Unsure of what to do...

[andalusi]

I just went to the fertility doctor today for my first visit. Was feeling kind of down because there are 10 pregnant women where I work and it just seems so complicated for me because I don't have a partner and have to use donor sperm. The doctor was really nice, got the usual list of what needs to be done and tests I need to take. But I went in thinking I was going to do IUI's and the doctor told me I would only have a 10% success rate because of my age. He suggested that since time is important because I am about to turn 39 in September I might want to consider doing IVF right away. He said the decision was up to me and we would discuss options once test results came back. But he wanted me to think about it... rather than spend @$2000 per month on several IUI and maybe not get pregnant and then spend money moving to IVF which offers me a 40% success rate. Also he said he could measure embryo quality because at my age I had old eggs (he worded it nicer lol). I will admit I am leaning towards IVF, but curious about what others would do in my place and any suggestions.

 

[FBbaby]

We are a bit in the same situation. I am 39, 40 in Nov and have been trying to ttc 13 months. Fell pg first month, but m/c. Since we found out that my OH SA is not ultimum, not making conception impossible (obviously!), but it could take quite some time...and time is not what we have.... Our FS also gave us the option of medicated iui, but made it clear that he would recommend going straight to ivf. Our success rate was quite lower though at 20-25%, maybe I should come your way!

OH and I are really not sure what to do. My problem is that I am really worried that if I do IVF and it fails, all I will have on my mind is to start again and it will then start to get very costly. At least with iui, continuing with another treatment would be an option.

In the end, I think we have to go with our gut feeling. Imagine what you would do if the treatment failed? If IVF, would you prepared to accept that you've tried and that it is it? Would you be able to afford a second go right away, or would you need to wait to try again? If the chances of a bfp doing 3 iui is about the same then one IVF (made this up), would you feel more comfortable with one over the other?

By the way, I am a bit confused about the costs... does your FS suggest that you do more than one iui per cycle? Would that be medicated? In the UK, I have heard that this is not normal practice and usually only do one iui per cycle. My FS said that the evidence for non medicated iui wasn't good, but that there was evidence of success when medicated. The cost seems much less, about $700, maybe a bit more with medicated. IVF is about $6,000.

Whatever you decide to go for, I wish you a beautiful bfp at the end of it

 

[JaniceT]

Hi Andalusi,

I'm turning 36 next week and just had my 3rd IVF/ICSI. Your doctor is most likely just giving your the option for best success rates. Both my doctors did the same. You doc was very general in the percentages. He's right to say that IUI has a 10% average success rate and ICSI with 40% success rate...but I repeat, that's a general percentage.

In my case, I had Doctor#1 who conducted my first 2 ICSI's which was BFN. I switched doctors and hospitals and this doctor was excellent. He told me in detail what options I had. Firstly, he determined if my PCOS was an issue. If it was, what I could do (ovarian drilling or go on metformin). I started taking Metformin twice a day to control my PCOS.

In addition, after egg collection, the Embryologist will looked at my egg and how it was being fertilised/growth and quality. From there, they graded my embryos to be of 'not so good' quality.

All in all give the factors of age, PCOS and embryo quality, the doc gave me a 10% success rate PER embryo as compared to the textbook 40%.

Can you imagine if I had chosen IUI, my chances of fertilising would have fropped from 10% textbook to 2.5%?

So there are alot of factors to look at. Your doc is correct to point out that given the age, it's harder to get pregnant as time goes by. I would seriously consider IVF if your finances are not an issue.

Wishing you all the best, stay strong.

 

[andalusi]

FBbaby well the doctor told me that would be my success rate if I was perfectly fine which we won’t know until tests are run in the next few weeks. At least you know you can get pregnant... which my doctor said was a good thing. I know exactly how you feel about being worried about starting with IVF… it always makes you feel better if you know there is still another option out there. Haven’t discussed options yet… he is waiting until we do the tests and get the results so we know what we are working with. I have heard that some doctors here do on IUI per cycle and some do two… heard that it increases your chances somewhat but not double so that is something else I would need to discuss if I go that route. I am hoping for a medicated cycle if we do IUI since my ovulation is so irregular and that needs to be timed well since using frozen donor sperm. Your costs are so much lower! My insurance isn’t covering anything and the clinic does IUI at $2000 each and for IVF they have a payment plan that covers 4 tries for $18,300.

JaniceT he really was very general with the information but I think we are going to go into much more detail when we get the test results back. It is a blessign that you found a good doctor. I am so glad that you found out that it was best for you to go straight to IVF! It probably saved you going through all that emotionally and financially and then having to go to IVF anyways. You are still young so you have plenty of time to try. I can’t afford the IVF unless I take the payment plan that they offer which will be pretty much like taking on a car payment so I am still thinking out my options. This coming cycle will be spent on tests so I have time to think things through.

A big thanks for your advice… wishing you both the best