ICSI fertilisation rate

[Bran90]

Hi all, about to start my second round of IVF and ICSI following unsuccessful attempt in January.

I got 12 eggs but only 3 fertilised, 2 made it to day 5 but both were low quality.

I was wondering what our chances are that this was just bad luck?

Has anyone else had a bad fertilisation rate with better outcomes in other cycles using ICSI?

And is there anyone with recurring low fertilisation rates who has been advised what, if anything can be done to improve it?

@Bran90 just wanted to see how your second round of IVF going?

We have had about 30% fertilisation rate first time around and have tried AOA in our second cycle with similar results. I think next steps for us would probably involve genetic testing but not sure what can be done differently in terms of IVF treatment.

Sorry I can’t be of much help but would be great to hear from anyone else who might be a step ahead.

Definitely worth trying AOA. Our fertilisation rate went from 25% to 100%.

@Bran90 Hi there, we have recurrent low fertilization with icsi and imsi (we however do have a significant male factor). In our first and second icsi cycles, fertilization was 10% and 17% respectively. We used AOA for the second one. We are now in the middle of cycle three and will be trying double AOA - there a recent research that suggests that double dose of calcium ionophore can help boost fertilization rates - might be something you want to ask about your consultant.

We had two unsuccessful transfers after the first cycle. For the second one we did pgt-a. Interestingly out of two embryos, the better quality one was abnormal. So worse quality does not always mean it is bad.

Thanks for the responses, I have never heard of AOA or seen it advertised at our clinic but will take a look.

I asked about genetic testing and was told for such few embryos it wasn't worthwhile and that it was recommended for women who had lots of embryos of similar quality and were unsure which to transfer.

Second cycle we got another 12 eggs 6 fertilised this time so a big improvement but by day 5 we had 1 grade A which was transfered and failed and a grade C which was frozen. Due to have this transferred next month but not feeling very hopeful about it but if nothing else I feel better knowing our fertilisation rate was higher.

I have no idea if this made a difference but I did work to reduce my work stress levels significantly over the last few months in prep for this cycle.