, that still dosent mean there's not a chromosomal issue with the sperm thats fertilising the egg. It could even be an issue with implantation, where the egg is failing to implant into the lining, for various reasons. There's also the possibility of it being a hormone issue.

There's so many reason why it fails and after multiple loses I think its important to get to the bottom of that.
How early are you losing your pregnancies? Are you beyond two week wait or testing early?

If the sperm are normal and are fertilising the egg then yes ivf could be an option but due to the multiple loses there's no guarantee ivf will ensure implantation either. If its due to chromosomal abnormalities, which increases as we get older the only option to really ensure your getting the best quality is to test them, although it's expensive, but it has a higher implantation success rate.

If there's issue with the sperm like motility or morphology then yes icsi is the one to go for in that case as otherwise you could end up spending money not having the egg fertilise. Not all eggs fertilise anyway, only a certain amount.

As for iui, what would be the point ? Iui is for more for If your eggs and sperm aren't meeting. Iui can help give them a boost and increase the chance of them getting together. You clearly aren't having that issue so I'd completely rule out iui as iui isn't going to improve implantation or quality. It would just be wasting your money as your not having an issue getting pregnant.