Only one egg retrieved on second cycle of IVF (2024)

First IVF failure

Just went through my first IVF and only one egg retrieved which did not fertilise. Feeling really down. So confused for the second cycle. Is it possible to get more eggs on my second cycle. All my reports had been good and my doc said I was progressing good but just getting one egg has made me lose faith in myself. Really don’t know what to do.

Advice on another egg retrieval of transfer?

Hi all! On my second ivf cycle I experienced empty follicle syndrome and only one egg was retrieved, which was disappointing to say the least. Thankfully, it fertilized and was great quality/10 cells on day 3. Waiting for day 5 report tomorrow. My doctor gave me two options: go ahead and do another retrieval in hopes of getting more embryos, get them all biopsied and then hopefully have multiple attempts at transfers thereafter or go ahead and transfer this one. Any advice on which road to take? I’m leaning toward another retrieval cycle, but I also realize that this could be the one. Hanging too much hope on that is daunting though, as my last transfer failed with a normal embryo. Another point- this is all out of pocket for us, so money is of course a consideration. Any thoughts or similar experiences would be appreciated!

Looking for positive feedback...

I'm 32 and was diagnosed with PCOS in my early 20's. To top it off my fiance was very sick and had to freeze his sperm back in 2013, which luckily was done since his meds caused him to become sterile. In 2020 I was lucky enough to have my job pick up Progyny for our infertility benefits which have been excellent. With the insurance it covers from start to finish 2 IVF cycles, after we meet the deductibles. I started my first ever IVF cycle this past October (IVF is our only option since we are using a frozen specimen). My follicles looked great and grew nicely and gave me so much hope, but unfortunately only one egg was retrieved and did not mature past day 3. I was devastated and my bubble of thinking it work round one burst hard. My doctor advised we jump into a new cycle if I felt ready. Almost the same protocol but slowed the meds so I was on 10 days versus 8. I went in today for my second retrieval and they did get 2 this time. I surprisingly felt very calm but am now so nervous to hear if they mature. I stumbled across this page when reading inspiring stories of people having only one egg retrieved and having their miracle babies. I know it only takes one egg but with our insurance basically used up and our sperm dwindling down, the reality this may be the last shot is setting in. I am still very hopeful and praying these 2 mature but just like everyone else, this struggle and after all the hard work mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially it is so difficult to see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Would love to talk to anyone in the same situation or is facing fertility issues from both sides of the relationship. Feeling a little defeated and questioning what more I could of done to make it more successful. Even my doctor said nothing, it just happens but the what if's are creeping in.

April Cycle - First IVF - Worried...only 7 eggs for retrieval

I'm 38yrs old his is my first and only IVF cycle. I've had previous miscarriages and two tubal pregnancies, the last one ending in the removal of my left tube.During our initial consultation and follow up appointments, doctor has confirmed that the uterus looks good, all blood work has comeback normal and the only problem is my tube blockage. So I took my stimms for 7 days and in that time I was only able to produce a total of 7 eggs...5 big size ones on my right ovary and 2 small ones on my left. Our doctor was disappointed with the quantity and is recommending a second cycle, but we definitely cannot afford a second one.Since IVF is a numbers game, I can't help but be a little scared. I go in for egg retrieval tomorrow and trying my best to stay positive and pray that the ones they do retrieve are good quality and lead to fertilization.Has anyone experienced a successful IVF even after having a small amount of eggs retrieved?

one egg retrieved for FET cycle

hey all! i had an egg retrieval this morning and of all my follicles they were only able to get one good egg :( im feeling very discourage but hoping it will grow and make it to 5 days followed by a frozen transfer next month. any success with single frozen embryos? i am just so tired of all this. i'm really feeling broken after thousands (it feels like that!) of visits to the fertility clinic, so many shots, so many sonograms, so much work to not get good results over and over. this is our second ivf cycle which was canceled because of lining issues and changed over to a frozen. not to mention i just found out a friend got pregnant this morning. too much! would love some guidance and support. thanks.

MENTS First ivf cycle ended in miscarriage with more questions

I’m looking for anyone who’s situation was somewhat similar. Please share any tests or meds that were helpful in a better out come. I’m 36 year old borderline pcos (only characteristic of pcos is large amount of follicles around rim of ovaries). First ivf cycle started December 4th. Egg retrieval on December 15th. 27 eggs retrieved of which 24 were mature. Conventional fertilization. The next day they noticed 19 eggs fertilized abnormally!!! No one can give me answers! They just say they weren’t expecting that. Doctor said maybe an egg issue,,, maybe sperm... on day 5 we transferred 2 cavitating embryos. The other three arrested. So we had no embryos to freeze. No embryos to freeze or test!! Out of 24!! MENTS I did become pregnant but my first ultrasound showed no heartbeat. This is my second miscarriage in 4 months. (1st miscarriage was after an Iui and also had a fetus that heart stopped in week 8). I’m in the middle of my 2nd miscarriage in four months and I’m scared and confused. All doctor said is we need to do extensive testing. Believes my miscarriages are a genetic issue. END MENTSBut how,,, how do we have a better outcome at egg retrieval? All embryos were bad and could not be sent out for pgt -a testing even though my doctor said he didn’t think we needed to test our embryos. Has anyone ever experienced this? Better outcome on certain meds?

4 yrs TCC + $100k=1 Normal Embryo-Need Some Single Transfer Success Stories

I apologize in advance for how long this post will be. I’m really in need of an encouraging word about the success of single egg transfers. As they always say “it only takes one”-but honestly does it? So far DH and I have spent $100K and just completed a third DE cycle, which has resulted in one PGD tested normal embryo. I am scheduled to have a FET next month and I know that should we get a BFN our path to parenthood, and likely my marriage, will be over. Our stats:Me: 40+, no children, DOR (of course), 2 IVF’s (one at CCRM), moved to DE quickly, 2 DE cycles with cousin (both resulting in 2 Day 3 Frosties), 2 FET’s both BFN, Persistent Thin Lining Issues (7.5 max) and now Mild (Focalized) Adneomyosis (spl).DH: 40+, no children, diagnosed with Leukemia, BMT, sperm count normal now.We married late in life and had to fight through DH’s illness before we could even really get started TTC. Once we did and went through the first IVF, I realized that we needed a different RE and a medical team who worked aggressively at trying to help couple conceive. I made a beeline to CCRM (Colorado) where we worked with Dr. Gufaston and while my cycle there resulted in no viable embryo’s, at least I knew it was time for DE. I quickly turned to a cousin in a nearby state and we went to the one of two IVF clinics in her area. The results of her first cycle (12 eggs retrieved, 2 frozen at Day 3), raised some eyebrows, but we surmised that it was one of three things, poor sperm quality (frozen right before DH underwent intense chemo), poor egg quality or my thin lining which only got to 7.3 before transfer. She was gracious enough to try a second time, but this time I begged the other clinic in her area to take us, but they rejected everyone due to my lining issues (won't get over 7.5, but is trilameter). Being forced to go back to the same clinic, with its ‘policy’ of freezing on Day 3, was infuriating to say the least, everyone just crossed their fingers, prayed and hoped for the best. Second cycle, sadly, yielded the same results-15 eggs retrieved, 2 Day-3, (8 and 11 Cell). This time DH sperm was much better quality and my lining at FET was 7.5, still another BFN. After a few months of wrestling with having to go with an anonymous donor, not because we had to, but because no other clinic in the area would accept us all as patients, I approached my cousin a third time. This time she was gracious enough to come our local RE and at first we believed the third time would be the charm. We were shocked when her initial testing here revealed that she had PCOS and that her testosterone levels were so high they thought she had a tumor in her adrenal gland. How could the other clinic have missed this? Well, it gets better. This clinic also told our local RE that they kept “no lab reports” of how or when the embryos they grew/arrested during our two cycles. I could go on and on about the many other red flags with this clinic; but the bottom line is that my cousin was eliminated as a donor.The personal struggle I had with having to use DE was a breeze compared to the battle I had with my DH over what he saw as the use of eggs from a ‘stranger’. With our savings and retirement accounts now drained, we agreed to one LAST cycle with our anonymous DE this past spring. To be safe, we went with a donor (and her clinic) whose two prior DE cycles both resulted in pregnancies. So what were the results? 30 eggs retrieved, 16 fertilized, 6 Day 5 embryos PGD tested, but only one normal. This RE indicated we could have 2 of the embryos retested if we want, but this is what we have for now.Wow.Because my DH had the transplant they couldn’t do genetic testing, so the RE couldn't say definitively that he carried any of the defects seen in the PGD report. So after all of this you can imagine that he feels that he is to blame for our infertility issues. While he has warmed to the idea of a donor, I can tell that he has given up on our having children at this point. And I’m so scared because what if he is right? Am I indeed marching toward the final failure or is there really hope for us? I really need to hear a few single transfer stories with some happy endings right now.Baby Dust and Good Luck to All,Vixen

Poor egg quality IVF

I’m almost 32 and my wife and I have been trying to have a baby for about a year and a half. Since we are in a same sex couple, we paid thousands out of pocket for sperm donor samples and then paid for 6 months of IUI treatment out of pocket since my insurance wouldn’t cover it. None of the IUI cycles resulted in pregnancy. After the failed IUIs, insurance covered IVF. I got pregnant with my first frozen IVF cycle but had a miscarriage around 8 weeks. I had a D&C to remove the embryo for chromosome testing and results said that the embryo was normal. The doctor could not tell me why I miscarried. I still had two embryos frozen so we decided to genetically test those two and do another egg retrieval in hopes of saving them for my future children. The second egg retrieval was going fairly well and 10 eggs were retrieved but only 1 made it to a blastocyst on day 7. All three embryos were tested together and only one was normal. But the last pregnancy was a normal embryo as well, and now I’m afraid this embryo transfer will result in another miscarriage. I’ve asked my doctor why my eggs are such poor quality at a young age and she doesn’t know. It may be genetic as my aunt was never able to have a child even with IVF. The only thing she recommended to improve my eggs was NeoQ10 and prenatal vitamins. I am a otherwise very healthy person. I eat pretty healthy, don’t drink or smoke and I’m in good physical shape. If this next transfer doesn’t work- do I try to get more of my own eggs? My wife can serve as an egg donor but I always wanted a child that was biologically related to me. My wife also has some health issues that I’d rather not pass onto our children.

Empty follicles! What protocol?

Hi i have just had my second Ivf stimulation, using gonal f 375iu and luveris 75iu and cetrotide. I had a poor response only three follicles and at egg collection there were no eggs retrieved. I am 37yrs old. TTc for 10 years. My amh is 8.3 and fsh 11. My afc scan showed 7 antral follicles. My RE gave me a choice of three different protocols to use on our next cycle. 1. estrogen priming agonist protocol and femara for 5 days. using low dose gonal f 150iu and menopur 150 iu and cetrotide2.ocp for one month then long protocol using down regulation3. flare protocol using estogen priming.My questiion is, has anybody had success with any of these protocols following a bad cycle. Im finding it tough to decide what to do.

How IVF changed me

Part 2 What do you do to distract yourself?Write! Writing has become my passion. It helps me to express myself better. The more I write about my pain and happiness, the more relaxed I feel. Sharing allows me to vent (though my husband feels I am stressing myself by writing so much :) After I started writing, my confidence level has gone up, and I think more clearly and feel better. I have to thank my Doc because he is the one who encouraged me to write. He wrote “You are obviously a very thoughtful person! I do wish you'd keep a blog - this will help to provide a useful outlet for your bottled emotions in a constructive fashion. Keeping a journal has been proven to help patients cope better - and helping others is the best way of helping yourself!’ That is how my blog is born even though I had thoughts of it long back!” I also love cooking. I have many friends. I believe life is very beautiful and I read books :)Does maintaining a blog help you personally?My blog is a place where I can let out my bottled emotions in an honest manner. This has really made me a constructive person. I no longer whine or cry thinking about my infertility. I have become a more positive person. I have started to believe that helping others is the best way of helping yourself. I recently got a comment from a reader, she said ‘Dear I am so happy to have found your blog; I have problems of thin endometrium and I have learnt a lot from your blog! Thank you. I cross all my fingers for your transfer’. When I read this, I was so overjoyed that I cannot explain my happiness in words. I understood the meaning of my Doc words!How does your infertility affect family members?The most painful part is to see your loved ones suffer. It is a very natural urge for elders to want to see their grandchildren – after all, the selfish gene hard wires propagation in our DNA ! My in-laws are very good. Sometimes my mom-in-law would say ‘will you give us a grandchild before we become very old?’ I feel horribly upset for my inability to fulfil their rightful wish. I used to cry thinking about their pain but now-a-days I just try to calm myself by thinking - ‘not being able to see their grandchild is their problem which they have to deal with. I am doing my best - and I have lots to deal with for myself’ :) Thus I have made peace within myself! This attitude helps me! My mom is a very understanding and a very positive person. She keeps me strong!Does the sight of a happy family make you jealous?I wish I could also have such a cute little family and I look at them with lots of appreciation. I am mature enough not to allow negative emotions rule me. I know how to keep myself and others happy!Do you start blaming God?I do not blame God but my concept of God has changed a lot very recently. Actually, when I got rid of the ‘God Factor’ from my infertility I started feeling better. I no longer pray to God to give me a baby. I believe infertility has more to do with science rather than the concept of God. I have money, access to a good IVF clinic and I am doing my best I can. I will win my jackpot one day! :) If not I will have the satisfaction that I did my best!I do not want to connect God with my infertility (I do not want to praise or blame God for what I am going through!Thank you very much doctor for this blog post. As a patient suffering with infertility I am constantly advised by my friends and family to try different forms of worship (for example lighting lamps to a particular God or Goddess at a particular time of the day TO visiting certain temples and pray that I will offer something in return when I have my baby (!) . I do understand people say all these things out of love and they are desperate to help me out. BUT the pain that they create to me or an infertile woman (nobody ever say such things to an infertile man : ) is not easy to describe. First they are interfering with my own beliefs and ideology. Second they indirectly tell me that not able to have a baby is a punishment from God and I should pacify Him with my prayers and bribe Him (what to call it when I should pray that I offer God something and expect something in return?). When I brush off their instructions with a smile (I have to be diplomatic!!!) they consider me to be a woman who is proud, stubborn and not God-fearing I have no idea who invented this word God-fearing! After going through this IVF journey for 3 years with no baby in hand still I am adamant and I have never done anything I am advised to do. I am not an atheist. I love God or the concept of God. But I believe that spirituality is not about seeking an all in all cure for our physical and mental ailment, spirituality is all about sustaining life and living happily amongst those ailments!When my IVF cycle starts I ask God for the moral strength to go through the process and have a positive outcome. When my cycle fails I ask Him to give me the strength to bear the pain and come out of it as early as possible. So what happens when a woman undergoing IVF puts too much of her emotional energy thinking about God and doing things to please Him? When the outcome is positive everything is well and good (even then they learn a wrong lesson in their life that pleasing God by various means will solve their problems in life) but if it is negative she has to again face a huge amount of emotional turmoil because in the first place she has to deal with the failure and she has to also come to terms with why God has let her down? When I believe in science I understand the limitations but when I believe God I do not understand the limitations because from young age I am taught that God is a magician who can perform miracles. When my last cycle failed my mom and my husband are totally broken down including me of course! When I wanted to go to temple after we got the negative result in hand (where do I get solace more than telling Him my pain) both of them cannot even think of visiting God ☺. For me going to temple would calm down my mind because I didn’t have any unrealistic expectations on the power of God. The pity is that after undergoing such a difficult process both physically and mentally (from will I develop enough follicles or will my body let me down to am I doing anything wrong that will affect my embryos from implanting) I am the one who consoled both of them !!!Belief in God will not help with the IVF roller coaster ride. Only proper patient education or as you say information therapy will help. If God is the one who decides which human being should have baby or babies or if He is the one who is in charge of all the babies coming into this world how will you explain teen-age pregnancies, abortions, so many orphaned road-side children, children born to drug addicts, HIV positive people (I am not meaning that HIV +ve people should not have children, I just mean how children are born with HIV with no fault of theirs), paedophiles and so on?? When nature can create disasters how can such a well-controlled IVF process be unnatural and interfering with God’s plan? IVF is a boon to infertile couples and IVF doctor and embryologist holds a much responsible position than that of God because at least they have some control over the entire process while God doesn’t. God has given humans the knowledge to find out IVF technique and His work ends there in helping infertile couples and the remaining responsibility he has given to doctors like you!When writing this even some of my doubts and fears have cleared out. Thank you once again. Please do help patients who suffer with emotional turmoil because of unrealistic beliefs and expectations and I am sure you are doing it already. How do you deal with questions from friends and acquaintances?I tell them the truth that I have problems with my fertility apparatus and we are undergoing treatment. People are decent enough not to ask further questions!Do you dread conversations about kids? No, definitely not! I try to spend time with kids when I am around them, and I feel very happy when they like me. Most kids get attached to me very quickly, and I am very proud of this :) When my friends talk about their kids, I listen to them. I realise every mother loves to talk non-stop about their kids, and I love to say something nice about their kid so that they feel happy. But I do feel uncomfortable when a pregnant woman talks how her baby moves inside her – this does hurt me. It doesn’t mean I am jealous- it’s just that I have such a deep longing inside me to experience all those wonderful moments that I feel uncomfortable!When friends complain about their kids' tantrums etc, what's your reaction? I tell them they need to learn to count their blessings - not having a child is painful, because life can become routine and boring. Children add variety!Do you feel at times that life has been unfair?I haven’t felt life is unfair - I always believe my turn will come soon.Does reading about others who've been through the same experience help? I constantly visit infertility blogs and bulletin boards. I get lots of information and support from the ladies there. When someone is in the same situation as you are, they understand your pain better. When I hear positive stories from them it helps me to keep going! I am very grateful to women who are bold enough to share their painful infertility journey. I find Indian woman are very reluctant to do this, and I am sure if they come out of their shell they can deal with their infertility a lot better.Do you constantly surf the net for more information?Definitely yes! The more I learn about my condition, the lesser is my pain!What are some of the misconceptions regarding infertility which irritate you?1) “Relax - and you will get pregnant! “ (Telling me to stop thinking about infertility is very unhelpful. I do not obsess over it, but I don’t know how it’s possible to stop your neurons from firing! 2) “Adopt - and because of the happiness you will get, you will fall pregnant naturally!”3) “Stop eating heat generating foods (chicken, papaya, pineapple etc) and you will become pregnant” 4) “People who are good people will have children for sure!” (This is very hurting! One woman told me, there are woman who get pregnant, even when they don’t have a good heart. You are good – hearted, and you will have your baby soon). She meant this as a blessing, but those words haunted me for a long time.5) “When you are in the company of others with babies, you will get pregnant” 6) “Pray to God! “ (There’s lots of conflicting advice regarding which God!) The message seems to be – if you offer something to God, in return he will give you a baby! (I think I am a total failure at this, as I have no idea how to bribe God effectively!)What effect do needles have on you now?I am not afraid of needles. To tell the truth the Gonal F needles are very small and you don’t even feel it most of the time. But my husband used to suffer as he is the person who used to give me the injections. You must see the bundle of different emotions in his face! (Fear, concern, sympathy and a sense of achievement when he does it right :) He used to do it very carefully, slowly and softly, and I hardly get any pain. But if the needle damages any of the smallest blood vessels under the skin, a small drop of blood oozes out. His face changes immediately. I could see the pain in his face. He used to ask with fear and concern ‘is it paining?’ I will never forget those moments in my life time. When one of my IVF cycles failed, he was totally broken down. I asked him ‘why are you worrying? Are you worrying about the money we lost?’ He looked at me with tears brimming in his eyes , how long do you have to go through this torture? How many injections you took! How much discomfort you underwent! But now everything has gone in vain’. That is the moment I realised that he is worrying for me like I am worrying for him, after a failed IVF cycle. All these events have bonded us together very strongly!Did the injections/hormones you took for IVF affect you? My RE in Germany used to ask, ‘are you ready for your anti-aging drugs’ :) During an IVF cycle, estrogen levels in our body rise. He used to say that people get nice sleep and, good skin because of that. I am not sure how true it is, but those words always made me comfortable about the medicines I took. I never got any serious side-effects, but I know people who suffer from nausea, fluid retention and headaches. Perhaps everyone is different. But there is a drug called lupron, which did make me depressed and irritated. Otherwise everything else is fine. When undergoing an IVF cycle, you obviously undergo a variety of positive and negative emotions. I remember that I did end up with crying spells and agitation. Might be it is because of medicines, or because of the emotional impact of the IVF cycle.Does the sheer amount of expenditure involved make you want to give up?Fortunately, we are financially safe. I am sure that for many people, money is one of the reasons for giving up IVF. For some, because of the extreme costs involved, IVF is not even an option. One woman whom I talked to said ‘I went to an IVF clinic in Chennai and asked for the IVF cost-they said 1.5, I asked them whether it is 1500 Rs and they replied no it is 150000 Rs and I just moved away from that place very quickly’. She told me ‘we are not rich, we cannot afford it!’ She is trying to conceive for 8 long years and she is young! I am heart-broken! Why is life so unfair? If money decides whether an infertile woman can have a baby or not, then what role does God play?How different was your experience in Germany as compared to your experience in India?German laws are very strict when IVF is concerned. They cannot select the best embryos after they undergo cleavage (cleavage pattern is important for scoring and selecting good embryos). They have to decide which embryos to transfer when the embryos are in the 2PN stage. They can only transfer a maximum of 3 embryos and not more. This is why doing an IVF treatment in India is advantageous. I felt very comfortable doing IVF in India. Actually, it was in the IVF cycle I did with Dr.Malpani clinic that I got the maximum number of eggs collected (24 eggs), and the highest fertilization rate (20 eggs), I got 17 embryos and I also saw blastocyst formation with my embryos for the first time. I also had 7 embryos to freeze (all embryos are of great quality). This is great considering my history of producing fewer eggs (I produced only 3, 7, 9, 5 and 5 eggs respectively in the 5 IVF cycles I did in Germany). I am very happy I decided to come to Dr.Malpani for treatment. He advised me to take DHEA. It is not a proven therapy, but it has helped some women in producing more eggs. Obviously it worked for me! I am sure the egg collection skill matters too. Even though I had more follicles developing during the IVFs I did in Germany, they always retrieved fewer eggs than the number of follicles counted during ultrasounds. But Dr. Anjali did an excellent job! We counted fewer follicles (definitely not 24 follicles) and I ended up with 24 eggs. I still remember the happiness I felt when Dr. Anjali said we collected 24 eggs from you’. I felt my body is perfect. Because, every time in Germany I used to worry that my body is not responding as it should for my age! (I was 29 years old when I did my first IVF, and I got only 3 eggs :( And of course Dr. Sai (embryologist) did his job perfectly! I believe India has people with high technical competence as far as IVF is concerned.Emotionally I got so much help from Dr.Malpani. He used to answer my e-mails within 24h of mailing him. In this way I could get a clear answer for all my doubts which helped me to stay sane. When I become emotionally down or fearful he used to send me the serenity prayer or write a single line like ‘ “see the glass as half full’. When you hear such comforting and positive words from the IVF specialist you really feel great! But not even once he promised me something like if you do your IVF cycle with me you will definitely have your baby’. I sometimes really wish that he could say it to me. But he is honest enough not to say things which are not under his control. I think emotional support is as important as the technical competence of a doctor! I will strongly advise fellow women undergoing IVF not to go to a doctor who do not have enough time to talk with you and hear your concerns. Selecting an empathetic doctor is as important as selecting a competent clinic. I am now lucky to have both. Emotional support is very important during the IVF process and I never received it from the doctors in Germany. They treated me more like a machine rather than a human being!

How IVF changed me part 2

Part 2 What do you do to distract yourself?Write! Writing has become my passion. It helps me to express myself better. The more I write about my pain and happiness, the more relaxed I feel. Sharing allows me to vent (though my husband feels I am stressing myself by writing so much :) After I started writing, my confidence level has gone up, and I think more clearly and feel better. I have to thank my Doc because he is the one who encouraged me to write. He wrote “You are obviously a very thoughtful person! I do wish you'd keep a blog - this will help to provide a useful outlet for your bottled emotions in a constructive fashion. Keeping a journal has been proven to help patients cope better - and helping others is the best way of helping yourself!’ That is how my blog is born even though I had thoughts of it long back!” I also love cooking. I have many friends. I believe life is very beautiful and I read books :)Does maintaining a blog help you personally?My blog is a place where I can let out my bottled emotions in an honest manner. This has really made me a constructive person. I no longer whine or cry thinking about my infertility. I have become a more positive person. I have started to believe that helping others is the best way of helping yourself. I recently got a comment from a reader, she said ‘Dear I am so happy to have found your blog; I have problems of thin endometrium and I have learnt a lot from your blog! Thank you. I cross all my fingers for your transfer’. When I read this, I was so overjoyed that I cannot explain my happiness in words. I understood the meaning of my Doc words!How does your infertility affect family members?The most painful part is to see your loved ones suffer. It is a very natural urge for elders to want to see their grandchildren – after all, the selfish gene hard wires propagation in our DNA ! My in-laws are very good. Sometimes my mom-in-law would say ‘will you give us a grandchild before we become very old?’ I feel horribly upset for my inability to fulfil their rightful wish. I used to cry thinking about their pain but now-a-days I just try to calm myself by thinking - ‘not being able to see their grandchild is their problem which they have to deal with. I am doing my best - and I have lots to deal with for myself’ :) Thus I have made peace within myself! This attitude helps me! My mom is a very understanding and a very positive person. She keeps me strong!Does the sight of a happy family make you jealous?I wish I could also have such a cute little family and I look at them with lots of appreciation. I am mature enough not to allow negative emotions rule me. I know how to keep myself and others happy!Do you start blaming God?I do not blame God but my concept of God has changed a lot very recently. Actually, when I got rid of the ‘God Factor’ from my infertility I started feeling better. I no longer pray to God to give me a baby. I believe infertility has more to do with science rather than the concept of God. I have money, access to a good IVF clinic and I am doing my best I can. I will win my jackpot one day! :) If not I will have the satisfaction that I did my best!I do not want to connect God with my infertility (I do not want to praise or blame God for what I am going through!Thank you very much doctor for this blog post. As a patient suffering with infertility I am constantly advised by my friends and family to try different forms of worship (for example lighting lamps to a particular God or Goddess at a particular time of the day TO visiting certain temples and pray that I will offer something in return when I have my baby (!) . I do understand people say all these things out of love and they are desperate to help me out. BUT the pain that they create to me or an infertile woman (nobody ever say such things to an infertile man : ) is not easy to describe. First they are interfering with my own beliefs and ideology. Second they indirectly tell me that not able to have a baby is a punishment from God and I should pacify Him with my prayers and bribe Him (what to call it when I should pray that I offer God something and expect something in return?). When I brush off their instructions with a smile (I have to be diplomatic!!!) they consider me to be a woman who is proud, stubborn and not God-fearing I have no idea who invented this word God-fearing! After going through this IVF journey for 3 years with no baby in hand still I am adamant and I have never done anything I am advised to do. I am not an atheist. I love God or the concept of God. But I believe that spirituality is not about seeking an all in all cure for our physical and mental ailment, spirituality is all about sustaining life and living happily amongst those ailments!When my IVF cycle starts I ask God for the moral strength to go through the process and have a positive outcome. When my cycle fails I ask Him to give me the strength to bear the pain and come out of it as early as possible. So what happens when a woman undergoing IVF puts too much of her emotional energy thinking about God and doing things to please Him? When the outcome is positive everything is well and good (even then they learn a wrong lesson in their life that pleasing God by various means will solve their problems in life) but if it is negative she has to again face a huge amount of emotional turmoil because in the first place she has to deal with the failure and she has to also come to terms with why God has let her down? When I believe in science I understand the limitations but when I believe God I do not understand the limitations because from young age I am taught that God is a magician who can perform miracles. When my last cycle failed my mom and my husband are totally broken down including me of course! When I wanted to go to temple after we got the negative result in hand (where do I get solace more than telling Him my pain) both of them cannot even think of visiting God ☺. For me going to temple would calm down my mind because I didn’t have any unrealistic expectations on the power of God. The pity is that after undergoing such a difficult process both physically and mentally (from will I develop enough follicles or will my body let me down to am I doing anything wrong that will affect my embryos from implanting) I am the one who consoled both of them !!!Belief in God will not help with the IVF roller coaster ride. Only proper patient education or as you say information therapy will help. If God is the one who decides which human being should have baby or babies or if He is the one who is in charge of all the babies coming into this world how will you explain teen-age pregnancies, abortions, so many orphaned road-side children, children born to drug addicts, HIV positive people (I am not meaning that HIV +ve people should not have children, I just mean how children are born with HIV with no fault of theirs), paedophiles and so on?? When nature can create disasters how can such a well-controlled IVF process be unnatural and interfering with God’s plan? IVF is a boon to infertile couples and IVF doctor and embryologist holds a much responsible position than that of God because at least they have some control over the entire process while God doesn’t. God has given humans the knowledge to find out IVF technique and His work ends there in helping infertile couples and the remaining responsibility he has given to doctors like you!When writing this even some of my doubts and fears have cleared out. Thank you once again. Please do help patients who suffer with emotional turmoil because of unrealistic beliefs and expectations and I am sure you are doing it already. How do you deal with questions from friends and acquaintances?I tell them the truth that I have problems with my fertility apparatus and we are undergoing treatment. People are decent enough not to ask further questions!Do you dread conversations about kids? No, definitely not! I try to spend time with kids when I am around them, and I feel very happy when they like me. Most kids get attached to me very quickly, and I am very proud of this :) When my friends talk about their kids, I listen to them. I realise every mother loves to talk non-stop about their kids, and I love to say something nice about their kid so that they feel happy. But I do feel uncomfortable when a pregnant woman talks how her baby moves inside her – this does hurt me. It doesn’t mean I am jealous- it’s just that I have such a deep longing inside me to experience all those wonderful moments that I feel uncomfortable!When friends complain about their kids' tantrums etc, what's your reaction? I tell them they need to learn to count their blessings - not having a child is painful, because life can become routine and boring. Children add variety!Do you feel at times that life has been unfair?I haven’t felt life is unfair - I always believe my turn will come soon.Does reading about others who've been through the same experience help? I constantly visit infertility blogs and bulletin boards. I get lots of information and support from the ladies there. When someone is in the same situation as you are, they understand your pain better. When I hear positive stories from them it helps me to keep going! I am very grateful to women who are bold enough to share their painful infertility journey. I find Indian woman are very reluctant to do this, and I am sure if they come out of their shell they can deal with their infertility a lot better.Do you constantly surf the net for more information?Definitely yes! The more I learn about my condition, the lesser is my pain!What are some of the misconceptions regarding infertility which irritate you?1) “Relax - and you will get pregnant! “ (Telling me to stop thinking about infertility is very unhelpful. I do not obsess over it, but I don’t know how it’s possible to stop your neurons from firing! 2) “Adopt - and because of the happiness you will get, you will fall pregnant naturally!”3) “Stop eating heat generating foods (chicken, papaya, pineapple etc) and you will become pregnant” 4) “People who are good people will have children for sure!” (This is very hurting! One woman told me, there are woman who get pregnant, even when they don’t have a good heart. You are good – hearted, and you will have your baby soon). She meant this as a blessing, but those words haunted me for a long time.5) “When you are in the company of others with babies, you will get pregnant” 6) “Pray to God! “ (There’s lots of conflicting advice regarding which God!) The message seems to be – if you offer something to God, in return he will give you a baby! (I think I am a total failure at this, as I have no idea how to bribe God effectively!)What effect do needles have on you now?I am not afraid of needles. To tell the truth the Gonal F needles are very small and you don’t even feel it most of the time. But my husband used to suffer as he is the person who used to give me the injections. You must see the bundle of different emotions in his face! (Fear, concern, sympathy and a sense of achievement when he does it right :) He used to do it very carefully, slowly and softly, and I hardly get any pain. But if the needle damages any of the smallest blood vessels under the skin, a small drop of blood oozes out. His face changes immediately. I could see the pain in his face. He used to ask with fear and concern ‘is it paining?’ I will never forget those moments in my life time. When one of my IVF cycles failed, he was totally broken down. I asked him ‘why are you worrying? Are you worrying about the money we lost?’ He looked at me with tears brimming in his eyes , how long do you have to go through this torture? How many injections you took! How much discomfort you underwent! But now everything has gone in vain’. That is the moment I realised that he is worrying for me like I am worrying for him, after a failed IVF cycle. All these events have bonded us together very strongly!Did the injections/hormones you took for IVF affect you? My RE in Germany used to ask, ‘are you ready for your anti-aging drugs’ :) During an IVF cycle, estrogen levels in our body rise. He used to say that people get nice sleep and, good skin because of that. I am not sure how true it is, but those words always made me comfortable about the medicines I took. I never got any serious side-effects, but I know people who suffer from nausea, fluid retention and headaches. Perhaps everyone is different. But there is a drug called lupron, which did make me depressed and irritated. Otherwise everything else is fine. When undergoing an IVF cycle, you obviously undergo a variety of positive and negative emotions. I remember that I did end up with crying spells and agitation. Might be it is because of medicines, or because of the emotional impact of the IVF cycle.Does the sheer amount of expenditure involved make you want to give up?Fortunately, we are financially safe. I am sure that for many people, money is one of the reasons for giving up IVF. For some, because of the extreme costs involved, IVF is not even an option. One woman whom I talked to said ‘I went to an IVF clinic in Chennai and asked for the IVF cost-they said 1.5, I asked them whether it is 1500 Rs and they replied no it is 150000 Rs and I just moved away from that place very quickly’. She told me ‘we are not rich, we cannot afford it!’ She is trying to conceive for 8 long years and she is young! I am heart-broken! Why is life so unfair? If money decides whether an infertile woman can have a baby or not, then what role does God play?How different was your experience in Germany as compared to your experience in India?German laws are very strict when IVF is concerned. They cannot select the best embryos after they undergo cleavage (cleavage pattern is important for scoring and selecting good embryos). They have to decide which embryos to transfer when the embryos are in the 2PN stage. They can only transfer a maximum of 3 embryos and not more. This is why doing an IVF treatment in India is advantageous. I felt very comfortable doing IVF in India. Actually, it was in the IVF cycle I did with Dr.Malpani clinic that I got the maximum number of eggs collected (24 eggs), and the highest fertilization rate (20 eggs), I got 17 embryos and I also saw blastocyst formation with my embryos for the first time. I also had 7 embryos to freeze (all embryos are of great quality). This is great considering my history of producing fewer eggs (I produced only 3, 7, 9, 5 and 5 eggs respectively in the 5 IVF cycles I did in Germany). I am very happy I decided to come to Dr.Malpani for treatment. He advised me to take DHEA. It is not a proven therapy, but it has helped some women in producing more eggs. Obviously it worked for me! I am sure the egg collection skill matters too. Even though I had more follicles developing during the IVFs I did in Germany, they always retrieved fewer eggs than the number of follicles counted during ultrasounds. But Dr. Anjali did an excellent job! We counted fewer follicles (definitely not 24 follicles) and I ended up with 24 eggs. I still remember the happiness I felt when Dr. Anjali said we collected 24 eggs from you’. I felt my body is perfect. Because, every time in Germany I used to worry that my body is not responding as it should for my age! (I was 29 years old when I did my first IVF, and I got only 3 eggs :( And of course Dr. Sai (embryologist) did his job perfectly! I believe India has people with high technical competence as far as IVF is concerned.Emotionally I got so much help from Dr.Malpani. He used to answer my e-mails within 24h of mailing him. In this way I could get a clear answer for all my doubts which helped me to stay sane. When I become emotionally down or fearful he used to send me the serenity prayer or write a single line like ‘ “see the glass as half full’. When you hear such comforting and positive words from the IVF specialist you really feel great! But not even once he promised me something like if you do your IVF cycle with me you will definitely have your baby’. I sometimes really wish that he could say it to me. But he is honest enough not to say things which are not under his control. I think emotional support is as important as the technical competence of a doctor! I will strongly advise fellow women undergoing IVF not to go to a doctor who do not have enough time to talk with you and hear your concerns. Selecting an empathetic doctor is as important as selecting a competent clinic. I am now lucky to have both. Emotional support is very important during the IVF process and I never received it from the doctors in Germany. They treated me more like a machine rather than a human being!

Embryo Transfer Protocol with Asherman's Syndrome

Hello! I am new to this site and am so glad that one of my friends who struggled with infertility told me about it!I would greatly appreciate thoughts or advice on what's happening to me. I developed Ashermans Syndrome from 2 incomplete D & C's. After multiple surgeries at RBA (after being misdiagnosed at ACRM and one pointless hysteroscopy) to clean up my severe case, and by the grace of God, I have recovered. We opted to do IVF with genetic screening of embryos to protect my fragile uterus and after years on this roller coaster, we are close but have run into another hiccup. I did the Lupron/estrogen protocol to lead up to my embryo transfer and my uterine lining only got to 6.3. Sadly, it wasn't going to happen this cycle. So, after 2 rounds of progesterone, I still haven't started my period. I started my first round of progesterone October 5 and my last dose of the second round was a week ago. I went in for an U/S and blood work 2 weeks ago - no follicle present and lining is 5.8 and needs to shed, thus the second round of progesterone. Has anyone experienced this prolonged cycle after not doing a transfer and 2 rounds of progesterone? I constantly feel like I'm about to start and of course feel disgusting!My second question is: has anyone experienced their lining not getting thick enough to do a transfer? Once I have my period, I am going to start a new protocol this cycle that doesn't involve Lupron. My Dr said that the Lupron protocol doesn't work on about 10% of women. The thickness issue may be because of the Asherman's Syndrome. However, during my egg retrieval cycle, my lining did get over 11, but I had a high number of eggs retrieved. Any help is much appreciated!

3rd Failed cycle--poor quality embryos

Hi all,I'm looking for advice and feedback based on your own experiences. Should I try again? Should I give up on having my on biological children?I'm 34, normal and good health overall, including weight. I have had FSH levels ranging from 7 and once it was 12. AMH is 2. Follicle count is always high. I started in January 2014 and did 3 IUIs--all failed.In June 2014 I switched to IVF.IVF#1 Lupron for 2 weeks then Menopur and Bravelle, medium doses (I can't remember, maybe around 375). 16 eggs retrieved, 12 mature, 12 fertilized with ICSI, and 2 made it to transfer. One was a blast, one was an early blast. Both considered Good/OK. none left to freeze BFN.IVF #2--new Doctor. BCP and then Menopur/Bravelle, stimmed for about 10 days and then cycle cancelled because follicles never grew. They decided the BCP oversupressed.IVF#3--Vivelle patch, then Bravelle Menopur high dose-- 600 Bravelle, 375 Menopur. 18 eggs retrieved, 16 mature, 12 fertilized, 2 made it to transfer, none left to freeze. Embryos transferred day 4, considered OK quality. BFN.IVF#4--Same protocol as #3. 26 eggs retrieved, 17 mature, 12 fertilized via ICSI. All developed then a big drop off and only 4 left on day 5. 2 hatching blasts transferred, said they were OK (b/B-). None made it to freeze. BFN. Now with this final BFN my doctor is saying that there is a pattern of poor quality embryos and thinks my chances of success with IVF will be very low, 10-15%, and I should move to donor. He thinks that it is because of an egg quality issue. Is there anything else I should look in to? Should i have hope? Should i get a second opinion? Should I try again? I would LOVE to hear input and stories from anyone with a similar experience.