IVF 6 failed transfers

[FuzzyBee1234]

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any advice or has been through a similar journey and what the end result was. I have now had 6 embryo transfers with 7 good quality eggs and all have failed. They were all BFN apart from our second FET but that ended in a chemical pregnancy at 6 weeks. We have tried embryo glue, double transfer, steroid, aspirin, lubion progesterone injections as well as the pesseries. I have had a hycosy, hysterscopy and thrombophilia blood tests (all clear). My partner has seen a urologist after dna fragmentation test which came back with slightly higher fragmentation but that all came back clear. My lining always gets above 8mm and is triple lining so does not seem to be an issue there and the embroyos are graded 5aa, 4aa or 4bb that we have had transferred. Never seems to be any issues with transfer. I am 34 (started ttc 4.5 years ago). We are now at a bit of a loss as we still dont understand what the issue is. Has anyone been in this situation and gone on to have a success story?

Have you checked whether your implantation window is correct? For me I didn’t do as many transfers as you but the ones I did failed and it turns out that I needed embryos put back on day 6 not day 5. The transfer after that worked. I also did an emma and Alice which found bad bacteria in my lining and antibiotics cleared that up.

I could have written your post, the only difference being were only on transfer 4.

I don't have any answers for you, but I just wanted to say I know the pain and I'm so sorry 😞

Our next step is to have PGT on upcoming egg collection, but after that I would be keen to try with donor sperm as my husbands dna frag wasn't great. He's not very onboard with this, but we'll see...

@FuzzyBee1234 so sorry to hear you’ve had such a tough journey. We’re currently on transfer 5, so not quite the same position. This transfer we’ve added in clexane blood thinner jabs- dr prescribed them for recurrent implantation failure so may not apply to you given you did get pregnant before. He didn’t recommend pgt testing for us as he said we were both fit & healthy & my husband dna frag test was as normal as he’d ever seen. If this transfer fails he’s suggested NK testing (think it’s just a blood test and swab) to check if your body is attacking the embryo, if so I think treatment is essential steroids. The other was to check optimum window for embryo embedding- for that one they have to do a practice cycle and take a sample of your lining on the day they’d usually put the embryo in.
in terms of positive story’s, I know some one who had 6 failed transfers only to then get pregnant naturally, they now have a healthy little baby.
xxx

Hi @FuzzyBee1234 I'm sorry this is proving such a rough road for you. I have now had 8 unsuccessful transfers, so I can truly empathise. I also had a chemical, after transfer 3 when I transferred a 4AA. If I hadn't, I'm not sure I'd have kept going so long but the 'nearly there' feeling of a positive test keeps you coming back as you've had a taste of it being possible.

My situation is different - I am single and using donor sperm, so there shouldn't be any male factor. But I am also now 43 (started at 41) so for me, quality will certainly be an issue. I did not PGT as my embryos came from a number of different collections and I transferred as I went. My embryos have been all AAs, ABs/BAs or at the 'worst', a BB. I know that doesn't mean they'd have tested normal and in fact most or even all wouldn't have due to age. Though you're on the young side which should make it unlikely, quality could still be a factor - have you considered testing? Or have you ever been checked for endometriosis? You can have silent endo without major symptoms and that can affect quality.

Like you, my lining has always been ok. My thrombophilia tests were ok but since my second transfer failed I've been on 20mg Clexane for each transfer anyway (started at the same time as pessaries). I also have Lubion injections after I bled a little before OTD on one transfer, though I don't usually.

I've not previously tried steroids but am being put on them for my next FET as it's my last embryo (sadly the poorest quality yet) and it's a 'why not try' approach. For this go I'll also have antibiotics just in case there's any endometritis which hasn't been diagnosed. The only other thing I've tried not on your list are endometrial scratches, but I know the evidence is far from clear on those and they're amber rated by the HFEA. I had one before my chemical, but I've also two further scratches before unsuccessful transfers...

Has your clinic made any suggestions? I am almost at the end of the road, sadly (unless I go down the donor egg route) but that's down to my age. I really hope for you that your younger age proves an advantage, as you've got more time to try to find solutions.

Thank you for your messages I think you might be right @LAsandkicksup I think we should look to do emma, era, alice next. @LosingHopeIVF we did look at doing PGT testing but I wish we had done it when we did the fresh cycle as its alot of money to defrost test then refreeze and the embroyos left are not as good quality so I would be tempted to do that when we/if we do another fresh. @lucymills1234 that's interesting on antibiotics for endometriosis...I might ask on this as I did ask if I should be checked for silent endometriosis but they seemed to think it wasnt worth it as they said it shouldn't impact implantation but if there is something I can take that doesnt harm my chances I'm open to it. I was on 5mg twice a day of predis

Hi @FuzzyBee1234 the antibiotics would be for endometritis which is a different thing to endometriosis - confusingly similar names can make you think it’s a typo!! Endometritis is an infection that causes inflammation in the uterus (that’s my understanding, no doubt a medical professional could explain more accurately!). I think endometritis can be diagnosed by taking a sample from the uterus. However my consultant said it couldn’t hurt to act as if I did have it even without the test, which means taking antibiotics.
I saw a different consultant this time and wish I’d seen her before as she has a much more proactive approach. I do know age is a massive factor for me but am frustrated that there are things I could’ve tried to help support embryos much sooner.

I will never think my googling is any kind of match for the skills and knowledge of a Dr, but the more treatment I’ve done the more I feel that you have to know the right questions to ask.

@lucymills1234 the endometrio I suggested diagnoses endometritis. It is true that you can take the antibiotics anyway but you may be taking the wrong ones as they are prescribing specifically based on the bacteria present. If you look ok the ERA/Emma/Alice thread you’ll see different prescriptions being given based on the different bacteria found. So if you got a broad spectrum antibiotic but have gardenella you won’t have cleared up the infection. You should also be taking probiotics if you took antibiotics as they will have wiped out all your good bacteria too and they are also important. You can take Canesflor vaginally and optibac for pregnancy orally.

@LAsandkicksup I already take an Inessa Advanced Probiotic supplement which contains a high level of lactobacillus (I saw it recommended by a fertility nutritionist). Do you rate Opti Bac as particularly good?

@lucymills1234 all the oral ones are pretty similar. You only get so much from them. I’d recommend a course of the vaginal ones Canesflor as they’re more targeted.

HI there - sorry I'm a very late addition to this thread. @lucymills1234 I am in a very similar situation to you. Started when I had just turned 42, and I am now 43 and about to do my 7th transfer. I am doing it with donor sperm and with my female partner, who has also been doing IVF. We both got pregnant in November, and then both miscarried. I had a chemical on my last transfer, and that gave me hope to do another one. My embryos have all been okay - mainly in the 3-5 and ab/bb range and my lining is mostly past 10mm. Age is definitely the main factor for me too - can I ask how you are getting on?

Hi, how did people get on in this thread?

@Sunflower360 my 7th transfer was successful! I gave birth in January and our little one is now 10 weeks old. The odds were definitely us, but there we have it! Best of luck to you on your journey xx

@GoldJules congratulations! That is positive to hear

@Sunflower360 my 8th transfer worked and I now have 5 month old twins! I could not say for certain what worked but I think going gluten and dairy free played a part as the 3 times I managed to get pregnant (2 miscarriages) I was gluten and dairy free but it could also just be luck that the 8th transfer was the one for us. There was also a number of other different things we did like different IVF clinic, different vitamins, different acupuncturist, I had a course of antibiotics as a result of emma, era, Alice result.

@FuzzyBee1234 thanks for sharing. If you don't mind me asking what made you consider going GF and DF?

So I have psoriases an autoimmune disease that is believed to be caused by Inflammation in the body and dairy and gluten are supposedly Inflammatory foods plus I spoke with someone else who went through quite a few rounds of IVF and a dairy free diet seemed to help them with better egg quality and conceiving so I thought I would give it a go.

Ho i know this is an old thread but I've stumbled across it as I'm in a similar position. I have a three year old DD who was the result of our very first embryo transfer. Over the past two years we have done a further 6 transfers to try and conceive a sibling with 3 negatives, 2 miscarriages, and a chemical pregnancy. The chemical and latest BFN were both euploid embryos. We have two euploid embryos and one untested left.

We've had all the recurrent miscarriage tests our clinic offer and all fine. I take probiotics (with I think is what the Emma and Alice would recommend?), we tried a 6 day transfer instead of 5 day this time, I have been on steroids and blood thinners the last two transfers. I'm starting to get pretty desperate and this thread has given me a little bit of hope.

Congratulations @GoldJules and @FuzzyBee1234! @GoldJules, can I ask if you did anything different for this transfer? @FuzzyBee1234 how long were you dairy and gluten free for?

Our diagnosed fertility issues are my PCOS and husband has poor sperm morphology, we are otherwise fit and healthy and both 33 so age and health shouldn't really be an issue. I'm just at a loss as to why this isn't working out for us and drs seem to be stumped as well.

Also @FuzzyBee1234 can I ask a bit more about the vitamins / antibiotics? I had antibiotics for the past few transfers, doxycycline for a couple then amoxiclav (or something) for this last one. I also take metformin, myo-inositol, vitamin d, high dose folic acid, omega 3 and a multi bit along with a probiotic.

Vitamins I took were zita west, they do a supplement set specifically for each stage so frozen embryo transfer or egg retrieval etc and then first trimester so I took the relevant pack for each stag - I think it included DHA, physillium husk, vit d and then 2 combined pills that has bromine and zinc and folate (easier absorbed folic acid). The antibiotic I was given was as a result of my emma, era, alice - I'm not sure what it was called but it was related to me having 0% lactobacillus on the emma test so they gave me 7 days antibiotics and then 5 weeks probiotic. I think the probitoic was just the vaginally inserts you can buy from boots that I did weekly.

I was gluten and dairy free for about 6 months prior to getting pregnant with the twins

I was on steroid for my transfer aswell- Prednisolone was the one they gave me and I took for the full first trimester of pregnancy as well