Are there any ladies here who got pregnant 40+ on drugs only?

[Anonymous]

I'm 40, soon to be 41, with a daughter conceived naturally when I was 38.5. I've had two early miscarriages in the last year. After the last miscarriage, I went to see a RE who recommended only drugs since my initial workup looked fine. I guess there is no real benefit to IVF if it is a egg quality issue. However, everyone I know who got pregnant at 40+ went the IVF route. Any success stories out there using drugs alone? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I'm 40 and got pregnant with drugs + IUI, but miscarried at 10 weeks. We are trying again and RE still recommends IUI for us.

[Anonymous]

nope, but my friend did.

[Anonymous]

I'm 42 and pregnant with NCIVF which technically doesn't use the drugs you mentioned, just trigger shot then prog/estrace.

[Anonymous]

I'm 39 (will be 40 in a few weeks) and managed to get pregnant without any drugs, after 3 failed medicated IUI cycles (14 cycles overall). I am 10 weeks and so far, so good.

But just to comment on your point about IVF having no benefit if it's an egg quality issue. I'm not sure I agree with that 100%. I was going to try IVF next even though my issue also was purely age-related egg quality and here's why.

It's true that IVF does nothing to improve the quality of your eggs, but what it does do is "preserve" your fertility as of the time you do the retrieval. At our age, every month counts, really. If you have a retrieval now, and you get a good number of eggs to fertilize, those eggs are 40 yrs old and they're not getting any older once they are frozen. If you try other treatments and/or continue trying without treatment, your eggs of course are aging with each month that passes by. Six months can be a big deal when you're 40. If you get pregnant and miscarry, then you have lost a few more months and are faced with starting over again. If you are lucky enough to have a successful IVF retrieval and enough of them fertilize that you can freeze some, you are essentially keeping your "younger" eggs for use in future cycles if you need them. And with IVF you will transfer the best-looking embryos, so there's a better chance one of them will stick. Pregnancy rates for IVF are a lot higher than for IUI, and I believe that is true even in older women.

I'm NOT trying to sway you toward doing IVF, esp. since I've never done it myself and was apprehensive about the prospect of all the drugs and the procedures. I just wanted to point out that there IS some benefit to IVF for older women with declining egg quality, and I didn't want you to overlook that in evaluating your options.

You don't mention which drugs your RE recommended but if it were me, I would go for injectibles rather than Clomid. I never should have wasted 3 cycles with Clomid.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to add that while the PP is correct in theory, I don't think women should count on having embryos left to freeze from IVF. I did 4 IVF cyles and two different clinics when I was 32-33 and never had anything left to freeze. I'd ask your clinic what percent of patients your age are left with frozen embryos. If you go to CCRM in Colorado the situation would be different since they use a different freezing technique and are a top clinic, but with local clinics, I would not count on having frozen embryos.

When I started IVF I just assumed that I'd have frozen embryos. it wasn't until after my first cycle that I learned that is not a guarantee (even in yoru early 30's)

[Anonymous]

I met someone last weekend whose sister had a surprise baby at 50! She went to her doctor to discuss menopause, because she thought that's what was going on, but she was pregnant!

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to add that while the PP is correct in theory, I don't think women should count on having embryos left to freeze from IVF. I did 4 IVF cyles and two different clinics when I was 32-33 and never had anything left to freeze. I'd ask your clinic what percent of patients your age are left with frozen embryos.

Good point. But it depends largely on your response to the drugs, so there's no way to know until you actually stim. At Dominion, I was told about 25% of patients have some left to freeze, and I think it was about the same % at Shady Grove. However, they told me I was more likely to have some to freeze because I produced so many follicles even on the lowest dose of clomid, they expected me to stim well for IVF and that we would be able to retrieve a good number of eggs. But you're right, some people don't stim well and then don't have anything make it to freeze, and in that case there's less of a benefit to IVF (assuming there are no other issues, just egg quality).

[Anonymous]

i got pregnant w/twins at 40 from iui+ follistim. also had a few earlier miscarriages. then had a surprise natural pregnancy at 42. it can be done. good luck!

[Anonymous]

My experience is also that my frozen embryos just didn't work as well for me. They can look like excellent quality but not defrost well or whatever.

[Anonymous]

clomid + injectibles, IUI with donor sperm (single mom), pregnancy at age 42

[Anonymous]

Pregnant at 39 after 4 cycles of clomid IUI then 2 cycles of injectables IUI and 1 cycle of natural cycle IVF which got me the first sticky BFP, I had two m/c with clomid IUI. Currently 22 wks and finally starting to believe it's real.

[Anonymous]

IVF may not improve egg quality but it gives you more eggs to work with and things like assisted hatching and ICSI will increase the chance of getting pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Pregnant at 39 on follistim only - first cycle. Took a year to get pregnant with DC#1. Good luck!