Total fertilisation failure

[Fabsco]

Hi Ladies,

I thought of sharing my first IVF experience here as there aren't many threads on total fertilisation failure on MumsNet. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for two years now. I got pregnant in October 2020 but had a miscarriage one week after getting a BFP. It was heartbreaking for us, so we decided to start IVF treatment in December 2020.

I had my egg retrieval procedure yesterday and was told that nine eggs were retrieved. Later in the day the embryologist phoned to advise that all nine eggs were going to be fertilised via IVF. It was excellent news for us as we were told that around 80% of eggs are mature enough to be fertilised.

Today we got the devastating news that no eggs were fertilised in the end. The embryologist said that the sperm 'had been swimming around the egg' but none attempted to fertilise them. The suggested ICSI at the next cycle and that was it. He gave us no hope that they would continue to monitor fertilisation or go for a rescue ICSI. He simply said that they don't perform ICSI unless there is evidence of infertility from either side.

We are confused because we were advised to choose the ICSI option at consent stage in case it was needed in our treatment. We don't understand why it wasn't used in our cycle or performed at a later stage. We got no follow up phone calls from the clinic, apart from a nurse asking me to stop taking medication as I had a failed cycle.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who had a similar IVF outcome on the follow-up steps you've taken after being informed that none of the eggs were fertilised, please.

Thank you so much for sharing the info with me. It gives me reassurance that I am not the only one.

Hi, thank you so much @GreyZebra for replying. I really appreciate it as it’s made me feel a bit more reassured that another go may not have the same outcome. I have fingers crossed for both of us and wishing you every success with your next go. It’s really heartbreaking but I’m trying to be as positive as I can. Xxx

Just had TFF from 4 eggs with ICSI. Absolutely heartbroken

Really sorry to hear that, it's so hard. We had TFF with ICSI and 19 mature eggs back in the summer with donor sperm (same sex couple) and it was a huge shock. I was devastated and off work for a few weeks due to the impact on my mh as I thought it was all over. We changed the donor and used Artificial Oocyte Activation (AOA) and had a much better outcome, the next round we got 10/21 fertilised (so still a low rate but so much better) and 7 blasts. The clinic can't be sure which helped but likely the AOA as the other donor did have proved fertility. I know it doesn't help your situation right now but I know seeing some success stories gave me a bit of hope and motivation to try again (at one point I thought that was it). I really hope you have more success in the future 💕

@ivfjourneyandme I just want to let you know (I posted earlier in the thread in 2024) that we had another go later in the year with ICSI and got 5 embryos. I remember being so nervous we would have TFF again. I think with IVF it’s one step at a time. I’m sure you have already done this but I’d book a review with the consultant so you know your next steps. Having the next step helped me get through the year. I also did acupuncture to help me relax. Wishing you all the luck in the world and happy to answer any questions 💗

I just want to add to this that from my second round I had one transferred (fresh) which didn't take but I had a FET at the end of November and I'm now nearly 8 weeks pregnant - saw the heartbeat on the scan on Monday. If you'd told me this after the first round with total fertilisation failure I'd have never believed it 😂🥰

Same for me too. I am now 20 weeks pregnant. I have all my fingers crossed for everyone on this thread. 💗 Hopefully if anyone in the future reads these posts after googling TFF like I did when I was so heartbroken they will see there can be hope 💗