Natural Cycle IVF vs Stimmed

[Anonymous]

Has anyone tried and failed at several stimmed IVFs and then gone on to have success with a natural cycle IVF?
If so, please describe your experience. Wouldn't a stimmed IVF give you a better chance because there are more eggs?
What are the true benefits of a natural cycle IVF besides cost and not having to give yourself drugs?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

To me not pumping myself with drugs (nobody knows what the long-term affect can be), plus the fact that you can do back-to-back natural IVFs with less stress, less office visits, less time is definitely worth it.

[Anonymous]

Natural cycle IVF has benefits for patients like me with stage IV endo and low response to meds so I chose that route. It took me 3 tries to get a sticky but 3 cycles of stim IVF never got me anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Natural cycle IVF has benefits for patients like me with stage IV endo and low response to meds so I chose that route. It took me 3 tries to get a sticky but 3 cycles of stim IVF never got me anything.

I'm a stage IV endo sufferer. My DC #1 was the result of two ivfs. However, two years later, I am finding that I stim poorly (unevenly, with few eggs produced on my previously successful protocol). Would you mind sharing your stimmed ivf outcomes (in terms of egg production and meds used)? I am beginning to wonder if NCIVF is a route i would like to pursue.

[Anonymous]

i chose not to do natural because I know as an older patient the majority of my eggs are not going to be successful and if i had any change of getting 6-8 eggs fertilized i would have had a better option. that said Dominion believes that the best egg is the one that is ready to ovulate. THere still is strong feelings against natural cycle from shady grove.

[Anonymous]

I am 36 (started treatments when I was 29) I now have a fsh of 14.9 and a AMH of 0.2. I was encouraged by Dominon to do Donor egg but decided to try NCIVF, unfortunely for me on my first try my egg did not fertilize (I am guessing quality issues). I have done two stimmed cycles in the past and I agree with the above poster that it is so much less stressful. The drug aspect was also a big factor for me, with my 2 stimmed IVF cycles I produced 6-8 eggs with only 2 fertilizing and put back in each cycle and none stuck. The drugs totally messed with my body, thats why I decided that it was not worth it, with NCIVF I would have one to put back and only one more than that with a stimmed cycle so it just wasn't worth the stress on my body to me. Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

i chose not to do natural because I know as an older patient the majority of my eggs are not going to be successful and if i had any change of getting 6-8 eggs fertilized i would have had a better option. that said Dominion believes that the best egg is the one that is ready to ovulate. THere still is strong feelings against natural cycle from shady grove.

This is basically why Dominion counseled me against trying NCIVF. Dr. G. said that since we have no other issues (just my age) and I've gotten pregnant successfully in the past, why take one egg out, fertilize it, and put it back, instead of leaving it in and fertilizing it the "old-fashioned" way? It would be much better to stim and produce multiple eggs with the hope of getting some normal ones, either with injects for IUI or with stimmed IVF. So, if I had proceeded to IVF, I would have done traditional/stimmed, not natural cycle.

[Anonymous]

PP, how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

[Anonymous]

PP, how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

If you mean me (13:00), I was 39 at the time I consulted w/ Dr. G.; now 40 -- and due in a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

I did 2 stimulated IVFs with Shady Grove five years ago. I was a poor responder to the drugs, and my eggs didn't fertilize well. The first time, only 1/4 fertilized, and it stopped growing before day 3. They changed the protocol, and we tried a second stimulated IVF. This time, we got 3 eggs and all fertilized. However, 2 were highly fragmented by day 3. One was good (no fragmentation) - and we put all 3 embryos back. We had success and got pg with a singleton.

This year (5 1/2 years later), I went back to SG. Given my poor response in the past (with high drugs), they weren't encouraging. They suggested that we proceed with a very high dose of stims. Due to the side effects -- and my belief after doing research that the stims had negatively affected my egg quality -- we decided to meet with Dominion. Dr. G looked at my record and suggested that I was a "one egg per month" person. If I hit my ovaries with high stims, I would get one egg, and if I went natural, I would get one egg. The natural route was cheaper, easier on the body, and would eliminate any possibility of stims affecting egg quality. So, we went for natural cycle IVF. Our first try, we had a great looking blastocyst (the first time that I'd ever made it to day 5!), and we had a chemical pregnancy. We tried the following 2 months, and had (1) no egg at retrieval; and (2) cancelled due to LH surge. The 4th month, we made it to transfer again. Again, a great looking blastocyst, and I'm currently 5 months pregnant. I really believe that a stimulated IVF would not have worked for me. I think that my eggs were too fragile to handle the stims. BTW, I'm also 40 yo.

[Anonymous]

shady Grove is too worried about stats to do natural cycle IVF plus they wouldn't make as much money.

[Anonymous]

I've looked at SG's posted "concerns" about NIVF, and the facts are just flat out wrong. I really liked the clinic and my doctor, but I felt that they were too rigid in their approach. Dominion has their statistics posted, and the success rates are far higher than those quoted by SG. In addition, one of SG's "concerns" about NIVF is the cost -- which presumes that clinics don't lower the cost of NIVF as compared to a stimulated IVF... but the reality is that Dominion's charge for a cycle IS less than SG's charge (about half), and that's not even taking into account the fact that you don't need to pay for all of the drugs for NIVF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did 2 stimulated IVFs with Shady Grove five years ago. I was a poor responder to the drugs, and my eggs didn't fertilize well. The first time, only 1/4 fertilized, and it stopped growing before day 3. They changed the protocol, and we tried a second stimulated IVF. This time, we got 3 eggs and all fertilized. However, 2 were highly fragmented by day 3. One was good (no fragmentation) - and we put all 3 embryos back. We had success and got pg with a singleton.

This year (5 1/2 years later), I went back to SG. Given my poor response in the past (with high drugs), they weren't encouraging. They suggested that we proceed with a very high dose of stims. Due to the side effects -- and my belief after doing research that the stims had negatively affected my egg quality -- we decided to meet with Dominion. Dr. G looked at my record and suggested that I was a "one egg per month" person. If I hit my ovaries with high stims, I would get one egg, and if I went natural, I would get one egg. The natural route was cheaper, easier on the body, and would eliminate any possibility of stims affecting egg quality. So, we went for natural cycle IVF. Our first try, we had a great looking blastocyst (the first time that I'd ever made it to day 5!), and we had a chemical pregnancy. We tried the following 2 months, and had (1) no egg at retrieval; and (2) cancelled due to LH surge. The 4th month, we made it to transfer again. Again, a great looking blastocyst, and I'm currently 5 months pregnant. I really believe that a stimulated IVF would not have worked for me. I think that my eggs were too fragile to handle the stims. BTW, I'm also 40 yo.

Congratulations! I really think the doctors at Dominion look at each couple individually and recommend an approach that is specific to the couple's situation.

FWIW, we did our consult and testing with Dr. G when I was a few months short of 38. This was for secondary infertility (we conceived DC#1 on our own a few years earlier) and Dr. G recommended either IUI or NCIVF. We went straight to NCIVF -- budgeted for three cycles and got pregnant the very first month. It was a great experience and I have only great things to say about the practice.