DOR: why are some able to get pregnant easily and others not at all?
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Anonymous
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I have mild DOR. My AMH is .70, my FSH is great at 5, and my estradiol is good too at 43. My antral follicle count is 10 the many times it's been measured.
Anyhow, I've been trying to get pregnant for 3.5 years. In all that time I have never been pregnant (we only skipped 3 cycles in all that time). I did 4 IUIs and 2 IVFs, and then just TTC naturally the rest of the time. I've read/heard of many other ladies with much lower AMH than me/worse DOR/older than me who are able to get pregnant. I've never had a single BFP in 3.5 years. Why do you think that could be? |
Anonymous
| If you are just looking for hypothetical reasons, you could have something else doing on preventing implantation. Have you considered exploring that possibility? |
Anonymous
| My two friends with DOR had amh of like 0.1 and follicles like 4. One of them got 4 eggs at retrieval and one got 3. Both did a 3 day embryo transfer and both got BFP first try. I had amh of 3, 23 eggs retrieved, 9 blasts and took 4 cycles to get pregnant |
Anonymous
| I think it's your age. Have you don't assisted hatching and icsi? |
Anonymous
| I might be mistaken but I don't think OP revealed her age. I think she meant that her estradiol level is 43 |
Anonymous
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I am 38 with a .2 amh but got my DD from an estrogen primed ivf cycle (day 3 transfer for DOR works best!)
Are you with an RE that specializes in DOr? It's a nuanced game. My embryos dont make it to blast in the lab but I get 8-12 mature eggs each retrieval. I have only gotten pregnant once in 4 years ttc not with ivf and that was a 6 week MC. |
Anonymous
OP here. So why do you think you only got pregnant once in 4 years TTC, but were able to successfully get pregnant from IVF? How are you able to get 8-12 mature eggs each retrieval from a .2 AMH? That's pretty amazing! My AMH is higher but I only get 2-3 eggs from retrieval. |
Anonymous
Not PP, but what was your protocol during those retrievals? Sometimes doctors think that doing the maximum dose yields more eggs, but I think it's true that for many women, lower dosages might mean fewer eggs, but higher quality eggs. Have you considered looking into mini IVF? Also, there just aren't fantastic odds of getting pregnant with TI or even IUI if you have DOR and (though you may not know) if other factors are at play. Only two IVF cycles, unfortunately, can be just the tip of the iceberg for some women. And as PP said, there may be other issues at play (such as immune issues). |
Anonymous
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A lot of it just comes down to luck.
Let's say you have 200 normal eggs left. It may take one woman 1 IVF cycle to cycle one of those eggs. It may take the next woman 8 cycles. It's totally random luck. If the odds of getting pregnant are 10% each cycle some very, very infertile will just find the right egg/sperm combination on month 1. Some won't find it until month 100 (which essentially means it will never happen). And this is what makes infertility so frustrating. |
Anonymous
| OP here. I just turned 40 last month. Been TTC for 3.5 years, zero BFPs. |
Anonymous
I'm the PP w the .2 Amh. Basically it's protocol and finding an RE that is experienced w DOR. I ended up going to Sher (SiRM) in NYC. They are big on immune testing (i was borderline) and intralipids and estrogen priming. I went to a regular OB and had my first cycle cancelled due to poor response when they hit me with BCP's and max stims - and thats when I was 34. I've done four cycles - three at SIRM. I got my DD the first IVF there with all of the above in play - plus she was cool w 3-day transfer. I lost 6 embryos between day 3 and 4 that first time but luckily my DD was one of the transferred two and took. We have banked the last two cycles and I have gotten 12,9,11 retrieved with 80% mature and all fertilizing w ICSi. the last two cycles we have only frozen on day three - again having an RE that can zig is crucial- she is totally ok freezing Day three to start transferring for a second baby next year. We have 8, 7-9 celled embryos on ice. I'm lucky enough that my work insurance is covering everything which is why we are trying to bank as many as possible before I turn 39. I truly believe that I ovulate immature eggs even though i have regular 26 day cycles. During my ivf's my body attempts to suge when my follicles hit around 13ish - and i usually end up doinf 5-7 days on double ganerelix to suppress early ovulation. So ivf circumvents the immature ovum release. Just my 2 cents - its happened every time. |
Anonymous
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My AMH is 0.18 (it has held steady for the past two years since we started trying) and I have a 4 year old who I got pregnant with the first month I was off the pill. It's hard for me to imagine that I didn't have DOR 4/5 years ago and then just two years later it was so low, but I was never tested back then so I will never know.
I also switched from my old RE practice where in 18 months I had zero luck (2 cancelled retrievals due to lack of response). But in that time I had two chemicals and and one MMC all from non-IVF cycles. Two were natural with no drugs while waiting, one was from a Clomid IUI. My new RE says it's just about getting the right egg and he right cycle. It's just a question of when that will happen. |
Anonymous
| Mine was less than .01 and I got pregnant 3 times in 3 years. Two miscarriages one spontaneous conception now healthy little toddler. I did acupuncture, supplements, and never missed a month. It's just luck. I tried bc I found and failed. I consulted with Dr Peters at SIRM and CCRM. It's pure luck. I will say wit DOR your chances are just lower due to less eggs. Just keep trying to find the golden egg, focus on egg health, and never miss a month trying even if it's just obtaining a deposit from your partner. Nothing in fertility makes sense... it is random, unfair, and often cruel. |
Anonymous
What kinds of birth control have you used in the past? |
Anonymous
OP here. I have never used birth control, not once, other than condoms and the calendar method (avoiding ovulation). |