Ghost - when to cycle?

[jb728]

Hi Ghost, I am more of a lurker than a poster, but could use some help making a decision about my next cycle, if you don’t mind…

My history:
My husband and I are both 37 and have undergone 2 rounds of IVF so far. He needed TESE to retrieve sperm and I do not produce that many eggs.
IVF#1 - 9 eggs, 6 fertilized, all arrested before transfer
IVF #2 - 5 eggs, 4 fertilized, 2 transferred, 2 arrested (DS born from this cycle)

In my state, insurance pays for 4 IVFs if medically necessary (which is true in our case), so we have 2 cycles left. However, we only have 1 vial of sperm left, and my husband does not want to undergo the TESE again.

So, I was thinking that due to my age and limited number of eggs retrieved that for IVF#3 I’d freeze whatever eggs were retrieved, combine them with the eggs from IVF#4 and use our last vial of sperm on those eggs combined. First question: does this make sense if insurance will allow it? Additionally, we do not want to try for our second child for approximately 1 year, as DS is still an infant. However, would it be better to cycle as a 37/38 year old and freeze those egg/embryos rather than cycle as a 39 year old (when - in a perfect world- we’d actively try for a pregnancy)? Does a year make a significant difference in egg quality? Does the difference in my age balance the risk of eggs/embryos not surviving a thaw?

Thanks so much for your time.

[MamaBoo]

I'm not Ghost, but thought I'd chime in anyway. It is my understanding that eggs do not freeze as well as embryos do. Therefore, you wouldn't necessarily end up with as good quality or as many embryos using previously frozen eggs.

[Ghost]

Hi Ghost, I am more of a lurker than a poster, but could use some help making a decision about my next cycle, if you don’t mind…

My history:
My husband and I are both 37 and have undergone 2 rounds of IVF so far. He needed TESE to retrieve sperm and I do not produce that many eggs.
IVF#1 - 9 eggs, 6 fertilized, all arrested before transfer
IVF #2 - 5 eggs, 4 fertilized, 2 transferred, 2 arrested (DS born from this cycle)

In my state, insurance pays for 4 IVFs if medically necessary (which is true in our case), so we have 2 cycles left. However, we only have 1 vial of sperm left, and my husband does not want to undergo the TESE again.

So, I was thinking that due to my age and limited number of eggs retrieved that for IVF#3 I’d freeze whatever eggs were retrieved, combine them with the eggs from IVF#4 and use our last vial of sperm on those eggs combined. First question: does this make sense if insurance will allow it? Additionally, we do not want to try for our second child for approximately 1 year, as DS is still an infant. However, would it be better to cycle as a 37/38 year old and freeze those egg/embryos rather than cycle as a 39 year old (when - in a perfect world- we’d actively try for a pregnancy)? Does a year make a significant difference in egg quality? Does the difference in my age balance the risk of eggs/embryos not surviving a thaw?

Thanks so much for your time.

A year can make a difference in egg number and quality. Your RE should know the current status of your ovaries and should be able to provide the best guess about the impact of one more year for you.

MamaBoo has good point about embryos often freezing better than eggs. Problem is you have one vial of frozen sperm for two batches of eggs, and don't anticipate getting more sperm. I see your logic. I hope your clinic is good at egg freezing.

The answer to your last question can be answered only by your clinic, based on their thaw survival rates and such.

[jb728]

Thank you both for your replies. We will meet with RE in a month or so, and your comments have helped me to gather my thoughts so I know what to ask him.