Worth trying IVF - advice please

[AnnieStar12]

Wondering if I can get any opinions on whether ivf would be worth trying in my case.

I’m 40, have been trying to conceive for 11 months and in that time have had one CP following a natural conception, and one MMC following an IUI assisted conception. We conceived our first child naturally 3 years ago on the first time trying. But we have really struggled this time round, and I’m starting to lose hope and wondering what to do next.

We are currently doing another round of IUI but I want to make a plan about what to do if it doesn’t work this time. Not sure how many more months of disappointment I can stomach.

So on the one hand I know it is possible (but not easy) for us to conceive, but on the other we’ve struggled all year and with my age it won’t get any easier. We’ve had tests and things aren’t brilliant - my AMH is only 4,8 and my OH had less that 1% morphology and borderline normal motility.

I am not sure if it is a sensible move to go to ivf or just keep trying naturally / with IUI. Most people I know who’ve done ivf have never had a conception. But I feel I’m running out of time and options.

And with an AMH of 4.8 it seems like IVF might be very unlikely to work anyway.

any thought / experiences welcome.

I definitely wouldn't spend money on IUI in your situation, and given you have conceived naturally recently I'd be inclined to not do IVF either. You're right that your chance of success with IVF is sadly very low due to egg quality decline, you're probably as likely to conceive naturally. If you did want to pursue treatment I would just go straight to IVF. At least with ICSI this could take any potential sperm issues out of the equation, although low morphology on its own isn't necessarily a huge issue anyway. If you're looking for pragmatic advice Robert Winston's website is a good start, especially the section where he responds to questions from the public. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I would go for it whilst you can. I wouldn’t want to look back in ten years and have regrets. It’s the treatment that has the highest odds of success sl it’s worth trying. Good luck with whatever you decide

I'd scrap the IUI and give IVF a shot. An AMH of 4.8 was higher than mine at the same age and (against the odds) it worked for me

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am so torn about what to do but am definitely leaning towards starting ICSI fairly soon.

@SErunner thanks for tip about that website - I just had a look and the first Q&A I clicked on was asking about trying to conceive in your early 40s, he said it's better to try naturally - argh! That just made me confused as he said you may have better chances naturally if there aren't any significant issues.

@Sleepybunny77 wow, that's wonderful to hear - I always tell myself someone has to be the one who beats the odds. Can I ask why you did IVF? Sorry if too personal, just finding it useful hearing what others in similar situations decided to do

@AnnieStar12 my problem was suspected endometriosis. No problems with DH. They only gave me a 10% chance which was a bit off putting but I went ahead anyway and I'm very thankful that it was successful

@Sleepybunny77 Congratulations! This gives me hope. Could I please ask if you don't mind - I also have suspected endometriosis - how was the IVF process for you? Did you have to have surgery for your Endometriosis? We're about to start the journey, my AMH is 6.9 and I've just turned 40. Sorry for all the questions x

Just an update for anyone coming across this thread. The final round of IUI wasn’t successful,
so we moved to IVF as I wanted to feel like I had tried everything.
We brought a three cycle package.
First attempt we got 3 eggs, 1 became a blast which was transferred but failed.
Second attempt we got 1 egg, which made it to blast, was transferred and was successful! Im currently 34 weeks pregnant.
So in the end, ivf worked for us. I’ll never know whether we’d have got pregnant anyway, but I’m just pleased to have got successful regardless.

@AnnieStar12 lovely news! Congratulations.

Such lovely news, congratulations :)

Congratulations!! ❤️❤️❤️

Lovely update! Congratulations x