Does waiting one year really have that big of an effect?

[Anonymous]

I’m 34 and after 6 failed IUIs I just need a damn break before moving on to IVF. Most importantly for my mental health but also for my wallet and for the career I’ve been neglecting. Is 1 year in your mid 30s that big of a deal?? Obviously I’ll talk to my doctor but I expect him to give me the most risk averse and money grabbing answer, not necessarily the accurate one.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your diagnosis, but I had DOR and definitely didn’t have a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your diagnosis, but I had DOR and definitely didn’t have a year.

Agree with this 100%. What is you AMH and AFC? That should influence your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your diagnosis, but I had DOR and definitely didn’t have a year.

Agree with this 100%. What is you AMH and AFC? That should influence your decision.

+1

If you are DOR you will regret the break.

[Anonymous]

A different perspective here. I have severe DOR (undetectable amh, afc of 3 on a good month). My numbers didn't get worse over the 4 years I spent trying to and getting pregnant. They were horrible to begin with, but I did end up with 2 healthy kids, 2.5 years apart. I saw Dr. Reichman at Cornell in NYC for both.

This said, you may regret waiting if you're unsuccessful, wondering what if for the rest of your life. I don't know statistically, but I feel like I was really lucky x2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A different perspective here. I have severe DOR (undetectable amh, afc of 3 on a good month). My numbers didn't get worse over the 4 years I spent trying to and getting pregnant. They were horrible to begin with, but I did end up with 2 healthy kids, 2.5 years apart. I saw Dr. Reichman at Cornell in NYC for both.

This said, you may regret waiting if you're unsuccessful, wondering what if for the rest of your life. I don't know statistically, but I feel like I was really lucky x2.

Pp from above- I was 33 when I started trying, and 34 when I had my first. 37 with my second.

[Anonymous]

DOR here. .4 AMH at 34. Had my DD at 36.5 after literally trying every month naturally and two rounds of IVF (second round worked).
Went back for a sibling at 37.5. AMH was .25. 4 rounds of conventional IVF nada. Tried naturally from 40-41, AMH .18 - nothing.
Insurance changed and last ditch mini stim at 41.5, currently 24 weeks with another DD, one embryo made and transferred.

Not an easy road at all, if ai hadnt been successful would have had many regrets and we really only took a break between 36.5 and 37.5.

[Anonymous]

There are so many factors, and no one right answer. For myself, I needed a couple of months break between IUIs and IVF, but I actively did not want to wait a year. (I also only did 2 IUIs, as we knew the odds were very low with our dx, but we wanted to try and also had to change insurance.)

That break was critical for my sanity and, as it turns out, for the challenges that lay ahead. My SIL was struggling the past few years (had a baby in June after several rounds of IVF), and for her even a single cycle gap felt like too much time to lose. I think both of us did what was right for us.

In your case, I would at least discuss your prognosis for waiting with your RE. Not all of them are just looking to maximize funds. I switched to Dr. Frankfurter at GWMFA, and I definitely felt like he was attentive to my emotional needs. I would also at least consider going through the process of creating embryos but not doing the transfer (nowadays, I think they often do FETs anyway). I know this is the stressful portion of IVF for a lot of people, but so is having an unsuccessful cycle. I had many of the latter, both fresh and frozen, and all of the hassle of the hormones faded quickly...but the pain of another unsuccessful cycle didn't. Having frozen embryos could give you more options in the future...and one cycle will also give you an idea of how easy/hard IVF will be.

[Anonymous]

PP again. Forgot to add I was 33 when we started IUIs, 34 when I did my first IVF cycle, and eventually had kids at 36 and 38. The age of 35 is not the end of your fertility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP again. Forgot to add I was 33 when we started IUIs, 34 when I did my first IVF cycle, and eventually had kids at 36 and 38. The age of 35 is not the end of your fertility.

I mean, 33 was the end of MY fertility, so I don’t think this trope is particularly helpful or accurate on an infertility board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. Forgot to add I was 33 when we started IUIs, 34 when I did my first IVF cycle, and eventually had kids at 36 and 38. The age of 35 is not the end of your fertility.

I mean, 33 was the end of MY fertility, so I don’t think this trope is particularly helpful or accurate on an infertility board.

Np but I think the 35 as end of fertility "trope" is perfectly appropriate here. Clearly 35 wasn't yours, nor mine, nor is it likely to be the OP's. We're all "special cases" here, making a particular year even more meaningless as a fertility reference point. So if op was inclined to revert back to 35 as some sort of threshold or milestone this was a good reminder that it's particularly arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A different perspective here. I have severe DOR (undetectable amh, afc of 3 on a good month). My numbers didn't get worse over the 4 years I spent trying to and getting pregnant. They were horrible to begin with, but I did end up with 2 healthy kids, 2.5 years apart. I saw Dr. Reichman at Cornell in NYC for both.

This said, you may regret waiting if you're unsuccessful, wondering what if for the rest of your life. I don't know statistically, but I feel like I was really lucky x2.

Very similar stats here. Started with iui at 33 and had a bunch of failed attempts. Do you ovulate op? If so, I’d highly recommend dominion fertility for natural cycle IVF. It was basically the same as iui, but I felt like we had a much better chance. We ended up going icsi with assisted hatching, which I think made all of the difference. Had my second at 38.5.

Good luck. Take a month or two off, not a year.

[Anonymous]

I would just keep going because I think once you stop and restart it is probably harder to get used to all the appointments. I went to ivf after trying a clomid round and an iui round and am glad I did. I’m older than you though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. Forgot to add I was 33 when we started IUIs, 34 when I did my first IVF cycle, and eventually had kids at 36 and 38. The age of 35 is not the end of your fertility.

I mean, 33 was the end of MY fertility, so I don’t think this trope is particularly helpful or accurate on an infertility board.

Np but I think the 35 as end of fertility "trope" is perfectly appropriate here. Clearly 35 wasn't yours, nor mine, nor is it likely to be the OP's. We're all "special cases" here, making a particular year even more meaningless as a fertility reference point. So if op was inclined to revert back to 35 as some sort of threshold or milestone this was a good reminder that it's particularly arbitrary.

Which is why the initial question is important - it really depends on OP’s diagnosis. But she certainly doesn’t need reassurance that it’s definitely NBD, because it very may well be.

[Anonymous]

For male factor it may not matter but for anything else I would not wait. maybe take a couple months off, but then plow ahead (maybe after the holidays?).