Create Fertility - Experiences

[Sunflower360]

Hi 👋

I was hoping for people's experiences and thoughts on Create Fertility? I am considering them, so any thoughts would be much appreciated.

I am currently going through a short protocol with high stims with another clinic, baseline scan showed 4-5 follicles (expected that as I have low AMH/low ovarian reserves) but through my high stimulation am only showing 1, maybe 2 follicles that are growing...so cycle is not looking great.

So I wanted to consider Create as they specialise in natural modified and mild IVF, but would appreciate feedback on people's experiences as we would be going in multi cycle with my low AFC/AMH and want to ensure it's the best decision in those circumstances.

Thanks!

@RarePlant thanks. It only counts as your full cycle when you pass egg collection, but you will get charged for scans and meds

@Sunflower360 ah hope your third cycle goes well! Hopefully they monitor it closely and make any necessary amendments if needed.

I'm still waiting! AF has decided to come fashionably late...a rarity for me so really annoying. Feel like everything is on hold til she arrives. Annoyingly I had all my PMS symptoms last week and nothing.

Thanks @Maddie23 what protocol are you on? Sorry if you have already said. @RarePlant where are you currently at?

@Sunflower360 I'm on the Mild (short) protocol so start stims on day 2 of full flow.

Good luck @Maddie23, hope AF comes soon for you. Good luck too @Sunflower360, do you start meds sooner on mild?

I’m a bit torn on what to do next. Had a long call with the doctor following my failed cycle (and 2 cancelled cycles prior..). He said that although the outcome of the last cycle was disappointing and they were expecting me to get 2-3 eggs, the cycle itself did work, in that three follicles grew; it was the quality that wasn’t there. Can’t say why, but likely the same reason that I’m in this situation in the first place. Went through in lots of detail, but summary was he doesn’t recommend changing anything.
We've booked a holiday in December (cannot wait), so now I’m not sure whether to just take a break until Jan, or whether to go ahead with November cycle (assuming it isn’t cancelled - big assumption), and maybe just freeze (if there’s anything to freeze) rather than transfer..but then there’s a risk associated with thawing. I’m torn. Definitely don’t want to transfer before holiday, but reluctant to voluntarily skip November just in case it’s a good month.
A lot to weigh up since this is my last cycle!

@HopefulElle yeah would be starting meds CD 2. AF arrived today so full steam ahead now and see what happens.

I know what you mean about being conflicted about what to do next. I was given the choice that we could start in January for this 3rd cycle to give my body a break, or start straight away and I've decided the latter mainly to get this done and move onto transfer. Issue with me is if the dominant follicle is in the high sitting inaccesible ovary then the cycle is cancelled and I'd rather not delay it in case in January is when it it was in the inaccesible ovary and I had to delay again. Kind of feeling time is of essence, so I get where you are coming from. Plus if none of these transfers were to work we're considering having another cycle as age is not exactly on my side being late 30's so I don't want to waste time delaying if possible.

If you feel having a transfer would prevent you from enjoying your holiday then postponing could be a good decision for you. And you'll likely feel more refreshed to have your 3rd cycle as you most likely did with your first cycle

Best of luck @Sunflower360, definitely sounds like going ahead now makes sense for you. Hope you have a great cycle - are you excited to think you’ll be transferring in a few weeks, hopefully?
We’re going long haul so it’s a combination of not enjoying my holiday stressing about it and also thinking about giving potentially our only transfer, the best shot. I know loads of people get pregnant before/on holiday, but I think ideally I’d want to be at home and taking it easy for a couple of weeks post transfer. Not sure how much difference it makes but psychologically, I’d feel better about it.

I think delaying makes most sense, and husband wants to but also considering going along for first scan/blood test just in case they say “wow this is the best month we’ve ever seen for you…”.

I'm never usually so indecisive!

@HopefulElle if you don't mind the cancellation costs then it could be worth seeing, but then if they did say it's a good month, would you want to proceed?

I am cautiously looking forward to the transfer as the Dr was very clear that there are criteria for us to be able to proceed such as the dominant follicle being on the accesible ovary, certain number of follicles etc (which was good to know that they were managing it closely), but it does mean the plug could be pulled but I would know that by CD 5 or 6 so quite early on. If we transfer in this cycle then I'd have a result by early December and if it was a negative then we could just accept it (as hard as that would be), draw a line in the sand, enjoy the Christmas break and got on with it in the new year.

@Sunflower360 in case it was a (really) good month, I think I’d perhaps want to proceed but not transfer. Whereas if they cancel it based on early bloods again, then I’ll know it wouldn’t have been a good month anyway. If we transferred and I did get pregnant, then didn’t stay pregnant, I think I’d be wondering if it was because I was doing too much with the travelling etc. Would also obviously ruin the holiday if that happened whilst I was away, and I really feel like we need a good holiday to be honest. It’s been really tough since last cycle failed.

Has your dominant follicle always been on the accessible ovary so far? Would they not proceed even if you had multiple follicles in the accessible ovary, if the dominant one was on the other side?
Date wise that’s good for your cycle, as you say, would be tough to get a negative result, but at least you’d know before Christmas etc - I’d rather have a disappointment early December than any other month, as here’s so much else going on at least. And then Jan feels like a fresh start.

@HopefulElle that sounds good, at least you could then transfer after the holiday.

If there were a good number that were the right size on the accessible ovary then they may continue, but it all depends what it looks like come CD 5. It's so far been on my accessible ovary so I'm beginning to wonder if it'll switch now as I've done consequetive cycles, which would be bloody typical, will just have to see

Hi - does anyone know if Create does egg collection on Sundays?

@VSRCM I was advised if it was needed they would do (have not had one myself though on a Sunday but there was a possibility at one point), how are you getting on?

Thanks @Sunflower360 I had a nice break in Sept where I did not think about anything IVF!

Currently on day 10 of the injections, they put me on estradiol prior to starting the injections this time so it feels like the follicles are growing slower. I thought I would have the trigger shot tonight but they want to scan me again tomorrow; hence I'm wondering if my collection might be Sunday as it doesnt look like the follicles are large enough yet.

In a sense, I feel that they have paid more attention to my requirements this time maybe...(since I complained/provided my feedback on Trustpilot!).

Where are you at currently? I read the last few posts but didn't really understand the context.

@VSRCM that's good news, are you still doing mild? Did they indicate how many follicles they are aiming to collect from?

I'm on cycle 3 of 3 AF arrivedast night so tomorrow is day 2 and I'll start stims then as their trying mild on me this time (did natural modified the last 2 cycles, got 2 x day 5's and a day 3 in the freezer). So this cycle can go either way to be honest as it's something different, but thought it's worth a shot. If we get through this cycle then hopefully will be able to transfer (which is part of the 3 cycle package)

@VSRCM they suggested mild this time as I had a slow start in follicle growth last month, so hopefully starting stims earlier might encourage them to grow quicker...we shall see. Will you be transferring? Could not recall if it was your 3rd cycle

@Sunflower360 As of this morning's scan, it's looking like 7 follicles (although 1 is growing way ahead of the others like last time) are in the expected range 12-17mm, and I think 2 more 10-12mm... so I'm thinking 7 eggs if lucky..

Congrats on the frozen ones, well done! Are they top quality because it's a natural cycle? You should definitely get more from a mild stim compared to a natural one, I think/heard natural cycle only aims to get 1-2 eggs?

Will you be doing a fresh transfer after round 3? Or are you doing PGTA? I only have one 3-day embryo in the freezer from my last cycle :(

@VSRCM that is a good number of follicles. Are you looking to transfer this time? The day 3 and 1 x day 5 is a good grade, the other day 5 is below average but was still ok to freeze (that's the cycle that was a slow start). They said they would thaw the day 3 to see if it went to day 5 when it comes to it so that could lead to nothing if it was to fail but may as well see what it can do outside the body for as long as possible. I queried the gradings with the embryologist and they advised the grading is a visual on the morphology and does not tell them about whether it would be a viable pregnancy, so in short if its good enough to freeze it has a chance, albeit it may have a 25% chance for a lower grade rather than a 50-60% for a good/top grade embryo.

Natural modified aims for 1 or 2 eggs, but I got 5 eggs (4 of which were mature) in my first Create cycle and 2 eggs in my 2nd cycle. Hence why they suggested trying mild this time...I am wondering if I should have stuck to natural modified but only time will tell! They left the choice to me which was good

@VSRCM I'm not doing PGTA, if I had a higher AMH and had say 6-10 embryos then sure but I don't want to risk damaging them. Maybe I'll feel differently after a couple of transfers if it does not work but right now I'm happy to transfer them as they are and give them a shot

@Sunflower360 I'm currently at the blood test start of my first cycle at another clinic (Kings), but our plan is if that doesn't work we are looking to do the 3 cycle package with Create asap early next year. Your stories are really helping me to prepare, as I keep making clumsy mistakes up to this point (like not counting how many days abstinence before sperm analysis! I've found it's different with clinic to clinic)

@Sunflower360 Yes, I'm hoping for a fresh transfer with some left to freeze for more chances... my first implanted but lost at week 5; my second was a euploid and did not implant.. so I'm not feeling optimistic but not ready to give up and am hoping to have as many chances as possible.

@RarePlant good plan. With abstinence we've been advised 2-3 but know some can say longer. Think it can also depend on age and sample fators too. For instance someone older may need to go for 48 hours rather than 24 hours abstinence to give it more time to build up

@VSRCM, that is really unfortunate. Hopefully, you get more to freeze. Did they do any additional tests to understand what happened with the previous transfers? I've decided to do miscarriage tests prior to the transfer (at a cost) which I'm pending results for alongside this cycle as I wanted to do as much screening as possible/apply any remedies before transferring as embryo numbers are limited. If something comes up in the tests I'll do a freeze of any embryo (if any at all) and do a transfer later. It was something I chose to do, but after our chemical pregnancy (natural not IVF) in the summer, I thought it may be worth to do it rather than waiting for another miscarriage to happen before doing the tests (it's usually advised after 2 miscarriages)

@Sunflower360 What is the miscarriage test? The doctor said he wants to check my endometrium for fragments, and that is indirectly an endometrium scratch, which may help implantation. I'm assuming they will follow up post egg collection.

It could be because of my age (41) they assume the eggs are generally not as good?

@VSRCM it is a number of tests to test immunities and antibodies that could reject a pregnancy and then from there they can assess if medications are required to support.

Sounds like they have a plan for you which is good and hopefully that works

@Sunflower360 Ah, yes they put me on steroids to curb killer cells and also aspirin + clexane for sticky blood. I think I have done those tests.

Thanks and I hope you get the result you wish for too