5 miscarriages

[AB12393]

My partner and I have been TTC since early 2023. We had 3 early miscarriages last year and another ectopic in April this year.

I am currently pregnant again and going off my dates should be 7 weeks (pretty certain on my dates). Went for a scan at 6 weeks and there was only a 4.5mm empty gestational sac, went back a week later and the sac was 8mm but they could not “positively identify a yolk sac.” This combined with slow rising HCG leaves me with a “pregnancy of uncertain viability.” We have to go back next week for a further scan but I’m pretty certain this will be our 5th pregnancy loss.

The stress and emotional pain is indescribable and we’re not sure where we go from here.

I’m under the care of the recurrent miscarriage clinic - my bloods and scan have come back fine. I’ve tried progesterone this pregnancy but hasn’t seemed to of helped. We are currently awaiting karyotyping results, and my partner is going to have a DNA fragmentation test this month.

Ive tried acupuncture, given up alcohol, given up caffeine, changed my diet to fertility friendly foods and introduced supplements etc.

What else can I do? Does anyone have any success stories or advice on what tests I can look into or what the problem could possibly be?

thank you xx

Hi, I’m so sorry that you are going through this but I wanted to give you some hope. We had 4 miscarriages and 1 TFMR before having our son who is now 1 and we are currently expecting another baby in a couple of months time! I thought we would have no children so at times this has been a very overwhelming situation to be in but we feel incredibly lucky.

What you are doing sounds very similar to us. Is your partner also taking vitamins/supplements? My husband had slight raised DNA fragmentation. Is the hospital that you are being tested at a Tommys accredited one? I think this made a big difference for us. Have most of your embryos been tested?

Have my fingers crossed for you for the future. If you can don’t give up even when it feels impossible. Deep down I knew I could never stop trying but I understand that this is difficult for some couples x

So sorry that you have been through a similar journey, it’s so heartbreaking. I’m so happy that you now have your rainbow babies - massive congratulations!! ❤️

I have since miscarried my latest pregnancy but it’s still ongoing, and I have a scan tomorrow to check if things are now resolved. We have decided to wait until Xmas to try again as we need a break but this gives us a good few months of preparation.

My partner is taking coq10, wellman and vitamin D but he only started these around a month before my latest pregnancy. I’m also taking pregnacare, coq10, omega 3 and vitamin D.

Our karyotyping came back normal and my partner had DNA fragmentation testing a couple weeks ago so hoping we get some answers from this. I have been referred to Tommys.

We haven’t done IVF yet, is this something you’d recommend?

thank you for sharing your experience and providing some hope xx

I'm so sorry to hear what you've been through OP. I had five miscarriages before a textbook sixth pregnancy with DD so it is defintely possible. I tried so many things to help but when I look back I think we just got lucky - for whatever reason - that last time.

Have you had your thyroid tested?

I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such a difficult journey but congratulations on your rainbow baby ❤️ we are trying to find answers and have had some costly tests done but we are hoping that if we do just keep trying that we will just get lucky one time x

I’ve had all the thyroid testing done and has all come back okay, all testing so far has come back normal. Very confusing x

I think as others have said that it was like a lottery for us getting a good sperm and egg so IVF wouldn’t have helped

Thank you - I think we just have to keep trying then and hope one time everything works out

@AB12393 I'm so sorry for your losses. I don't have a success story yet - 3 losses, 4 years of trying. All my tests were normal like yours too, we've been referred to the fertility clinic (because of how long it takes me to get pregnant too) and are also waiting on our genetic blood tests after the last loss was shown as being down to trisomy 15. It's so frustrating - if the genetics come back clear, then I'll be afraid to do IVF because I still don't know what's causing the miscarriages. Have you looked at reproductive immunology at all? I don't think it's the right avenue for us (all 3 of my miscarriage were missed miscarriages and the EPU thinks they were all genetic issues) but it looks interesting.

I’m so sorry for your losses - that is a really hard situation you are going through. We went to a private clinic who thought the issue could either be genetic issues or sperm DNA fragmentation. We just had our genetic blood results come back as normal, the letter said this excludes the risk of parental translocation being a risk factor in future pregnancy but cannot exclude risk of abnormal changes that can occur at the time of conception. I believe this is if there is any issues at conception that will result in genetic abnormalities such as poor egg or poor sperm. We were told we would have a “good chance” with IVF with pre genetic testing as I think this selects the best egg and best sperm. Has your partner had a sperm DNA fragmentation test? We are currently awaiting these results.

I hope you are doing okay, and I’m hoping that you find some answers soon. X