r/whatworkedforme

I have an interesting success story I thought people might like to read! I'm 38, DOR (AMH .13) and have endo. I've had 4 unsuccessful IVF rounds. Only 1 that produced 2 day-3 embryos. I was about to start up again this year in April doing a Lupron downregulation protocol with a luteal phase start. That meant waiting until after I ovulated naturally, then doing low-dose Lupron priming (20 units/day for about a week) before I was to start stims.

They didn't order pelvic rest and my husband and I had sex around ovulation. To my surprise, on 10 DPO, I got a positive test! Of course I was a little worried since I had conceived while on Lupron, but I found other instances of people conceiving on Lupron (usually during long Lupron suppression) and everything was fine, and my clinic wasn't concerned. And everything seems to have turned out fine! I'm 21 weeks and just had a good anatomy scan. We are so thrilled. I think the Lupron helped calm down my endo enough for implantation to occur. I would REALLY love for some scientists to research this as a possible treatment for endo and a way to conceive without IVF.

Also, I'm not advocating anyone go against their doctor's directions. My real reason of posting is that I would love for some researcher to look into this for women with endo. Several retrospective studies looking at similar situations do not show adverse outcomes. Here are a couple of them: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12958-021-00732-1 and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287191212_Outcome_of_inadvertent_administration_of_a_gonadotropin-releasing_hormone_agonist_in_early_pregnancy

TLDR; got pregnant while doing microdose Lupron priming AFTER I ovulated. 21 weeks and great anatomy scan.

Hi All,

Married for 5 years - diagnosed with Non obstructive Azoospermia. Wife's condition is all good(Thankfully). Doctors said IVF ain't an option.

Question is not regarding how to fix the problem. How is it living without having kids/becoming a parent. Anyone here who went through this situation - you and your spouse alone for the rest of your life.

Any advice/suggestions on what you feel helped you the most with conceiving? Particular vitamins or foods you equate to having increased the odds in your favor?

I am 2 years into TTC and feeling really frustrated and defeated...

Hi, everyone, so I started ttc 2 and a half years ago. I am 40 now. I have done HSG which showed one open tube. I have a big fibroid 8-9 cm Intramural and one small one which is outside. SIS has shown clear cavity with no adhesion or defects. Fibroid is not protruding the cavity. My AMH is a 1.5. My husband’s semen is great as well. We haven’t been able to concieve at all. I have heard of fibroids causing miscarriages but I haven’t been able to conceive. I have been on anti-inflammatory diet for almost 8 months now. No luck! Because of finances, cannot do iui or ivf. Have done unmonitored medicated cycle one time with clomid and one with letrozle and nothing. I ovulate on my own. I don’t bleed heavy or anything like that either. I stress and think about this so much. Everyone around me is pregnant. I hear of stories of women getting pregnant with even bigger fibroids or blocked tubes and so forth. It is so depressing and it’s taking over my life and become a part of my personality. I feel like a failure. It hurts so bad. I don’t know what else to do…

Hi everyone! Looking for perspectives from others with PCOS who have been through multiple ovulation-induction cycles.
A little background: i’m 33f and my partner is 36m.
I have fairly classic PCOS, mainly high AMH and mild facial hair, without other major symptoms. I’ve also lost weight and feel much healthier now. I’ve done 7 Letrozole cycles; the 2nd resulted in a chemical pregnancy. After my 6th unsuccessful cycle, my doctor gave me a 2-month break with medication to calm my ovaries, and my AMH came down to 6.1.
This 7th cycle was after the break, with Letrozole + two Humog injections. I developed two mature follicles, ovulated without trigger, and had a 7.4 mm trilaminar lining. It was planned as an IUI cycle, but I believe I ovulated before the planned IUI, so we decided to try naturally this cycle and consider IUI next time. There is also a mild male-factor component (DFI ~24%). My HSG showed open tubes.
I’m currently in the two-week wait and, as expected, overthinking everything because I don’t have any symptoms! 😅
My main questions are:
Does lowering AMH/“calming” the ovaries actually improve pregnancy chances in PCOS, or is it mainly about improving the response to stimulation?
After 7 Letrozole cycles, would you start seriously considering IVF, or would you try a few IUI cycles first?
I’m not questioning my doctor’s protocol — she’s monitoring everything closely. I’m just trying to understand what others’ experiences have been and when they decided to move from Letrozole → IUI → IVF.
Would love to hear from anyone with a similar PCOS journey. ❤️

Note - took help from ChatGpt to structure it better

Hi

I am 31 years old. I have been trying to get pregnant for 19 months. All tests for both me and my partner are normal. I had 1 failed IUI. I am in the unexplained infertility category. Previously, I had Ureaplasma, which I think I had for a long time—about 3-4 years. When I found out, I used antibiotics for 1 week and it cleared up. I got tested again this year and it came back negative. However, I am worried that the infection has progressed into the uterus, and I think that is why I cannot get pregnant. Should I ask the doctor to perform an endometrial biopsy, or should I have a second IUI first and decide afterwards?

Thank you

New to IVF world. Had to make this decision in 2 days because of husband’s job being impacted.

History
Turning 34 soon / husband just turned 35
BMI 33
TSH 2.4
All tests normal for both of us
3 natural preg’s ended up in bio chemical in early weeks of 4-6 weeks
1 failed IUI

I have 2 weeks until my egg retrieval

We are freezing embryos PGT- A tested - for future use ( husband has good fertility benefits from work and soon switching jobs so making use of it )

Any suggestions or advice you can pass on from your experience. Grateful for your support 💕

I started acupuncture this week. Trice a week

Supplement regime:
prenatal with DHA EPA + extra omega 3’s because I don’t eat fish + CoQ10 + recently started Antioxidant berry blend

Feeling nervous to start the injections 🤞🏽
My protocol is Gonal F and Menopur

Hoping for a good quality embryos and genetically normal🤞🏽

Thank you 🙏 for your time and support
Wishing everyone who is on this journey a positive outcome and healthy pregnancies 💕💕

How many IUI’s should I complete with just solely relying on letrozole 5 mg from CD 3-5 and no trigger. My clinic is having me test my LH with OPK’s . More often than not I am able to catch my peak.

Background: I have had a transvaginal US and HSG completed. These have come back normal. All hormonal lab panels, and thyroid have come back normal as well. My husband has had a few different sperm analyses completed with his morphology being 2% (slightly below normal but have been told by our clinic that this is not overly concerning).

I’m just wondering if I should be advocating for something more with my next cycles or if we should continue with what has been prescribed by our clinic.

33F turning 34 in a week / husband turned 35 this week
Had 2 natural pregnancies and both ended in MC

Since March 2026 trying timed intercourse with letrozole ovidril progesterone
July cycle worked but ended in bio chemical

Did first IUI July 27th waiting for beta tomorrow
So far negative on urine tests

Context:
My husband lost his job and he has insurance benefits until Dec 6th / and fertility Benefits through progyny which are really good

If he gets a new job we might not have the same insurance with good fertility benefits.
Doctor recommended to freeze embryos this month and we can always do an embryo transfer out of pocket even if we don’t have a good insurance.

Next steps:

Option 1) do embryo freezing this month
And continue trying naturally or IUI or IVF as the last option. Embryo freezing as back up because we want a second child in the future and keeping my age a factor I won’t be able to freeze if I get pregnant and then breast feeding so a good 2 years …I will be 36 then

Option 2)
Embryo freezing this month and embryo transfer next month

Option 3)
Try couple more IUI’s if doesn’t work out then go for IVF

I am scared to go through IVF. I am 223 pounds now and I have inflammation. From March not sure if it’s meds or are my hormones . I put on 20 pounds. Progesterone is messing so much with my body. Not sure how will I cope up with IVF meds.

Please advise. Thank you so much for your support 🙏💗 grateful for this community

**Hi guys! 👋🏽 My husband and I decided to start TTC for the first time this month! I’m currently on my period and trying to get everything together and learn as much as I can before ovulatio**n week.
**For those of you who conceived on your first try, what did you do? Any tips, tricks, things you tracked, supplements you took, or anything you wish you knew before your first cycle TTC? I’d love to hear what worked for you! ❤**️

TW: living child

Anyone else here have every fertility test come back normal, except for having Hashimoto's? I was diagnosed last June following a miscarriage. I was 1 year postpartum at diagnosis. Conceived my son on the first try at age 27. We started trying for a second a year after he was born and experienced 2 miscarriages and about a year of infertility. All my lab work, HSG, AMH, etc. has come back completely normal. My thyroid is well managed (TSH below 1, T3 and T4 in optimal ranges), and has been since January. I even had my inflammatory markers checked, and they are normal. I have a hard time believing Hashimoto's can be the root cause of my infertility/miscarriages, but everything else seems completely normal (husband's sperm is great too).

I eat a gluten free diet, take all the supplements, use red light therapy, eat mainly a whole food diet, walk and lift weights frequently.. I ovulate monthly though I do have a slightly shorter luteal phase (9-11 days).

Curious if others have a similar experience with Hashimoto's?

As the title says, I’ve never had a positive test, not even a chemical.

I did an egg retrieval and embryo storage last fall before a cross-country move (and resultant loss of fertility benefits). Excellent results. We had 24ish mature eggs and ended up with 18 embryos.

Husband’s sperm analysis was “fantastic.” My AMH and everything else is great. Tubes are open, though spillage was slow on one side. I’m ovulating every month. Luteal phase went from \\\~10 days to a steady 13-14 after four months of acupuncture. I’m 34, 5’3, 131lbs, non-smoker, little alcohol, etc.

What the actual fork is going on with me?? If I had implantation issues, wouldn’t I have had a chemical at some point over the last 18 months? If anyone has had to deal with this, PLEASE, I’d love to hear from you.

hi everyone, I pray your TTC journey is going smoother than mine :") just wanted to hop on here and see if anyone has any suggestions for Doctors/clinics in Fort Worth where they look for the root cause of infertility that you'd recommend :)

background: had a previous short luteal phase of 10/11 days and is now 13 days w 200 mg oral progesterone supplement (sometimes I take it as a suppository), I have one blocked tube but have been taking serrapeptase (had a previous surgery in December of 2025 that unblocked the other tube), second time getting a HSG in general in march 2025 showed tube is still patent :)

reason I'm looking for a new clinic (RE) and OB as well: OB doesn't review notes or communicate well- had to call her to get results of initial HSG back in September 2025 (waited a month) to find out I had bilateral blocked tubes and she claimed she tried to call (she didn't-- no missed calls in call log), I also tried to come to her to see if she'd put me on clomid or letrozole bc the clinic she referred me to wouldn't do it without doing the entire IUI process (monitoring and trigger shot) and she literally just referred me back to the fertility clinic I have already been working w!!! (she referred me in a way that she seemed like she had never done that in the first place), also w the progesterone she had me take 6dpo labs while already being on the supplement, so who's to say what the labs would initially say. RE reasoning: when doing initial labs she only did AMH, CBC, vitamin d, and TSH. no other labs, no hormones, no A1C, no cortisol, no electrolytes, nothing!! also my vitamin D is 22 and she said you can maybe get on a supplement for that, and biggest thing she performed my laparoscopic hysteroscopy and retubalcanalization and forgot which tube she was able to unblock (like review the notes, don't tell me wrong)

Please any recommendations would be great!! I use Inito, tempdrop, and regular LH strips for tracking :) I also have a ringconn!! I take liquid vit d supplements + K2, vit b, myo inositol + D chiro (but will switch to plain myo bc I don't believe I have PMOS-- suggestion for brands for that are welcome as well :") ), vaginal probiotic, and one a day prenatal :) thank you in advance for your help!! if you have any other suggestions on where to post this please let me know as well ☺️

Hi,
Have you ever transported embryos between two local clinics? I have to transport mine from IHR in Chicago to Northwestern. I know Northwestern is a very established clinic, but unfortunately IHR has been acting very unprofessionally, so I am feeling anxious about this process.

I have a few concerns and would really appreciate hearing about your experience:

1- How was the handling and coordination process for you from your original clinic?

2- Which company did you use for embryo transportation?

3- Did your old clinic provide the exact freezing information and instructions that the new clinic needed for warming/thawing the embryos? My new provider made me worried because she said she has seen cases where IHR in Chicago, did not provide enough detailed information about thawing the embryo, which contributed to embryo loss.

4- Did your transported embryos survive warming, and did you eventually achieve a pregnancy with them?

I was a patient at IHR in Chicago for three years. I truly suggest you to do not go to this clinic. I ended up with three euploid embryos, but unfortunately my first transfer failed. I asked David Cohen for reason and he even avoided to have a session with me. Then sent a mail and stopped providing my care because they were concerned about their success rates. They wanted me to leave, which I felt was extremely unprofessional. I am now pursuing the matter through the appropriate legal process but I want my embryos and super worried about them.

My experience with IHR was very horrifying. I felt manipulated into IVF because of my age (I was 40) after my TFMR in 2025, and I felt that I was pushed toward treatment without enough consideration of easier options.

Surprisingly, I conceived naturally on my first cycle after my failed transfer, and I am now 5 weeks pregnant. I truly hope everything continues to go well.

This experience made me realize how strongly I got traumatized with the approach taken by IHR and doctors like David Cohen and Ilan Turkaspa. Instead of discussing the possibility of trying naturally after my TFMR, I felt pressured into IVF. I was repeatedly told that my chance of getting pregnant naturally at age 40 was less than 7% per cycle and that I would lose time if I tried to conceive naturally.
I have never felt as frustrated or as strongly that I was not being heard by a doctor as I did during my experience with these two physicians.

I still want to have my two euploid embryos, and I invested a lot of time, money, and emotional energy into creating these embryos. That is why I am very anxious about moving them and would be devastated if anything happened to them.
I would really appreciate hearing about your experience transporting embryos.Thank you so much.

Hi everyone,

I'm just looking for people who have been through something similar because after our first failed transfer, we're feeling really heartbroken.

I'm 25, and my husband is 28. We have severe male factor infertility. His sperm count is around 4 million, with 1% morphology and low motility. We trued naturally for 3 years and even tried hormone treatment for him for almost 6 months, hoping things would improve enough to conceive naturally or at least increase our chances, but there was only a small improvement.

We eventually moved to ICSI. I had 12 eggs retrieved, 7 fertilized, and we were lucky to get three 4AA blastocysts. Because of our age, our doctor didn't recommend PGT-A and explained that it doesn't guarantee success, so we decided not to test the embryos.

We were so hopeful that our first fresh transfer would work, but unfortunately it failed. It completely broke us. I'm now in the two-week wait after transferring one of our frozen embryos, and while I'm trying to stay positive, the previous failure has made it really difficult.

Is anyone else here dealing with severe male factor infertility? Did ICSI eventually work for you despite low count, low motility, and poor morphology? Did you also have a failed first transfer before eventually having success?

I would really appreciate hearing your stories. Right now, I think I just need to know we're not alone.

Thank you so much for reading. ❤️