# Go again or not?



## coj2891 (Apr 1, 2015)

We had a confirmed negative cycle on Friday after having 2 x Morula's transferred after a 5 day ICSI cycle.

Everything went really well for us, we had 11 eggs removed, with 100% fertilisation and we were expecting one of the eggs at least to make it to blastocyst  stage but only 2 developed on from day 3. This was our only free NHS cycle and we don't have much money but we're 35 and 32 so we're not sure if we should go again or not as we really don't want to spend all that money only to get the same result.

We're trying to understand the things that could have gone wrong, one of the issues was my sperm morphology which was described as 'mild' and we were told ICSI would overcome that. However I understand morphology can mess up egg development from day 3 onwards. We also read that having 100% fertilisation could indicate that the eggs were over matured when they were fertilised. 

Does anyone have any experience with this and do you think we should continue with IVF?

Thanks


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## Cloudy (Jan 26, 2012)

Sorry you had a tough time  

Have you had your review with your clinic and discussed your concerns? 

It might be worth reading Agate's Guide to learning from your failed cycle on the Immunes section, it addresses all the different stages and options regarding further testing that you can look into.

I don't think anyone can answer your question, but maybe a little time away from treatment might help? Or, if you are a "doer" mabel do some research into prices and clinics and options at clinics abroad. Sometimes the more information we have the easier it is to decide - not that these decisions are easy, but you do have time on your side so you don't have to rush it  

Good luck whatever you decide xxx


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## emotional (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi there CoJ2891,

I'm so sorry to hear your sad news - I know how devastating it is. We too had a similar experience. 12 eggs collected, 100% fertilisation and 10 top quality embryos on day 3. We didn't do blasyocyst stage and our clinic didn't do it at this point so I'm not sure about after day 3. Our issue was morphology too but possibly greater than yours at 0%. 

We put 2 top embryos back and froze 8. The first fresh cycle didn't work for us BFN. We were so sad. Then we tried again 2 months later with a Frozen cycle which resulted in our little miracle. They did however have to defrost all 8 to get 2 embryos that survived the thaw. 

Hope this helps a little and gives you a little hope at this awful time xx


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## coj2891 (Apr 1, 2015)

Thanks for the support, we had a pretty bad day when we found out but after a bit of sulking, I think my heads in the right place now. I'm now trying to think more long term with this and not just think about cycle number 2. 

We have our review on Monday so hopefully that might give us some answers, we have lots of time, that's the main thing. I think we will probably get there in the end but it might end up meaning we end up skint for the next couple of years, that's not the end of the world really. Money isn't everything.


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## bombsh3ll (Apr 19, 2012)

Hi coj2891,

I'm sorry for your recent BFN  

When I was researching IVF, I came across some advice from a consultant along the lines that it takes on average 3 cycles to be successful (success defined as one or more live birth), & that most IVF patients who have a successful outcome will do so within 3 cycles. If a couple has 3 cycles with no success, the chances go down for subsequent cycles as there are probably more complex issues going on such as poor egg/sperm quality or immune problems. 

Therefore if you are going to start IVF it makes sense to plan on giving it at least 3 goes (obviously if finances, health etc permit this), otherwise you are not giving yourself maximal opportunity for it to work.

Everyone has their own limit and this may change over time. I'd decided on 3 OE cycles then DE/embryo adoption thereafter, & I would have done 1 cycle a year or as close to yearly as I could afford without getting into debt, until I was 50 (started at 31), but after 2 OE cycles I'd had enough of OHSS & moved to DE which gave me my daughter.

It is hard when all your money is going on IVF, but other things like holidays & clothes etc wouldn't have brought me any pleasure if I was still barren. Also it depends on your own medical situation & whether the possibility of natural conception exists - for me natural conception was impossible which made the decision much more black & white.

Have you considered egg sharing as a way of reducing the cost (if you're the 32yr old as the cut off's 35)?

Best wishes whatever you decide next,

B xxx


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## Bluebell82 (Jan 24, 2015)

I can relate to how you are feeling. We had a failed NHS cycle last year and it wasn't too different from your cycle. 12 eggs, 10 embryos and on day 5, we had only 3 morulas and 1 early blastocyst. We were shocked when we arrived for our day 5 transfer. The early blast and 1 morula were put back and it was a BFN. The other two morulas continued to grow slowly and weren't good enough for freezing on day 6. My heart broke. This was bad.

Our consultant told us at the follow up appointment that we should try again when we were ready and mentioned egg-sharing and an endoscratch. We hence did the following after the failed cycle. Went on a nice holiday, investigated egg-sharing and decided we would do one egg-sharing cycle and two private cycles (so 4 in total). We then started saving for the private cycles.

Fast-forward. We were accepted into an egg-sharing program (it takes longer over-all, 5-7 months, because of extra tests, matching process and synchronisation) and have just come out of it. Unfortunately, it was a BFN again. We only had 2 embryos as 4 of our 7 eggs had been immature  . Our recipient also had a BFN, but amazingly, she found me on Fertility Friends and has kindly given me details of her embryo development. It went almost exactly the same as in our last cycle, out of the 6 eggs they received, they had 5 embryos and 2 morulas on day 5, which were a good and bad quality early blastocyst on day 6. 

So it looks like my eggs aren't the greatest. As we are unexplained, this is a step forward towards a diagnosis and I consider this cycle a small success. I feel sorry for the recipient and will not egg-share again considering the new knowledge, even if I could. 

We still think that, although embryo quality is not as great as other people's, we will continue with hunting for the golden egg with our private cycles (while I am young) and also with trying naturally. As we get many embryos and some develop beyond day 3, there appears to be a chance we may get lucky. Now that it looks like egg quality may be the culprit, donor eggs (a little ironic) is an option for later. I have already started preparing mentally for the fact that our baby may not be related to me, but it will be to my husband.

Hope this is a little helpful.


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