Only responding with 2 eggs each cycle, advice please

[user1479588581]

Hi ladies

Thanks for reading.

I’m 39, conceived age 35 quickly after surgery to remove endometriosis had another surgery in 2019 aged 37 and conceived again quickly but sadly had a miscarriage last March.

I started ivf in November at CRGH got 3 eggs, 2 mature both fertilised and frozen on day 3. I then moved to the Evewell for what I was hoping would be a more personalised service. I was put on exactly the same protocol (suppression birth control and then stimms) and yet again about to collect only 2 eggs. I have an AFC 8, FSH of 8.5 (previous to that it had been 15 and10) and AMH bounced around from 1.8 - 5.6 pmol (dhea caused the rise). I was expecting a better response with those numbers but not sure what to do next. My consultant kept saying how the long protocol is good for women with endo and she probably wouldn’t change much if we were to do a 3rd cycle.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Am I only likely to get 2 each cycle? How many cycles do I need to do to get 2-3 blasts?

I’m so fed up with this journey and ready to throw in the towel! 😞

Most women don't get 2-3 blastocysts per cycles unless they are in their 20s or very lucky. Most clinics actually consider it a bonus to get one to transfer and one to freeze?

Age 36-37 I did 5 rounds of IVF and never got more than 2 blastocysts to freeze - didn't matter whether I had 14 follicles or 2 follicles - outcome always the same - 2 blastocysts.
My doctor said most women just can't make more than that and if they do they tend to be lower quality

My last 3 cycles was a 3 cycle package and I got 4 blastocysts from that. My AMH was 12.9 at the time. If int AMH was very very low and I knew i wanted siblings etc I would have done a 6 cycle package (I had a DD already).

Thanks for your reply. So your saying at my age, low AMH etc I’m realistically looking at 3-4 more cycles to get potentially 1 blast?

Try not to give up hope, my odds were terrible. I have a AMH of 2.3 at 38. I have done first cycle and only had 1 folicle, that follicle somehow had 3 eggs, 2 of which good enough for icsi - both fertilised and both transferred back on Tuesday. I was on the short protocol with highest dose of menupur 450 from day 2 along with 0.5 buseralin .. my scans were terrible .. but it only takes 1 egg ... xx

I'm sorry for how you are feeling. I am only on my first cycle but only have 2 follicles developing at present, so in a similar position. I also have low amh 3.5 at 35. I was warned to only expect a low number of eggs. Like you I am on long protocol and wondering if this was the best thing? Time will tell now I guess. I am trying to stay positive though and thinking it only takes 1. Sorry I can't give you any advice but just wanted to say I understand your despair.

@user1479588581

Thanks for your reply. So your saying at my age, low AMH etc I’m realistically looking at 3-4 more cycles to get potentially 1 blast?

I think you need to "aim" for 1 blastocyst per
Cycle and then anything more is a bonus

I wanted to follow up and hopefully give some people hope. I retrieved 2 eggs, and both miraculously fertilized and became day 5 blastocysts. :)

I am very similar to you, AMH 5 when tested at the start of cycle 1 age 31, afc always around 8. Rounds 1 & 2 I got 7&6 eggs, 3 day 5. & 2 day 5 but only one of those was a blastocyst (low quality) as the others were a bit slow. One of the slow ones worked but was sadly ectopic. Round 3 I insisted on monitoring the DHEA as my clinic just prescribe it without checking! I took a risk and lowered the DHEA which resulted in less eggs (only 2 this time) but still 2 day 5s. 1 average quality blastocyst and 1 slow but looking like it was about to become a blastocyst. So the round with the least eggs gave us the best outcome blastocyst wise and I am now 24 weeks pregnant with one of those. Best of look with this round. X

Oh I forgot to say I also have endometriosis and that was operated on in 2019. Such a horrible disease. My clinic also said long protocol every time which I was happy with as I liked the idea of suppressing the endo beforehand. X

Hi Spycro,

So pleased it worked out for you. :) We’ve decided to try our luck with what we’ve made over 2 cycles. With you having endometriosis did they do anything different for you transfer wise? Frozen rather than fresh, suppression beforehand etc Xx

No just a straight forward day 5 fresh transfer. I do seem to need more progesterone than their standard dose. Nothing to do with endo though, I just got the tell tale endo pains before official test day. X