Question for Ghost: What went wrong?

[Spring]

I just completed IVF cycle which didn't work. They retrieved 32 eggs out of which 16 fertilized. By day 3 only 10 were still available and they transferred 4 of "marginally decent" quality. I just got a message from the nurse that nothing was available for freezing. I am 32 years old, my FSH is 7.2 and my tubes are blocked. No problems with my husband. We have a 2 year old son conceived via IVF at the same clinic. My protocol was BCP and then low dose HCG and Gonal-F for 7 days with following doses: 375, 375, 250, 250, 375, 375, 375. So my question is what went wrong? Did they stimulate me too fast and eggs weren’t mature enough or is it something else? Also I saw a different doctor every time for morning monitoring and I wonder if each doctor measures things differently. Does it make sense to try the same clinic again or go elsewhere. Thank you for your response.

[Ghost]

I just completed IVF cycle which didn't work. They retrieved 32 eggs out of which 16 fertilized. By day 3 only 10 were still available and they transferred 4 of "marginally decent" quality. I just got a message from the nurse that nothing was available for freezing. I am 32 years old, my FSH is 7.2 and my tubes are blocked. No problems with my husband. We have a 2 year old son conceived via IVF at the same clinic. My protocol was BCP and then low dose HCG and Gonal-F for 7 days with following doses: 375, 375, 250, 250, 375, 375, 375. So my question is what went wrong? Did they stimulate me too fast and eggs weren’t mature enough or is it something else? Also I saw a different doctor every time for morning monitoring and I wonder if each doctor measures things differently. Does it make sense to try the same clinic again or go elsewhere. Thank you for your response.

It's hard to say what, if anything went wrong. Most IVF cycles fail. Yours sounds pretty typical. Your fertilization was a little low, and the stimulation seems very short (perhaps they triggered a bit early?). It's been shown that the largest follicles produce the best eggs, and an early harvest of small follicles would tend to give many poor eggs. But many clinics trigger early, when most of the follicles are small, because they want to avoid hyperstimulation, especially in high responders like yourself.

There are safe and effective protocols for getting a high responder to produce many large follicles, but these are rarely used and almost unknown at many clinics. They involve triggering with something other than hCG, and require heavy luteal support (estradiol and progesterone).