Anyone doing ivf at 40+

[lucieloos]

We're considering doing a couple more rounds of ivf at 40.5 years old. We have 2 children already but still feel someone is missing.

Is anyone else starting or already having treatment at 40+ and would like to share the journey?

Hi Can I join? 43 and starting my 2nd IVF cycle. Start injections tonight. I've had 3 miscarriages in the past year. Two of the miscarriages were natural pregnancies, one miscarriage was from IVF. I can get pregnant but cannot stay pregnant. Old Eggs...

I am on another chat group but I'm happy that I found this group because everyone here seems to be over 40 and unfortunately, quite knowledgeable about IVF. IVF is difficult no matter what age you are but Doing this over 40 is a whole different complication for some of us...

Thank ladies and good luck to us all.

There are articles saying a fet a month later after a fresh cycle works just as well as means body has recovered plus can hep lining with progynova

Hi @Sweets208 - that is a lot to go through in a year. Really best of luck - there are lots of very knowledgeable and kind ladies on this thread - I’ve certainly found it very useful.

@Anxiousbuthopeful I think 3 good ones is promising. Fingers crossed for good fertilisation.

@Sweets208 hello and welcome 👋

@Sunshinelove8 how are you getting on?

Hi all , I got 7 eggs but of course mine is all about egg quality having had 3 mmc and cp in just over a year. So not getting too excited really . Sorry for slow update went to bed and was exhausted!
@Sweets208 we sound similar . If I get any blasts I intend to do pgs to try and find any normal ones xx

Thanks @lucieloos. I am having a slightly anxious evening googling the horror that are IVF success rate calculators. Bleee.

Hi all.

I was originally on this thread but disappeared for a while. Can I join? I'm now 43 and would like to be in a Forum where I don't feel embarrassed saying my age!!!

I have a DD who is 22 months born from our second fresh round. We had 2 Frosties that we transferred in July ending in miscarriage at 9 weeks. Due to start a fresh round in Jan.

Good luck with your 3 embies @Anxiousbuthopeful stats are scary but you never know if you will be the 99% or the 1%.

I will try to catch up on the thread a bit more when I can x

@Janefx40 welcome , my sister in law got pregnant at 43 and one of the girls on my forum is too , good luck with your fresh round ❤️ I’m similar in that o have one child but wanting a sibling which is proving a very painful struggle .
@Anxiousbuthopeful how are you today ?
I missed the call for fertilisation update and had to wait half hour but heard just now 6/7 fertilised . The wait is hard x

6/7 is good @Sunshinelove8

@Janefx40

Hi all.

I was originally on this thread but disappeared for a while. Can I join? I'm now 43 and would like to be in a Forum where I don't feel embarrassed saying my age!!!

I have a DD who is 22 months born from our second fresh round. We had 2 Frosties that we transferred in July ending in miscarriage at 9 weeks. Due to start a fresh round in Jan.

Good luck with your 3 embies @Anxiousbuthopeful stats are scary but you never know if you will be the 99% or the 1%.

I will try to catch up on the thread a bit more when I can x

I was 42.5 when had 3rd fresh cycle. Failed but had 6 I think to freeze

4 fet failed

5 fet worked. My one and only BFF in 10yrsc ttc and 5 private ivf

Was 43 and 3 days when found preg. Fab birthday pressie

Almost 44 when gave birth

Dd is now 3 3/4 and I’m 47,5

I often post this to give newcomers hopefully some hope that can get preg 42/43 with own eggs ivf

Hi! So out of my three eggs 1 was not ok, the second was but didn’t fertilize, the third is fertilized. Terrible cycle, terrible odds but now all I can do is wait and hope and otherwise hope for a better cycle next time. I genuinely don’t understand why the whole thing was so wonky, third one in a row maybe? Stressful time at work? Fertility fallen off a cliff? Anyway am feeling ok, somehow at peace and will figure it out as I go along. @Sunshinelove8 hurrah for 6/7! Do
Something nice in the next 5 days!

Hi all, I’d like to join you please. Have just posted on the embryo banking thread, but I’m almost 42 so this is a good place for me too!

I’ve got 3 blasts in the freezer from my first cycle, hoping to start second one shortly. I’m doing 3 cycles with PGS, then one FET at the end...unless I need more. Lots of inspiring stories on here, you all give me hope. Good luck everyone

@Anxiousbuthopeful so you still have one left ? Don’t give up on that one yet 💜
Was your protocol the same as before or did you change it ?
I was looking at doing natural modified next time if there are quality issues this time , I do wonder about the mega doses of stimms . I think with natural modified your body chooses eggs rather than getting forced . I haven’t read much about it increasing quality but it makes sense .
I’ve told the labs to just phone me if any get to day 5 rather than daily updates , my nerves can’t take them ! Feels like a mountain to get to say 5 , pgs test and somehow get one normal . Feels like a miracle needed x

@IslandStars welcome ! Who are you doing embryo banking with ? I think that’s the next route I’ll go x

Ps 3 blasts is amazing !

@Sunshinelove8 Thank you and congrats on your 6 fertilised, very good ratio! I don’t think I enjoyed the positives enough during my cycle as it was my first time. I got 11 eggs, 9 mature, 5 fertilised and 3 made it to blasts so very good, but I feel like every phone call seemed to carry good and bad news, meaning I focused on the negatives. My blasts only made it on day 6, so my day 5 call said it was too early to tell. Naturally I felt like none would make it and had a meltdown! I’m banking with Create, they’ve been very good so far and mild IVF seems right for me. I know each cycle can vary though, so hoping my second goes just as well.

@IslandStars dumb question alert lol ... is the 11 eggs retrieved from one cycle?? Or from three cycles?
I’m tempted to go there next if things don’t work out at current clinic we will get too expensive to keep cycling here .
Which create are you at? I looked at at Paul’s but the ivf stats were below national average of I read it right on the website and I couldn’t find any stats about natural modified ...
why have you decided to do pgs ? I have recurrent mcs , we can get to 8-9 weeks but no further it seems x

Sorry re - read with my brain in gear , you are going into your second cycle. That’s amazing to get three blasts one cycle ! Did you go straight to create or did you do ivf elsewhere first . Too many questions 😂

@Sunshinelove8 lol no worries, I wasn’t very clear. I’ve just done 1 round so far, so the 11 eggs / 3 blasts were from my first cycle. I’m starting the second cycle soon. They biopsy each blast before freezing, then PGS is done at the end of the 3 cycles. The package only includes PGS on 4 embryos, so that probably gives you an idea that they may expect only 1 or 2 blasts each round. As it’s mild IVF, they aim for quality over quantity anyway, I think I probably hit top haul first time.

I’m at St Paul’s, I studied so many stats too, but I figured as I’m nearly 42, there are not many differences between the clinics and Create seem quite good for over 40s without being as expensive as a couple of others. They recommended banking with PGS as they say it would improve my chances from 30% to 60-70% if my blast is PGS normal. I’m a bit sceptical on those stats, but I know my mcs rate would be high at my age, so I’m throwing all I’ve got at this. The risk is that none of my blasts are normal, but then I’d be likely to mc anyway. So sorry you have been through such a hard time, must be devastating to get to 8-9 weeks.

@IslandStars thanks for the info , I think I may go there next ( already plan b in mind to soften the blow) you are right , stats are probably about the same once you hit 40’s anyway.
Yes the mmc were hard , especially as I had strong heartbeats and growth up til week 8, it’s not only distressing mentally and physically but you ‘waste’ five months waiting to miscarry and then get your cycles on track to start again. At this age , that’s precious time. I do think my eggs are an issue to have so many in a row and I’m in 1% or whatever of recurrent mcs. Also my dh sperm test was amazing result and doctor called him super sperm or some such 🙄 so probably why even my bad eggs fertilise .
Have you found it good cycling there? There are quite mixed reviews on it x

@IslandStars another question! Do you have quite high amh and AF to get so many eggs ? X

@Sunshinelove8 Create’s success rate is much better with mild than natural/modified so I’m not sure if you can consider this approach given you don’t have a problem conceiving.

I think with your history, they would suggest PGS, which is expensive and can risk no blasts to transfer. They didn’t pressure me though and it was already something I was considering. I found the more I researched clinics, the more mixed reviews I found. A bit like looking on Tripadvisor! Create’s medical staff have been great, really taken their time to explain things and the embryologists are helpful with questions too. Some people don’t like seeing a different doctor for each scan, but I took the chance to ask the same questions to each one and compare answers lol. They were generally on the same page, so I found that reassuring. The admin team can be hit and miss, but my patient coordinator has been fine.

They didn’t focus on my amh etc as all my initial baseline results were completely normal for my age, with good lining/blood flow. I don’t have a particular fertility issue, other than old eggs! I’m doing this with donor sperm as I’ve been single for a few years and and can’t waste more time.

Ah I see , so this is ivf mild stimms for you? I’m with argc , they put me on max stimms due to low amh and follicles. Fsh was borderline. They are leaders in ivf , so guess I was thinking of a totally different approach if this fails .
I looked at donor sperm too , i met my dh about 6 months after I begun investigations and had tests etc I think it’s great we have these options ! A couple of my mates are parents through donor sperm , one had 3 kids with the same donor x

I did mild ivf with low amh and got better results. My doctor was of the opinion that when you are older it's better to do lower stimms to try and get better quality.

@lucieloos thanks , I think I’ll look at that next if this doesn’t work out xx