Looking for hope after two failed rounds

[CotswoldConceptionJourney]

Hi there,

I’d love to hear your success stories after multiple rounds of IVF to keep me going.
I’m 34 and my first egg collection yielded 17 eggs, but only 2 fertilised via IVF and none made it to day 5.

My second egg collection yielded 17 eggs again, 5 fertilised via ICSI and we had two little grade E embryos transferred in the hope one might stick.

I was fully prepared that it might need a few transfers, but never that we wouldn’t have any blastocysts.

We’re going to take a break, but are thinking ahead to our third egg collection in 2026. We’ve booked a holiday and will also change labs for our third round.

We’re both fit and healthy, but our numbers are on the lower side (2% normal morphology on the male side, 17% DNA fragmentation, AMH of 8.37 on my side). I worked with a fertility nutritionist to support with supplements, had regular accupuncture, reflexology, lots of yoga, resolved microbiome issues but still nothing. Neither of us has been pregnant before, nor even the whiff of a positive pregnancy test.

Grateful for this community, and sending love and hope to you all x

Ah that’s rough. Sorry to read of your drop off. I’m sorry I don’t have hopeful words for you, am now in my 5th cycle, but we’re moving on after this. We’re both 39 unfortunately which is why moving on feels right.

I have very low amh (so very few eggs) and same morphology from dp as yours. We get perfect day three/s but they fail to make blast.

this round we’re trying low dose (natural modified) ivf to see if it makes a difference to blast making, but I’ll only get one egg which feels not great given the energy that’s going into all this.

it sounds like you have loads of eggs. I wonder why they didn’t try icsi right away—dp’s poor morphology has meant our treatment has always been icsi. You’re also still young, so it is likely your eggs are still good. I think changing clinics sounds like a good plan, and asking for a review of protocol ?

As our embryos stop being good after day three, it’s been suggested to me this could indicate a sperm issue. If this round does the same, we’re going to try donor sperm. If we get the same results then we know it’s my eggs that are stopping us.

we’ve had to spontaneous pregnancies that both ended in miscarriage. But that was after 2.5 years of trying. My take on your situation is that you still have loads of reason to hope.

*two

Just a little hope here, low AMH (2.4 at age 33 then stopped checking) and morphology 1-2%. First 3 rounds made 2 average embryos to freeze, changed protocols for round 4 and got x5 5-day blasts.

3rd FET finally worked and now have our 5 month old beautiful daughter. It’s a long and rough journey but there is likely light at the end of the tunnel for you.

@Nosejug wishing you all the luck in the world for your next round. I’m so very sorry for your two losses and that you’ve both been on this journey.

I fully support your approach of a lower dose to try something different this time and I’d do the same. I felt like a battery hen on our first two rounds when I’d rather the focus was on quality and be a free range chicken with lovely Burford Brown eggs.

I wish I’d pushed for ICSI first round as it might have given us more of a chance or greater learnings first time, but it’s all such a blur post egg collection.

Let us know how you get on - you’ve got this!!

@Zypig thanks so much for sharing and I’m so pleased a change of protocol did the trick for you - it just goes to show that no two rounds are the same.

It does sound like you had to go through a lot, but absolutely worth it in the end.

May I ask which protocol did the trick for you? I’ve been on short protocols both time on the maximum dose of Overleap (with added Meriofert on the second time) - wondering if a longer protocol might help.

Thank you both x

@CotswoldConceptionJourney originally I was on meriofert and fostimon max doses on a short protocol with buserelin alongside. I switched to menopur (which I think is the same as meriofert but a different brand) and bemfola and used cetrotide alongside, again a short protocol. The other simple thing that did change was I had a much better vitamin D level. All of these were coupled with ICSI.

Good luck with your journey, it truly is a rollercoaster but I’m keeping everything crossed for you along the way.

Oh, a little hopeful news from me. We did a low dose 'natural modified' round, DP 12 hour abstinence rather than the 48 hour they recommend. It potentially helps with oxidative damage. Managed to make a 4AB on day 5, which for us is unheard of.

@Nosejug that is fantastic!! What a result. We’ll give this same abstinence period a try.

Will they be testing your progesterone before transfer to help make everything super optimised?

How lovely that it could be your turn to start a new chapter.

Sending sticky thoughts 🍯

Hehe love the honey emoji. I’ve been on the pessaries but no mention of blood test. I’d def not want to risk freezing it though so just want it back in me :) currently sitting bursting for a pee in the waiting room

Our first ICSI round resulted in none of the 19 mature eggs being fertilised, obviously devastated and didn't know if we should bother trying again. But for the second round they used calcium ionophore/Artificial Oocyte Activation (AOA) and I think got 10 fertilised that round with a similar number of mature eggs as the first round. It sounds like we both have low fertilisation rates. Thankfully from the 10 fertilised we got 7 good blastocysts, the first fresh transfer didn't work but the frozen did and is now my 7 week old son! Worth asking your clinic if they would advise/use AOA to increase fertilisation and give you more chance of more blastocysts. Good luck 😊