40+....I need to hear some success stories.

[TammyS]

Long story short...
We got pregnant on our first IVF try when I was 39. Used our remaining embryos last month and miscarried at 41. We had not planned to go back at all after this frozen attempt...but now we find ourselves not wanting to give up. The next fresh IVF cycle we can do will be in July, when I am 42. We did get pregnant with both IVF attempts...so that is the good news. I am wondering though...are the odds of Down Syndrome or other problems....just as high with a normal woman getting pregnant at 42 naturally as it is with an IVF attempt? Or does doing IVF somehow reduce the chances of Downs and other problems...simply because the embryologist ends up picking better quality embryos when doing ICSI?

Dont get me wrong...I would probably be a great mom and I know my DH would be an awesome daddy to a child with special needs (he has special needs kids at his school that work with him and he is amazing with them)...but still I am scared to death. We are older and I dont want Zach to end up having to care for his little brother/sister when we are gone.

So I need to hear some success stories...from older women/men. I need to hear some scientific info, too. Actually, if you ended up having a special needs child...I would love to hear from you, too. The good and the bad. PM me if you prefer. Thanks.

[angelaezra]

Tammy - I just wanted to wish you all the luck in the world! I am praying for you. Please make sure you keep us updated.

Angela

[lou71]

Tammy -- Don't give up if you aren't ready to. You may still have some good eggs in there! And although the risk of chromosomal abnormalities does increase as you get older, it's still less than 2% for a woman in her early 40's. The odds are still in your favor. Good luck!

[karenthescorpio]

Tammy- See if you can find a study doing PGD or if you can afford it, you can pay for it at many clinics. It tests the embryos for chromosomal abnormalities (includs Downs and others). I was so very fortunate to participate in a study at my clinic that tested all 22 sets of choromosomes. They tested nine day 5 embryos and only 3 were noted to be normal i.e. no extra or missing chormosome noted on each pair. That is was PGD looks for. However, you can't buy the PGD where they test all 22 sets right now. But the PGD you can buy does test like 9 or 12 sets...and it does screen for Downs. Either way, it'll increase the odds even more in your favor. I was 39 when I did my last cycle and now I'm expecting twins at the end of Sept/early Oct. It really gave me alot of peace of mind knowing the PGD study helped filter out the abnormal embies. Just a fact of life for the aging mother-to-be! xoxo
Karen

[cheryl010120]

Hi Karen,

I had a beautiful boy with my 3rd IVF at age 39. After he was 6 months old, we had another IVF and was pregnant. We chose not to screen for chromosomal defects (hindsight), and found out we had a little girl with Down's and only 1/2 a heart.

We were/will always be devastated. We chose to end our pregnancy because she would suffer greatly. I still cry daily.

Odds are higher for defects the older you get. My recommendation would be to have the screening done during your IVF. It's done right before the transfer. It does cost a bit more, but would be worth it.

Prayers are with you and your husband.

[karenthescorpio]

Hi, Cheryl. I'm currently pregnant with twins. We did do IVF with PGD, so we knew our embies were chromosomally normal.

[riogirl71]

Tammy have you heard of CGH? It is also a new test for good embryos, google it and it might be something you are interested in. Go for it sweetie! Plenty of women have healthy babies in their 40s!