Does spotting and low progesterone = low egg quality??

[Beebee993]

Hello, age 33, been trying for 2 years not a sniff of a BFP. I have a few things going on - low amh 6.3 pmol, I always get a week of spotting before my period and my progesterone on day 21 is always lowish at 18. Ovulation confirmed though through scans. I’ve tried progesterone pressaries in TWW which stopped the spotting, so this confirms that it is caused by low progesterone, but still no bfp.

Ive started the process for IVF but it’s a long wait. My main concern now is that all these symptoms are indicating that I have terrible egg quality. Wondering if anyone has had a similar journey / symptoms and got to the bottom of it or were successful with IVF?

Thank you xx

Hi OP. Unfortunately there really is no way to determine egg quality unless you undergo IVF so your eggs are collected and the embryologist can properly assess them. Even then it’s not a straightforward answer to let you know what the egg quality is, it unfortunately involves a lot of (intelligent) guesswork too. Lots of studies do confirm though that as women age particularly beyond 35 y/o, egg quality gets a bit worse.
FWIW, your amh is not that low and being under age 35, I’d be optimistic for the future. Good luck OP! I hope you get to the top of the IVF wait list soon.

@Beebee993 the progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum - the structure the recently ovulated follicle becomes. So it's unrelated to egg quality. The latter is almost entirely down to age and you are still in prime fertility even with a lower AMH for your age.

I’ve had spotting during the week before my period for a long time and we TTC for +3yrs with no bfp. I then found out the spotting was caused by low progesterone. Taking progesterone after ovulation did stop the spotting but we still didn’t conceive. We went for IVF and it worked first time. When my period returned after DS was born the spotting also continued but we then had a surprise natural pregnancy. Hopefully this is a positive story for you!

Thank you all for replying ❤️ this certainly gives me hope and is exactly what I needed hear! xx

Have you had your partners sperm tested? Sometimes there is male factor infertility if the woman has done all the tests and "fixed" for lack of a better work, things on her side the male should also be tested. Ttc is so hard and I hope you get answers soon.

@Miraclemuma03 Yes he has low morphology, 2.5%. But our consultant said because he’s got good count and motility, it actually shouldn’t be a problem, may just take a little longer than normal. So I think after 2 years of trying it must be my symptoms that are the issue

Could just be a mixture of you both with things not being 100% which is why it just hasn't happened for you. How long of a wait is it for IVF?