r/40Plus_IVF

I’m 42 at the end of the month. I’ve been on this IVF journey since I was 38. I had very poor responses until I moved to a new clinic.

My 6th cycle was a really good one. It came out of nowhere. I had 8 eggs retrieved, 4 fertilized and 3 were blasts. 2 of those were euploids and the other was frozen untested due to awkward placenta cells.

Then I thought I’d try one more time to increase my odds so I did cycle number 7. This one was really hard. It took a massive toll on my body and my response was not the greatest. I started with 12 AFC but only 5 follicles responded. I almost didn’t go through with it. My doctor convinced me because the follicles were all evenly sized.

We ended up retrieving 6 eggs! 4 fertilised and 3 became day 5 4AA blasts. I got the PGT result today and 2 are euploid!!

I cannot believe it. My doctor said this is the response you’d expect from a 30 year old.

6 embryos and 4 euploids is a 67% conversion rate.

I’m trying to find a reason behind it all because my history has been abysmal. I asked him what it could have been that changed it all. He said as much as science can explain certain things, there are others we don’t question, we just take the blessings.

I had a miscarriage a year ago, and the FET is terrifying to me but I’m giving it a shot at the end of the month.

I have no one to talk to about this and I wanted to share it. I hope it’s ok.

So we are two years into the IVF journey. Started at 43 w) dor. 2 failed IVF rounds w/ no more than 2 day 3 fresh transfers. Third round I get woken up to find they got nothing. That stung so hard . We also worked w/ our clinic for donor eggs and matched right as we were starting the third round. Took me months of genetic grieving. We jumped right in and finally things seemed to start turning around. Of a cohort of 6 eggs, we got 4 day 5 blasts. We transferred one on April 24 and it stuck . Betas great, each ultrasound went well heart beat kept getting stronger, until last Fri at our 12 WK sono. ...no heartbeat.

Now, I turned 45 yesterday and tomorrow I get the gift of a d&c. To say devastated is an understatement. I'm petrified and emotionally paralyzed. There are 3 embryos left and I'm afraid they're all bad; I'm scared the Drs will now say something is wrong w/ me (had all autoimmune testing done nothing-even taking plaquenil since Jan as a mitigator for genetic markers I have - though no diagnosis).

It has been my dream to be a mom since I was a little girl. Had to wait so long (life stuff) . Had to accept I could do DE and now it fails after 12 weeks. We literally hit the end of the first trimester and BAM fuck us. It'll be Oct before we can try again ( if everything goes correctly) and I'd be lucky if I'm still 46 (more likely 47) if a child is born. Is that fair to a child to be 3 years old w/ 50 yr old mom on playground?

I know the grief is still fresh but as we all know here time is of the essence. Do I keep going or call it a day now? If so, how do I get myself believing again?

Edit - to include we are testing the d&c sample. Also Nipt test results came back low risk for the trisomies.

Just sharing results in case it helps others. A bit disappointed as they measured 14 follicles but only retrieved 8 eggs. 6 injected, 4 fertilized.

My first round was 10 eggs, 9 mature, 6 fertilized, 2 blast, 0 euploid.

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Hello,

I’m currently going through an IVF cycle and I’m looking for outside perspectives because I’m a bit confused about how my cycle timing is being managed.

To summarize briefly:

Ovitrelle trigger done on July 5th at 8:00 PM

Blood test that morning: LH 23, progesterone 2.2, estradiol 665

Ultrasound: leading follicle 18.4 mm, no clear ovulation yet

Based on my understanding, my day 5 embryo transfer was initially scheduled around July 12th.

However, the clinic (IVI Madrid) informed me that the transfer could actually be done on Friday July 10th.

From what I understand, this change is mainly related to their organization (weekend scheduling), but it no longer matches what I thought the typical timing should be for a day 5 transfer after trigger.

So I’m wondering:

Is this kind of timing shift normal in some protocols?

Is it common for clinics to adjust transfer dates for logistical reasons?

Or could this potentially affect the synchronization of the endometrium?

Thank you in advance for any insights.

Hey,

I just got a call from the clinic that 60% (or 11) of our 18 ovocytes had been fertilized I am 40+ 3 months and partner 41, with excellent sperm results. The doctor seemed happy and they had mentioned 60% being their average fertilization range so it’s not like strange I guess I just thought it would be higher they do 50% ISCI and 50% normal IVF. Just trying to think what i should ask them or what could be a potential explanation for this? I have previously had one chemical pregnancy (at least) naturally so we know that it ”works” also outside the lab :) thanks!!

43.5 here. I’ve already tried unsuccessfully with one of my precious embryos. With another FET this cycle, I’m feeling anxious and pretty terrified about the chances of this next one not sticking, as well.

Can I ask, how many FETs did it take you to get to a live birth? Also, could you please share your age for comparison?

Thanks in advance 🙏

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Hello,

I am 38 years old and currently undergoing fertility treatment (IVF/PMA).

In 2024 (at age 36), during a natural cycle, my endometrium reached 11 mm at ovulation.

Since then:

IVF termination at 12 weeks in May 2025 due to trisomy

Followed by retained trophoblastic tissue

Two hysteroscopies (August 2025 and May 2026), uterine cavity reported as normal

IVF history:

Frozen embryo transfer of a euploid embryo in a medicated (hormone replacement) cycle:

Endometrium: 9 mm

Estradiol: ~1900 pg/mL

Result: unsuccessful

Current cycle (natural cycle):

Day 10: endometrium 6 mm

Estradiol: 256 pg/mL

My question:

I am trying to understand the significant difference between:

11 mm in a previous natural cycle

9 mm in a medicated IVF cycle

6 mm in my current natural cycle

Is this kind of variation normal between cycles, or could it be related to my medical history (IVF treatments, hysteroscopies, pregnancy loss, etc.)?

Doing donor eggs transfer with my husbands sperm. Did a month of lupron and two weeks of estrogent patches and when I put the intravag estrogen tabs in , I ended up in ER with an allergic reaction. Entire body was red and on fire. My lining wasn't thick enough with just estrogen patches hence why they put me on vag estrogen tablets. My doctor is now recommending I see an immunologist to get to the bottom of the allergic reaction. This is after what has seemed like 100 doctors between Christmas and July,, and 5 ultrasounds. It's like a part time job. Has anyone been like nah, I 'm done?

Hi Ladies,

Looking for some advice or guidance from those of you who have similar experiences. I first started trying to conceive when I was 38. I probably waited a little too long to get medical intervention, but finally did and was diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility. At age 40 I got pregnant on my second IUI that resulted in a MMC at almost 9 weeks. Six months later we moved onto IVF and had my first retrieval a month after turning 41. To date I've competed 7 retrievals. My AFC is between 5-7. We did a fresh transfer of 3, 3 day embryos that failed. Then we did a FET of 2, 3 day embryos that resulted in a Chemical Pregnancy. We then transferred an untested a 3AB that failed. After that failure my Dr. suggested we do Emm/Alice, ERA, and ReceptivaDX testing. Emma/Alice came back normal , ERA came back as slightly Late Receptive and ReceptivaDX came back positive with a 1.9 H score. Last year in November I took the initiative to have an MRI to see if Endo or Adeno might be present (I know that Endo is often missed on MRI). My results came back clear for Endo but they did write on the report that it seemed suspicious of Adeno. My RE didn't seem to take too much stock in it, she said that the findings weren't really consistent with my Ultrasounds/ Sono, vaginal that they'd done. We have three 4AB's left, one 7 day 3AB left and two embryos from a retrieval that was done two days ago (we are hoping to be able to freeze them on day 3). After speaking with the RE that's filling in for my RE who's on vacation they said that there are 3 treatment options. Letrozole that I would start taking when I start my period that I would take up until trigger (we were hoping to go straight into another Modified Natural transfer cycle once I start my period). The RE seemed to be leaning towards this treatment option, the other is Lupron Depot Suppression for 2 months, which obviously would delay a transfer and put me into e medically induced state of Menopause and the third is Laparoscopy(surgery). I'm leaning towards Letrozole treatment because from what I hear Lupron is no joke and at almost 42 I would really like to avoid any more delay. I also want to give each embryo the best possible chance and from what I understand Lupron seems to be the gold standard. I'm becoming paralyzed with all these hard decisions, so I'm hoping maybe some of you can share your experiences with this. Did anyone go the Letrozole path? Did you have success? One other thing to mention. I wanted to get one more retrieval in before my birthday on 7/18 and went to a different clinic (for cost reasons) for that retrieval that was done 2 days ago. That Dr. said he does not take much stock in the ReceptivaDX test, I know there is some debate amongst medical professionals. I am taking the test very seriously because I've been dealing with Unexplained Infertility for almost 5 years. Sorry this is so long winded but I would really like to hear your experiences, guidance and any advice you can give. I really appreciate it ❤️

Hey!

I just wanted to share my experience with fellow IVF ladies over 40 since I spent so much time going into this process on redddit and got scared shitless.

First of all, I did menopur high dose (262) which did not hurt at all: neither the needle nor the injection. The medicine made me super happy and energetic no negative side effects.

Also I got super scared about not getting enough eggs- got 18 ovocytes

Also I got scared about the eggretrival hurting like crazy end of cycle hurting like crazy etc- I felt practically nothing except what I would describe as extremely mild menstrual cramps :)

This is just to say DONT GET SCARED neither by menopur your age whatever each person responds differently and I spent so much energy getting worried crazy for nothing.

I did coq10 iron and the prenatal plus no alc for 7 weeks prior happy to chat and good luck to everyone !!!!

Hi All

I’m super new to all this. I did my first ER and I’m waiting on the results of PGT testing but after reading through this thread, I’m wondering if something maybe didn’t go to plan during my ER?

So I’m 39.5 I had an AFC of 17 going into this, during stims I was told they could see 28 follicles but 5 of those were really small. I also saw that at my scan prior to trigger some of my eggs were over 20mm so also not viable. Because of the sizes I wasn’t expecting 28 eggs or anything but when I came to after retrieval the doctor told me they’d gotten 9 eggs. That’s pretty much all she said, she seemed pretty upbeat about it. After reading through a lot of posts here this number seems really low for the follicles.

Anyway not the best results, still wound up with 2 blasts which are being tested now. I’m realistic that there’s a large chance I won’t get any euploids this round and even if I do I’ll likely need another round. But just wondering if I should be suggesting something different? A shorter cycle? Lower dosages? Higher dosages? My doctor seemed to indicate it was all fine so maybe it is but I just feel like that’s not a normal number from that many follicles?

I’m so new to all this and I feel so ill informed! Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
GRMA ❤️

Just wanted to share my first retrieval as someone with low amh at 40 ( 41 this October )

-Amh 3.9 pmol/L ( 0.55 ng/mL American measurements)

- primmed for 28 days with androgel and 10 days estrogen

-Follicles count was 14 ( month and a half before starting stims), during stims it was 6

- stimmed 10 days

- 6 eggs retrieved, 4 mature , 2 fertilized with icsi, 2 blasts

Just got results today for pgta , none made it super sad about it

We are going to do another round, wondering if anyone who had a second round if they got better results with euploids? Did they change your protocol by much?

Thank you in advance

I am planning to do ER at 41.5, based on finances and life situations.

Which protocol gave you maximum euploid at 41.5? Can you please share?

From my former posts about mental health I think most people going through ttc/ IVF have panic attacks/anxiety/ depression and I feel like this space is a safe space since most of you understand the mental health struggle. If you dealt / are dealing with panic attacks how did you get over them? Is there even a way to get over them? I have been having panics and being scared every day every morning my heart races and my breath is fast dealing with this every morning. I’ve done therapy it didn’t help at all. Therapists didn’t know how to cure that. I’m starting to take medication but looking for any tips or advice regarding this. I always think I’m running out of time. So much time past and ai couldn’t get pregnant
Did IVF delay my natural chance of pregnancy?
what if it never happens? I’m certainly not going to be ok. How do I deal with life ? How do I move forward?? I have no passion and nothing is worth in life. The most important thing in life is having children. It gives a meaning to people’s lives. If you have any tips in dealing with mental health please feel free to write them as I’m desperate

I have a friend staying with my this summer while she goes through an egg retrieval. She’s 38.5 and I’m 40, and I warned her that the process can be tough and disappointing at this age. I did a round of IVF in January, had 11 eggs which turned into 3 (untested) embryos, first transfer failed. I’ve been talking to my therapist about whether this experience will be triggering for me, and I didn’t think it would be — I like the idea of being there for my friend and supporting her through what was a very tough process for me. Anyway, she had her baseline today and had 30 follicles. I suddenly felt overwhelmed with jealousy. I had prepared to support her through a process that was like mine, not one which is way more successful than mine. I feel like shit that I felt jealous rather than happy for her. I know that follicles don’t mean anything about final result, but it just really triggered my sense of inadequacy and failure in this process.

I am 39 and I have diminished ovarian reserve after two retrievals and a lot of trial and error finding the right protocol. I finally made my first blast a 3AB. We had nothing to freeze from my previous two rounds so getting to this point feels like a huge win. Now I’m in the waiting game for PGT results and my anxiety is through the roof.

I have batching selected so once I get six blasts/embryos, they can test it. I’ve read around 60% of eggs or embryos at my age are not normal but I also know statistics don’t predict what happens to one person. I’m hoping to hear from others that are 39 and over if you banked embryos how many were you euploid especially if you have DOR. It’s going to be a long journey for me!

Dearest Community, I would appreciate your collective wisdom!

My transfer (fourth) has just failed (it's sooo difficult). Nothing ever happens - the embryos just don't seem to stick. My doctor blames it on low egg (and embryo) quality, due to my age.

I've told him, from the very beginning, that I think that there might be another underlying problem, as I've never been pregnant (I'm now 41, almost 42; but I've been married for 18 years, and actively TTC for a few years in my thirties, with absolutely no result, even when taking additional hormones). Still, doc constantly brushes off my comment/query, reminding me of my age ;) and he's right that the embryos we produce are not many, and not great - ranging from AB to BC. So from his perspective, age is the easiest interpretation.

Nevertheless, as I have my next appointment with him only at the end of August, which means a possible new, and final, stim cycle and ER only in Sept/Oct (well... If doc agrees to it anyway...), I wanted to use the summer break to take any tests that could check if there is a problem with implantation, on my side.

And here comes the question: what are the issues I should be looking at (and how to check them)? Any autoimmune diseases, any uterine inflammation issues, endo...?

Any fellow IVFee here had a gut feeling that something was 'off' with her, and it turned out that she was right?

Thank you, and good luck to us all <3

I guess I don’t know what I was expecting with my first round of IVF. I primed with estrogen patches/certrotide, and I’m on max dose of menopur 225 iu, and gonal f 225 iu, and then today had my cycle day 4 ultrasound. I have one 5mm follicle.

I’m taking all the vitamins, moving 10k steps daily, red light, and focusing on protein. I don’t know what else I can do, or if there is anything else I can do.

I was hoping that I would at least have more than one follicle. I’m just so disappointed with my body, and feel so defeated already.

I’m also 42, and I’ve had one loss at 15 weeks. Any advice, or tips, or anything that’s worked for you?

I just got a call from my clinic. I had my third egg retrieval yesterday. They retrieved 11 eggs and only 2 fertilized. I’m so sad , desperate, devastated you name it. I don’t know where to go from here. My clinic only freezes day 5 embryos . They don’t freeze day 3 . And I’ve done 2 failed fresh transfers in the past. The whole process is so expensive and not guaranteed . My doctor is at a conference for 10 days so I can’t even discuss anything with him. I guess I need hugs and maybe reassurance , experiences . Thank you