One last try

[Tarsette]

Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice and figured it would be great to get some from women who are going through the exact same thing as me (on top of friends, family, etc.). Here is my story. I had my eggs frozen when I was 34 (I am 40 now) and found out I had thin lining issues when I started to try for a baby (at age 37). So I used my frozen eggs and had IVF, giving birth to a beautiful daughter in 2017. I am now trying for baby no 2 and have already been through one failed cycle and 3 FET's that ended in BFN's (just got the result from the last one this morning...). I still have 6 blasts left but they are not great quality (the best one is a 3BB). I am feeling very worn out physically and mentally (and financially!) by the whole process, but I would really like a second child. So I have decided to give it one last try. What I can't decide is whether I should:

• Go for another FET with my 3BB blast and hope for the best
• Start everything over and have a new egg retrieval, in the hope that this will allow me to produce better quality embryos (bearing in mind that I am now 40 and my remaining blasts were made with eggs from when I was 34).

What would you ladies do? I know I need to make my own decision in the end, but I would love to sample some of your thoughts on this to help me along this difficult path... Thanks a lot!

Hi, so sorry to hear about your latest BFN ☹️ Thought I’d comment as there are a few similarities in our situations. We are incredibly lucky to have one DC from a FET following an ICSI cycle from when I was 38. I’m now soon to have my first attempt at TTC #2. We also have a few Frosties left from that first ICSI the best quality of which is a 3BB. I am now 41 and in our own situation we would plan to use try our existing Frosties and not have another fresh cycle. Our reasoning for this is that statistically, we are likely to be producing more chromosomally normal embryos in 30s than in 40s when egg quality can potentially be significantly diminished. So I see our chances higher overall using the frosties although definitely not guaranteed. Our consultant also strongly advocated using all the Frosties before considering a fresh cycle and that the embryologists would not freeze any embryos unless they were high enough quality to potentially result in a pregnancy. My understanding is that 3BB is still considered a good quality embryo and anecdotally you can find plenty of stories of people who have had success with lower grade embryos after BFN with high grade (yes I’ve done a lot of googling while I wait to start!). Ultimately it’s a very personal decision on what approach to take and I wish you lots of luck on the remainder of your (hopefully short) journey. X

I agree with @Lemongrass1 unless you're Frosties are day 6 and 3BB then my clinic considers 3BBs good quality (chance of success around 20% rising to nearly 40% when it reaches 4 or 5 stage)

I wouldn't do another egg collection when you still have plenty in the freezer as statistically they are much more likely to be abnormal

Thanks for the great advice! I was sort of leaning towards using my 3BB as well, so this reaffirms my choice. I have also in the meantime unearthed a medical study that basically said a 3BB from when you are under 35 years old has more chances of generating a live birth than a 4AA from when you are 40!

I would definitely use the frozen blasts, you could do another egg collection and not even make it to blast this time and the increase in aneuploidy rates from 35 to 40 is significant so quality aside there would be a much higher chance any embryos you create may have genetic abnormalities and result in a failed transfer/miscarriage.

I would defantly use what you have in the freezer before doing it all again... GOOD LUCK X

another vote for using your frosties, for all the reasons everyone has mentioned. Good luck x

I think you also have to consider what your AMH/FSH levels are like now in order to try to produce a new batch and as others have said might not even make it the full process however your frozen eggs will give you the better chance at this point.

I had to do DE ivf with one biological child already so I can't comment much about own egg ivf really.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.