IVF over 38. Feeling hopeless

[PinkMandalorian]

I'm starting my first round of ivf.
I'm feeling absolutely hopeless and struggling to believe it can happen since success rates are so slow.
We can only afford one or two rounds maximum, and we were told it may take several rounds .This is financially crippling us as it is and im aware even after many rounds , success is not guaranteed. We have no children.
Has anyone actually conceived via ivf on their first round? I feel like im just so old now that it's never going to happen

Hey sorry I don’t have a success story. but I am in a similar situation. Sorry that you are in this situation it is rough. I am 37 and hoping to embark on ivf soon and will be using up all our savings on it. Can only afford a couple of rounds also…it is so expensive it’s crazy . Have you looked into access fertility refundable programmes? I’m thinking of going with that option (if possible). Think it is available for women under 39 with own eggs .

Can’t you ladies get treatment via the NHS? I was lucky enough to have 2 rounds.
I started treatment at 38 and now 40, the first transfer ended in miscarriage, currently 12 weeks pregnant with transfer 4.
Don’t give up hope, it can happen 😃

I know it’s so hard to be positive but our first round was successful so it definitely does happen. I was 36 so a bit younger but still above 35 and with AMH on the low side. Paying such a larger amount of money over with no guarantees was terrifying but I knew I would always regret not trying. Not sure whether you have a diagnosis but we were unexplained. I actually went on to conceive our second naturally at 39.

@SH998 thats great to hear.
We're only entitled to one nhs funded round but we've already spent years on nhs lists.. I waited 3 years to see a gynae , then I waited 3 months before getting a second appointment just to get blood results from them and then they issued clomid ( pcos) only after a few more months and further tests ( dye and sa) then was it discovered we also have male factor and we were referred to ivf clinic which took 12 months. So really all that waiting was a waste of time as if they had of just done the SA we could have had a referral to fertility. Everything just takes so long and I dont feel its time we can afford as we've already wasted years. They told us at first consultation waiting list for ivf (icsi specifically were having) is another 9 months

@PinkMandalorian oh the lists can be long. Mine started just before Covid so that held us up quite a bit. Time wasn’t on my side either so I did panic.
When do you actually start treatment? Fingers crossed you get success first round. It does happen so try to stay as positive as you can.

I was 36 when I had IVF. I know every year counts when you're over 35, but I had 10 blasts frozen. Many younger people don't get that many. First transfer worked. Second transfer worked too. I was very lucky.

Not saying age doesn't matter, but there are other factors that could potentially go in your favour. You just don't know until you try.

Shocking that you've been kept waiting so long though. Really unfair.

I had my first round at 38, my fifth at just turned 40. On the first round I got 7 blastocysts and the same on the last. Varying in between. I had the last round PGS tested and 5 were normal. My issue is my uterus so I haven’t had a full pregnancy yet and as I am in a same sex marriage we are less reliant on me, but just sharing to show that even at older ages egg and blastocyst results can be really good. Good luck OP.

@PinkMandalorian I started when I was 38 and do regret waiting for the NHS round. If you check your CCG rules and it allows private cycles, could you buy a 2 round access package in the meantime? Our two cycle access package was about 11k + meds.

That way you would have three rounds with two private and the NHS one, the NICE recommended amount, and you may not even need them all. You could do the private first, if the CCG allows it.

For info, I’m going for my second HCG test today. It took us three rounds to get here and I’m now 40.

Im 33 and we finally have a plan. Now just waiting to put it in action I had my face-to-face yesterday we are going with short protocol icsi next step waiting for nurses appointment for forms signing and medication instructions etc (I'm not sure how long that is going to take) anybody on here have short protocol or does anyone have a link if they have a specific group chat for this. Curious to know what everyone did or was taking to get a positive. Currently in the state of mind where il try anything.

@thislittlebird ah thakyou , I'll have a look. I hadn't heard of a 2 cycle package. The access packages I had seen were a 3 package deal and it was looking 20K + . He ruled that out immediately as it just didnt seem realistic opted to pay as we go. After alot of thought and figures we realised that even with hard work and budgeting all we could afford over the next year would be 12kmax.
So you know who the 2 cycle package is with?
We applied last year for funding with Gaia but we're refused due to the success likely being too low.

@PinkMandalorian yeah I get that. As nice as a refund would be we didn’t want to pay out 20k. The two cycle packages are called multi-cycle packages with Access, and you can do it through various clinics who work with Access, the price I paid was with the Lister. If you contact Access they’ll tell you which clinics you can choose from and the package prices for each of the clinics.

Yeah I’ve yet to meet anyone on here who qualified for Gaia. I assume it’s young, fertile IVFers they accept.