Re: (IVF) Egg Frozen due to Partner not being able to provide Sample on the day

[mrsmb03]

Hello

I wanted to hear if anyone has this experience and what it was like for them.

I was really gutted that after the difficulty of getting to the point of egg collection we were not able to fertilise it on the day but I understand and feel emphatic for my darling husband. He tried.

My eggs were frozen in the end and my DH will try again and provide sample on a later date.

My only worry is that when they thaw my eggs some might not survive but I live in hope it won't happen.

Also, I was supposed to take cyclogest pessaries on the day of the egg collection but I was only asked to take antibiotics on the day and for the next few days.

Am I right to think I don't have to take the pessaries because I will not have an embryo transfer as planned?

The clinic did not make this clear to me.

Thank you
xxx

That must have been upsetting for you both. Hope you can work through the stress of this to process it.
They will freeze a sample, you can discuss with the clinic in advance whether or not your husband wants to attempt to give a fresh sample or not when they are planning to thaw the eggs.
I would have thought you're correct about the cyclogest but you really need confirmation from the clinic. Assuming you'll have a frozen embryo transfer they will tell you the preparation for that, it differs a bit.

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms Thanks very much, everything that you said are all very helpful.

@mrsmb03 sorry to hear this. You are correct about the pessaries. They are progesterone which is only needed if you are having a transfer. It changes the lining so it is receptive for the embryo.

Just to echo previous poster - yes only antibiotics needed after an egg collection if you freeze them as I've done egg collections for egg freezing only and never had pessaries etc.

Out of interest, did the clinic say they now need to do ICSI instead of the normal IVF because the eggs are frozen? (And would that be an additional cost?) I'm asking as I've frozen eggs in the past and have been told when I go to use them in future I'll need ICSI as the freezing of the eggs makes them harder and so ICSI is needed to break through to fertilise. I just wondered if that's because they assume (for me) it would be a while into the future I'll use mine, but if yours are only frozen a few days/weeks it might not be necessary?

"Out of interest, did the clinic say they now need to do ICSI instead of the normal IVF because the eggs are frozen?"

Hi @Rosiestraws, yes embryologist said they will do ICSI as it is being frozen, something to do with the outer layer cells are removed?

Consultant said possible ET is in 2 months time after 2 natural cycles. So yeah both eggs and sperm frozen for now.

Why do they think you will do your transfer later?

I'm an NHS patient but I don't know they told me I might pay as the funding expired...

@ivfagainornot thank you very much!

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms Do you think a fresh sample would be better?

@mrsmb03 I don't necessarily think fresh sperm is better but your clinic might. Our clinic much preferred fresh BUT after many rounds of IVF I am currently pregnant thanks to frozen sperm so it has worked fine, and I guess people buying donor sperm get frozen sperm. I suppose there are so many sperm in a sample that it's not so bad if a few don't survive the thaw, compared to eggs not surviving.

Also challenge that about the funding, see if the wording says about the round of IVF having commenced.

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms I don't know where to start I don't think I got a formal letter from the NHS?

I posted this on another thread.

I just turned 43 and have been pregnant at age 39 just about to turn 40 and then 41 about to turn 42 lost both pregnancies early on. We got pregnant even with my husband having low morphology at one point was 0%, since starting taking Impryl upon the advise of a fertility doctor my husband's morphology rose from 0% to 4%.

My AMH is very good for my age.

We haven't been trying naturally as has have been accepted on the NHS for IVF. I did not want to try then miscarry again.

The IVF clinic started me on stimulation just before I turned 43 as this is the cut off period for the NHS meanwhile due to a family emergency I had to travel abroad which we informed the clinic on our consent forms.

On the day of the Egg collection as about to go to theatre they told me I maybe at risk for Zika so Egg collection cannot take place. Was in pain after that.

They put me straight on stimulation next cycle and I did have my Egg Collection. I had good number of eggs but hubby could not provide sperm sample on the day and so they had to freeze my eggs.

The clinic's sample room is not hygienic and is therefore not conducive to producing a sample.

We provided a sample from home a few days after the Egg Collection and that is now also frozen.

Now the IVF clinic is saying that as I am now 43 I no longer have access to funding.

I am so shocked, anxious and confused as how did we get here. They said they will try to request for an extension.

I did very well I had a good number of eggs which I believe a few might not survive the thawing process and my lining as the Nurse said when I was being scanned was "textbook" lining.

No one has told us we could provide a sample from home and freeze in advance so we did not depend on providing on the day of the egg collection or simply brought one on the day (we were fairly local) rather than trying to provide one on their unhygienic sample room.

We do not have the money for this treatment. I am so scared of the possibility that this could be abandoned.

This would be a first child for us both.

I would start by googling your CCG policy on IVF. Each area has their own policy about what entitlements they will give.

It might also be worth finding out what costs you would have to pay if you did go ahead with that NHS clinic as a self-funding patient (I expect egg collection is an expensive part of the treatment but it's possible that so is fertilisation and culture to day 5). I mean it might cost you a fair bit less than actually a full round of IVF but really given that they halted your previous egg collection you may have a case to argue. Also if they put you on stima again the very next cycle, for how long did they say the zika risk was a factor?

Or could you move your eggs? I don't know the logistics of that but have seen people mention it on here.

So sorry to hear about your previous losses. 💐

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms Thank you very much.

On the Policy. What I read was:

Maternal Age: Women aged 23 to less than 43 years at the start of treatment.

Number of embryos per transfer: Women aged between 40 to less than 43 years – TWO embryos may be considered for transfer per procedure.