Egg collection - last minute change of plan

[LAB90210]

Hello,
First time I’ve posted and also first IVF cycle.

This morning was egg collection, we got 4 eggs, little disappointed however not unsurprising as I’m 42. The embryologist spoke to us after and basically said that they now suggested IVF and not ICSI due to a vast difference in
seman analysis since July last year. Our plan had been icsi from the start.
Has anyone had a similar experience?

Also of the 4 eggs, she said they were a little dark, which could mean a little immature? Also wondering if anyone had similar outcome after EC and were potentially immature but that was based on colour?

thanks so much…. Now it’s the wait for the call in the morning
xx

Hi personally I would have still pushed for ICSI, why did they say no to ICSI? Good luck with everything x

You’ve paid for it I would definitely be insisting

not heard of this before but really hope it all works out lovely . Did that say there was a huge improvement in the sperm quality ??

wishing you all the best for the call
rest up after collection lovely 💜

Thanks so much for the quick replies, much appreciated lovelies 🥰🥰

so they asked my hubby if he had been bad /unwell around the time of the last sample, and if it had been the numbers provided today, they would not have recommended ICSI. I’m not sure of exact figures but they did seem significantly different.

the embryologist was lovely and honestly said it was up to us. Her recommendation and the senior embryologist today had both said the same.

They said any increased money paid for ICSI is refunded.

we talked a while, and have gone with their recommendation and just pray for fertilisation. She didn’t seem overly concerned about my eggs but did mention darkness could sometimes indicate less matter xx

That makes sense lovely if he had flu or covid it can decrease numbers

fingers crossed for fantastic numbers for you in the morning xx

ICSI can result in higher fertilisation rates but it can also damage eggs that are older or have quality issues, which could be implied by the darker colour.

The main advantage of natural fertilisation is natural selection. Regardless of what sperm may look like to an embryologist, the egg can select at a DNA quality level. For this reason ICSI can sometimes result in lower quality embryos and slightly higher levels of congenital birth defects. This is at a population level though, so not necessarily a concern for a specific individual.

Best of luck!

Hi @LAB90210

Sorry for jumping on your thread, I hope it all goes well for you, I'm just wondering if you could (in time) share a bit more about the differences between your partner's semen analyses before and now, if you'd feel ok with that? I've just posted my own one about my partner's semen analyses being totally different a year ago to now, with barely any changes, apart from a reduction in alcohol. It seems like it's gone from practically no sperm and ICSI def being required, to now normal/good sperm! I can't figure out why or if it's just pure luck?! Obv will raise with my clinic too..

Again, thanks so much for the replies, they are just so helpful when you have questions and those curiosity’s racing through your mind.

and no not at all! We first had some standard tests done with NHS when we had tried for a while to conceive. Basically for the both of us, the results were fine and there appeared no reason we couldn’t fall pregnant. obviously age is a factor for us.

we kept trying and trying without success.

about 14 month ago we went to a private clinic, they undertook the routine tests and this time (they used a scale 1-4) the semen was a 3, and I believe it was a 3 due to shape)

we didn’t end up using that clinic, so July 2024, we had routine tests again at our new clinic who we are using. .
this time, they said issues with mortality, shape and numbers. And straight away said ICSI.

now we have made some lifestyle changes, alcohol, food, supplements etc, over the last 6 months.

then today we hear that the results are so different they didn’t recommend ICSI.
I’m sorry I don’t know the exact numbers from July or now to give you.
i definitely heard something like ‘was 4 and now 29’ and think they said ‘14 and now 53’ for something else, but really don’t know if this was size, numbers, mortality or shape etc.

sorry, hope this helps a little
xxx

Good luck for tomorrow ❤️

thank you, that does help actually.. I suspect the numbers about ‘was 4 and now 29’ and ‘14 and now 53’ are probably due to the total sperm count changes and the density... my partner had density of 0.8 (when it should have been more than 15m) and now it's 42m and then total count of 1.2m (when it should have been more than 39m) and now it's 80m! I can't quite believe the difference myself... I guess it makes more sense if you've been making big changes...my partner has massively reduced his alcohol intake - that's the only HUGE change.. and then as I said he'd been using hot tubs a lot before the first sample and now barely ever (and none before the second sample) so maybe it was just that.

Fingers crossed all goes well for you!

Hi LAB90210,

me and my partner are in your situation, been for collection this morning collecting 4 eggs in total (low Amh levels) and was told 1 looks a little dark.

we were going for ISCI then they changed to IVF as a better method for the amount of eggs and my partners sperm quality going up a lot since last testing!

how did your situation turn out?

thank you

Jade

HI jade,

how are you feeling after egg collection? It’s like a total curve ball isn’t it when you have a plan, and then it changes.

Your situation sounds so similar to ours. I hope this perhaps reassures you a little….

I was reassured again by doctors that IVF was the best when the semen quality had changed so much. I don’t think I have any regrets on that one.

out of 4 eggs collect, only 1 fertilised. However, they were all mature, no apparent issues with them, so try not to take anything from them being a little dark. It doesn’t appear that meant anything at all.

we had transfer yesterday of the one fertilised egg (day 5) and now the wait…..

xxx

I feel okay now. The lozeopram tablet this morning knocked me a bit weird and sick and I’m a baby when it comes to hospitals / surgeries so I cried the whole way through in theatre with a nurse holding my hand the whole time!

we only actually got told last week I have low AMH, (this should have been something that was discussed a long time ago with us)

she said 3 eggs seem fine and 1 was a bit dark. I won’t know for sure the results of the eggs or fertilisation until the morning. I’m so scared and nervous of what’s to come.

that’s absolutely amazing you got 1 transferred, how are you feeling? Sending you all the luck and baby dust your way for little bean to stick ✨🤞❤️🥰

HI Jade,

I’ve been thinking of you today and the phone call. How were things?

xxx

Hi LAB90210,

unfortunately no eggs were fertilised due to the outer part of my eggs being to hard/thick for the sperm to enter.

We are absolutely devastated. This is the case scenario. I was prepared for the first transfer failing but did not prepare for this to be the outcome xx

Im so so sorry, I know you won’t feel any better by people saying this at the moment, but I’m thinking of you both xxx

@JadeD92 really sorry about this. I assume too late for this round but does your clinic ever do rescue ICSI the following morning in the event of non-fertilisation?

Thank you everyone. It’s a horrible situation and I haven’t even heard of this before.

we originally arranged for ICSI at the start of this whole process but they said they would decide on the day whether to go ahead with that if IVF.

baring in mind I have low AMH and only got 4 eggs collected , 1 which they said they could see it was dark as soon as they spoke to me after the collection.

no that hasn’t even been mentioned to us? X

So sorry to hear this. My first round also ended in total failed fertilisation. We had used ICSI. Sending you hugs x