5th go at IVF

[Janeya]

We are contemplating a 5th go at IVF,we have had the first go successful,the second go was a positive pregnancy test but I bleed and then lost it,the third go did not work,and the fourth go we did an egg share and I was the egg doner which was unsuccessful.<br>I desperately would like another go,the clinic where I did the eggshare,said about assisted hatching,and it would be better to have a go all to myself,as I am 35 and nobody wants an older persons eggs to share,so it would be a go by ourselves.<br>But I am in a quanderey about whether we are wasting our money,by having another go or whether assisted hatching would work or is there something else better we could try?

[Lorraine]

Hi there.<br>This IVF game is certainly confusing isn't it?!<br><br>Firstly I suggest you post this message in the general forum - everyone just seems to use that board - so you will get a better response there.<br><br>Like you, each of our cycles failed after ET and therefore failed at the implatation stage - so we were advised to take aspirin - some clinics use heparin too - as it is thought to help promote blood flow to the uterus/maintain thick lining and reduce risk of miscarriage. <br>Also I have recently heard that some women are being tested for "Natural Killer Cells" as if present they may be "stopping" implantation - don't know much about it but am seeing my consultant next week and thought I would ask about it.<br><br>We have just had our 3rd -ve IVF cycle and had wanted to try assisted hatch - but unfortunately we only had one grade 1 embryo and two other poorer embryos - so never had it in the end.<br>We met with our embryologist prior to commencing the cycle - we talked about blastocyst and assisted hatch. (I have assumed you know what they involve as your clinic has discussed it with you - but there are explanations on this site under IVF and ICSI sub heading above).<br><br>The embryologist told us there has been some good evidence/figures to support blastocyst and assisted hatch - espescially the latter in older women. Although some centres report NO difference with assisted hatch.<br>It was a difficult decision and very confusing, with blastocyst I worried that keeping the embryo longer in culture rather than in the uterus would mean I could end up sacrificing good embryos (as they might not make it to blastocyst stage) and end up with nothing to transfer back - also there is some evidence that the culture medium can harden the zona pellicuda - therfore making hatching and implantation more difficult hence the need for assisted hatch - so I didnt see why I would want to keep the embryo in the culture medium for even longer??!!. <br>I also worried about potential damage with assisted hatch - but felt some comfort that this was the same risk as ICSI - and we had thought we might need that - so had kind of resolved those concerns already. <br>There are several techiques in achieving assisted hatch basically needle, chemical and laser - laser is by far the more superior - but not all clinics offer this as the equipment is hugely expensive (ours didn't).<br><br>You would need to find out what technique is used, and how often the technique is used at your clinic and what results they get.<br>There is a criteria as to who can have it including age - over 38, high baseline FSH, 3 or more repeated ET with no implantation, thicker than average zona noted by embryologist.<br><br>Anyway as I said we deceided on assisted hatch - but felt we would NOT take any risk if we only had one good embryo for transfer. On the day of ET we met with another embryologist (ours was on holiday) and he said under the circumstances he would not undertake AH with only one good embryo - so after all the careful balancing of the pro's and cons we didn't have it! But that is something you have to think about, if you are undertaking another cycle - just to try it with AH - it may not actually end up being an option - yet another thing to consider!<br>Anyway I hope some of that is helpful. <br>I sincerely wish you all the very best in the future.<br>With love from <br>Lorraine<br>xxxx<br>

[Janeya]

Thanks lorraine,<br>It was very useful I have printed it out to show my husband,to see what he thinks>As you said IVF is very confusing and a complete rollercoaster of emotions.Our next step is choosing a Fertility clinic,as we have been to 3 now and always keeping our options open to see what one does what and who is more proffessional.I will go on to the general forum and see what I get from that.<br>Anyway thanks again and many best wishes for the future.<br>Lots of love<br><br>Jane<br>xxxx