# anybody aged over 44 doing it with their own eggs?



## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

Hello just wanting to gauge what the level is of people here on this over 40s forum who are roughly my age and, like me, are going for IVF with their own eggs?  

please no DE spruiking - there's enough of that elsewhere here, and I'm really not into it -- just looking for any likeminded people here on a similar journey? and looking to hear their experiences, and share learning

i am on my 4th cycle now and have turned 45

I am getting at least 1 blastocyst off every cycle so I believe it's possible. Is anybody here also trying?


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## K jade (Aug 11, 2013)

There's an active thread here for women over 45 using oe:

https://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=373633.740


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## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

Thanks but that thread is full of donor egg suggestions. I'm really just after talking about own eggs.

This round was unsuccessful and now I am wondering about whether to have a break the next month or not

Does anybody know, whether it mucks up your system to stop the hormones? Is it better just to keep going straight than to break for a month then go back?

Or if you break is it better to detox for 2 or 3 months before going back?

All the time the clock is ticking


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## Guest (May 3, 2019)

I would say it depends on how variable you are month to month. I know for me there is a big difference so I do stop in months when the initial scan shows low follicles, like I have done this month but now that I am 44 I cant afford to skip many months so I will have to go ahead next month even if it is just one follicle and bank that.  
So i wouldn’t worry about the effect of the drugs more how you are month to month.


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## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

Thanks for replying, CathA, much appreciated   

Don't worry about low follicle count - i got a living blastocyst off every ICSI/IVF i did (3 of them) because you only need 1 egg. THere's usually only 1 good one anyway- so loads of poor quality eggs is no use anyway.

i did go with an IUI cycle but i'm not happy with it.

That's because they blood tested me, detected the LH surge then put the sperm in my uterus the next morning.

I had my body basal temperature rise on the 3rd morning after the LH surge - at least 48 hours after the sperm went in

And since then I've read on the internet that sperm only last 4-6 hours in the uterus - they quickly swim up and out into the Peritoneal cavity, and lose all energy after 24 hours anyway so they can't penetrate the egg's pellucida.

I asked my dr about  the fact i may have ovulated so long after the transfer and was told "sperm live 2 to 5 days you were inseminated at the appropriate time"

but this isn't true

sperm live 2-5 days only in the cervical mucous. There is no cervical mucous in the uterus.

The cervical mucous acts as a reservoir, nourishing the sperm, keeping them alive and releasing them steadily into the uterus so there's always some there with the energy to get in the egg, over the 2-5 days

dump washed sperm in the uterus and it will fail unless it is within 6 hours either side of ovulation - US clinics recommend seeing the follicle rupture before putting it in 

I've just been ripped off thousands of dollars. There's no way the egg could have been fertilised as all the sperm would be dead, gone or exhausated.

I just don't know what to do now. I'm 45 now, so my chances are low anyway but I have no chance at all if the clinic can't get it right.

Does anybody have a link to a scientific study? I've seen US clinics write it on their webpage but i need a hard scientific study to take to my next dr appointment in order to seriously challenge him on it as they've just lied to me and i want my money back


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## Mochashosh (Jan 23, 2018)

Hi Rainbows

I am 46 and was using OE up until the end of last year when I was still 45. After that the doctors basically gave up on me and now I don't think I will find a doctor that will do it.  We had ICSI due to my husband's very poor sperm numbers and quality.  If I could use OE again, I would

They normally encourage you to wait at least a month after a failed cycle before starting again so everything can get back to normal.  You should refer to your clinic for advice as your individual needs may be different.

I did 4 cycles more or less back to back, but leaving a month in between.  1st cycle; 3 blasts, no pregnancy.  2nd cycle D2 transfer - pregnant but early miscarriage.  Had a 3 month break after that one.  3rd cycle D3 transfer, BFN.  4th cycle (new protocol) 1 blast, BFN.  

It is very hard with OE at our age as you face a lot of prejudice and I don't have to tell you the stats.  Also, as my doctor pointed out, the effect of doing multiple cycles close together is not known so they don't encourage it.  But I can totally understand where you're coming from.  DE is my only option now, but I really hate the idea and I'm not sure I can live with it. So I'm stuck and very, very unhappy.  I really hope that courageous women like you buck the trend and pave the way for others because I would not wish the way I feel on my worst enemy (well, maybe my WORST one).

Take care xxx


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## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

Hello Mochashosh, sorry to hear about the prejudice you face. Are you in the US? Have you tried the fertility clinics in Texas? They are the ones that describe on their pages that they check for follicle rupture before inseminating.

Just because you are 46 doesn't mean you can't use your own eggs at all. It just means you have to get the right one fertilised and that may take a while.

If the clinic can't get it right there's no chance.

In my case of that failed IUI it didn't fail because of me. I have no way to know if my egg was great that cycle or not. You can't get pregnant if a sperm doesn't meet an egg.

My clinic in Australia is treating 47-year-old women. But the issue is whether they are actually trying, or just taking money and going through the motions not really making any effort. You've no way to tell.


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## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

So if anybody will read this thread --- over 45s

IVF Australia is reporting success rates per frozen embryo transfer with own eggs (of course, this is an OE only thread) -- of 25% live births for over 45s

https://www.ivf.com.au/ivf-success-rates


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## deblovescats (Jun 23, 2012)

Rainbow - out of interest, had a look at the website as I was a bit sceptical of the result, and when you look at the actual graph, the dark purple is for clinical pregnancy rate, the light purple is for live birth rate. For age 40-45, the success rate for live births is about 8-9 %, although the clinical pregnancy rate is higher. For the age range over 45, the stats are actually lower - the live birth rate is about 1-2 %, clinical pregnancy rate a little higher. This all seems to be in line with most clinics. Obviously, everyone is different and everyone has to make their own decisions as to what suits them.


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## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

Hello there DebLovesCats

You are looking at the fresh embryo transfer for the lower result (top graph - the first one you see on scrolling down)

it's the frozen embryo transfer which has the higher result (bottom graph - the second one you see on scrolling down)

they even write it out above the graph:

" The following graph shows the proportion of frozen embryo transfers using their own eggs that resulted in a clinical pregnancy and live birth in 2017. The success rates range from 34.8% per frozen embryo transfer leading to a live birth for patients under 30 years, to 26.9% per frozen embryo transfer leading to a live birth for patients over 40 years."

https://www.ivf.com.au/ivf-success-rates

so it wasn't misleading you were just looking at the wrong graph

I suspect the lower rates for the fresh embryo transfer is because that has to be done the same cycle where they buggered up your system with the hormones needed to harvest your eggs.

The higher rates for frozen transfer may be because you then have a clean cycle in which to transfer into

I think this success rate looks great and I'm going to try to change clinics

UPDATE --- OK this information will be useful for you

I went to have an introductory apointment with that IVF Australia clinic

It turns out YES those figures are misleading but not in the way you think

YES it is own-egg transfer of frozen embryoes into women over 45

but NO the eggs were not harvested at 45

The eggs were frozen earlier when the women were younger -- so that answers that question

the real odds are NO BETTER than what is reported elsewhere for women with their own eggs harvested at 45.


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## TBW342 (Aug 18, 2018)

Hi, 
I'm 45 and have done 5 cycles with own eggs starting when I was 44. From these I've had very mixed outcomes from no eggs collected to 4 eggs. None have made it to blastocyst though have come close and have transferred anyway but still no success. I really want to try again as I feel it is a numbers game and my consultant said as much the same but is still encouraging the donor route. I don't feel I am ready to give up on my own eggs but at the same time am exhausted emotionally and financially. 

To make matters worse am really confused about my current cycle (natural). I had positive opk day 16 then another day 25 which I think was probably more accurate as accompanied with lots of egg white cm. I was still getting flashing smileys since then which I thought was strange but wondered if it could be to do with my age and maybe peri menopause. Then yesterday and the day before got 4 feint lines on Asda pregnancy tests but not on any others including first response 6 days early which are supppssd to be the most sensitive. So I don't know if the tests were false positives (I've read some Asda ones can be) or it was a chemical pregnancy as I've now started my period at day 40. To make matters worse I'm torturing myself because we had sex the day before my period so now I'm wondering if I was pregnant whether the embryo dislodged. 

Any advice appreciated x


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## Don’t give up (Nov 12, 2015)

Personality, I’ve had more luck when I only leave one month between cycles. I found the more cycles I did the better the egg quality became. I believe that your ovaries are like any other muscle and that they work better the more you use them, if you see what I mean. I had a break of 4 months last year and now I feel like I’m building up again as the last two cycles have been poor. I’m hoping the next one will be better. I don’t listen to stats because they are rubbish. All women are different and data on over 40’s isn’t accurate at all. How can it be.....no one is the same. I know many people who’ve had babies in their 40’s with no problem at all. You don’t hear of them and there are no stats to prove it. Unfortunately, we are the unlucky ones. I’m just about to start round 9. I’ve had 3 pregnancies but none lasted longer than 11 weeks because of chromosome issues due to age but I believe there is a good egg in there somewhere - I just need to find it. Problem is, I can’t keep doing this as I feel life is on hold. I struggle with DE as I don’t think it’s for me. I’m going to do a separate post to ask about DE just to get more information but I don’t think I could ever do it. Good luck to you!


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## Don’t give up (Nov 12, 2015)

You cannot dislodge an embryo. It’s impossible.


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