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?

Hello, I'm new to this mumsnet...just jumping on as we had our round 2 ivf postponed due to Covid...very disheartening, but also not so unexpected.

I'm 41, and they had learned new things from round 1 and were going to try icsi. I'm really happy with the hospital, they've been excellent all round.

Still, deliberating whether to go to a private clinic as these will be open and not affected in same way by dreaded Covid.

But I've had negative experiences with Clinics, which have been pushy, salesy, or just lacking in empathy. Wondering @Janefx40 if you would recommend the clinic you went to? I'm in London and for example there are awful stories on here about the London Women's Clinic!

Maybe I should just wait for the hospital to recommence services? We had a place in Feb so would be one of first in queue, prob by summer be treated there with luck...

Thanks for all these positive success stories btw

Hi @SpringBooks welcome. Sorry you've been postponed. I had my successful round when I was 41! It's a good age for ICSI in my view

Would I recommend ARGC? They are an excellent clinic but it's not somewhere you go if you want straightforward treatment. ARGC is basically IVF boot camp. It's very full on and usually somewhere people go when they've had multiple failures. So they will suggest that you do a hysteroscopy to start plus immune testing every 3 weeks and will whack you full of every drug imaginable. They will blood test you daily too. I went because their stats were better than average for my age. They're not salesy (as in they're not trying to make money from you) but their approach is full on and they're not worried about spending your money to do it. So it depends what you want I suppose but it's not somewhere to go without your eyes wide open.

Which hospital are you at? X

Hi @Janefx40 thanks for your reply, I was a bit shy of using a chat room having had internet abuse once...so double thanks for giving me confidence

I did call ARGC recently. They did seem very full on on the phone. Your experience is helpful. Re hysteroscopy, is that different to Hysterosalpingogram? I did not enjoy my Hysterosalpingogram as it was painful and I just feel like I've crossed that investigation off!

Do you think that all the extra blood tests and your hysteroscopy helped you get pregnant? Prob hard to say, esp if you didn't go there after failing elsewhere?

Can I ask how much it cost you in total, roundabouts?

We've been treated at the Chelsea & Westminster hospital's fertility clinic. They have a gentle approach, but gave me a thorough breakdown of why the last one might have failed and what they'd do differently the next time.

Hi @SpringBooks sorry you've had bad experiences online in the past. You should find Mumsnet friendly on these boards but the moderators are really quick to respond too if you ever want to delete one of your comments or report a problem. Hopefully that is reassuring!

So I had my first cycle at ARGC, then my second (successful) cycle at Guys. Now back at ARGC for a FET (miscarriage) and whatever the future holds. So I actually got pregnant on a shambolic cycle at a disastrous clinic (in my experience).

I was just giving some examples of the intensity! There are others. Happy to talk more about ARGC if you want to PM me.

Xxx

@Janefx40 how much do they charge at ARGC?

@twinkledag per item they charge a similar amount to other clinics but the daily blood tests and extra procedures etc add up. I spent £12K on my first fresh cycle but that was without doing immunes. My FET cost about £7k I think including hysteroscopy.

Hello everyone from sunny Barcelona! EC tomorrow. Was scanned Saturday, (20,20,16,13,13,13), triggered Sunday so hope that the titchy ones might have grown a bit overnight... wish me luck!

Hello @Anxiousbuthopeful sounds all good! Hope the EC goes well. How is Barcelona? Are they in lockdown too or are you able to go out and about? X

Thanks @Janefx40 that is so interesting re your experience at Guys (though sorry your experience there not great). It shows that pregancy really can be a random miracle, you can do all the right things and it not work and then the reverse. It gives some hope!

I'm going to talk to DH about waiting for our usual clinic or not. It may end up the same difference, as starting new tests and registering at a new place would also take time (and this one at ARGC costs twice as much!]. Thank you so so much for your advice and offer of help, which I will keep in mind

Hi I've just joined I'm about to start my second round of IVF icsi due to poor super quality my first attempt failed in September I had 6 eggs removed but only one made it to day 5 and it failed to implant I just wanted to talk to others who have been through this ...I'm feeling very anxious about starting again any advice would be great

Similar to @Zh18 I had my first round in Sept. Five eggs retrieved, only 1 made it to day 5 and didn't implant.
Wanted to do a cycle this month but covid has slowed things down. Wish to do one next month but as I can't afford to cycle in the UK I have to find a clinic in a country open to UK flights.

Which clinics are good for over 40s with OE?

I’ve done a couple of cycles in Belgium and a couple in Spain. Would recommend them both but especially the first. Happy to PM.

Hello all, three eggs fertilized overnight. Now on the 5-day wait. Getting so sick of this! I was wondering whether anyone has heard of duostim, apparently you can have a second stimulation and egg collection in the luteal phase of the same cycle...

@Anxiousbuthopeful that is great news! Are you waiting for a transfer or are you aiming to freeze?

@Zh18 and @Delectable sorry you've had disappointing cycles. IVF is a tough process.

@Zh18 it's totally understandable to feel anxious. Are you doing anything differently this time around?

Hi Im not sure what I can do that is different I gave up drinking changed my diet ...I m not sure what else I can do to help the process

@Zh18 sorry I didn't mean to stress you more! I suppose I was wondering more whether the clinic would do anything different. Will they change your protocol? Have they given an opinion about why you may not have had a successful cycle? Have they tested your DP for any sperm issues ie DNA fragmentation?

Sometimes it just takes a few goes to get a good embryo but there could also be other factors that might help have a better cycle x

@Janefx40 thanks hun.

Sorry to gatecrash the thread but looking for help from experienced IVFers.

I have a dc from a fet conceived 7 years ago. I am 42.

Since TTC number 2 we've done 4 own egg cycles (between the ages of 37-40) and experienced the following:

• failed fresh transfer and FET - ICSI
• miscarriage then failed FET - ISCI
• PGT tested embryos nothing to transfer - PICSI
• failed fresh transfer - ICSI

In total transferred 8 blastocysts, always top quality and even hatching in some cases.

Now moved on to donor eggs because I thought it was my eggs. Cycle failed before Xmas. Frozen eggs and fresh sperm sample using ICSI.

My OH has low morphology. We've been to see a urologist who said dna fragmentation is fine and no need for surgical sperm retrieval. And that ICSI picks the best sperm anyway.

Have one donor embryo in the freezer. Have asked my clinic to give me an ERA and I'm having uterine NKC tests. Is there any thing else I can do? I am just so broken from all these failed transfers and seeing others have their second child just kills me, not to mention the strain this has put on my relationship with my husband plus the £50 odd thousand pounds we have spent on this.

Hi all, I am on another thread but hope it's ok to post here as this is my age bracket! I am 41, single and using donor sperm. I've had to go private from the start (have never TTC naturally). Tests showed my AMH is 9.6, AFC was 9. I only have one ovary as the other was removed due to a massive cyst so I thought those results sounded ok.

I had a round of treatment last Nov/Dec, responded well to stims (300iu) and they managed to get 11 eggs - more than expected as on the progress scans only 6-8 were being recorded. Of those 11 only 4 fertilised normally which I was disappointed with, but three made blastocyst and I had a 5AA transferred (BFN) and a 4BB frozen. The third was too low quality to freeze.

Because of my age - I'm closer to 42 - I'm going for another fresh cycle rather than an FET with my 4BB. I'm hoping that I could get at least one more blast and so give myself another chance in addition to the one in the freezer.

My clinic plans to do everything exactly the same as last time since aside from the BFN, the response was good. I keep trying to remind myself that doesn't mean I will get the same result... Anyway, has anyone else gone through the same protocol twice? It sort of feels like there should be some adjustment (don't know what!). I assume that just one cycle is not enough to take any major learning from?

I'm 43 and 2 months. Wondering whether it better to do a few banking cycles before transferring but wonder whether the freeze and thaw is too risky.

@Delectable I am not certain but I think that depends on the quality of the blasts. I didn't freeze my third because chances were high it wouldn't have survived the thaw.

I'm banking in one sense (because I could go ahead with an FET now) but I did a fresh transfer at the end of the cycle. If I'm lucky and have blasts at the end of this cycle I'll do a fresh transfer then, too - for me it's about making the most use of eggs I can knowing quality is diminishing. Are you already with a clinic? I'm sure they can make suggestions.

@lucymills1234 your surname is my married surname.
Had a failed cycle abroad in Oct. I'm looking for another clinic now.

@greendress789 Sorry to hear all the struggles you’ve been thorough, especially as you’ve tried everything possible to make it work. As you’ve had failed transfers, a mc and no PGS normal, it does seem that donor egg is that right path now, but I’m not sure what the odds of first time success are...perhaps you still need one more go, but I know they’re are so expensive.

I think the ERA and immune testing would be the general approach, I’m not sure there is much else you can try that has any real proven benefit.

@lucymills1234 Our paths have probably crossed on other threads, I’m embryo banking with donor sperm too. Just turned 42, I got same results, 11 eggs collected in both my previous rounds and have 9 blasts in the freezer. Just waiting to start my 3rd and hopefully final cycle! Then I have a dreaded PGS wait...

I can understand your clinic keeping things the same as you’ve had good outcomes up to the BFN, which at our age we know isn’t a high chance first time. Of your 3 blasts, the odds are that only 1 would be chromosome normal, so there’s a good chance your 4BB is the one for you!

@Delectable FETs are really common, I wouldn’t worry about the defrosting too much, the vast majority survive. Although if you’re looking at clinics abroad, with the Covid travel rules changing all the time, it might be easier to do a normal fresh cycle and get it ‘over and done with’ so to speak.

Hi @IslandStars thanks for the message. Wow, 9 blasts in the freezer is amazing from two cycles! You've had way better results than me, I've only had two decent blasts after one cycle. Are they all good grades? I didn't PGS test but it does sound very sensible.

I didn't consciously go into treatment with a banking approach and haven't had that conversation with my clinic - did you? Basically I had an option of either doing an FET now with my remaining blast from cycle 1 or doing a second fresh cycle. I'd already decided that I'd do another fresh if my first try didn't work, so I thought maybe it's better to do that whilst my eggs are still 41 than delay for an FET. The frozen blast from round 1 is still there whatever happens. I'd be gutted if I didn't get a blast from this second fresh cycle for a fresh transfer - I know I can't count on it but you can't help hoping!