Hello everyone,
I am completely unsettled and frankly overwhelmed. We've been trying to conceive since we got married in 2018. Unfortunately, I didn't get pregnant and was never really able to determine my ovulation with ovulation tests and temperature methods. We went to a fertility clinic for the first time in 2020. My husband's spermiograms were great and my hormones etc. were also good. However, my BMI was over 35 and the doctor there told me that she wouldn't even do cycle tracking with ovulation triggering on me because she couldn't dose my hormones properly... However, the fallopian tube permeability was checked.
This experience and the corona restrictions etc. led to the fact that we only found the courage to try again in another fertility center in 2024. Here my hormones were also found to be ok and spermiograms were good and at the end of 2024 we had first triggered ovulation with Ovitrelle for three months and tried to get pregnant naturally until the health insurance companies had approved the treatment plan. However, as I will be 40 in September this year, we decided to start as soon as possible and then had IVF at the beginning of 2025, where 11 eggs were also retrieved. We were in high spirits and then came the shock - none of the eggs fertilized. I was completely stunned. Our doctor said it might be due to the calcium channel of the sperm and that we would definitely get fertilized eggs with an Icsi.
So we immediately had the treatment plan for Icsis drawn up and out of 9 follicles, 7 eggs were mature. But the next blow - only one egg was fertilized! This egg divided on the morning of the second day and we had a beautiful 4 AA cell, which was transferred to me on day 2. Unfortunately, it either didn't divide any further or didn't implant.
We then needed a break and there were various public holidays in Bavaria, so we only had our second Icsi last week. This time I felt different to the other two stimulations and I had a viral upper respiratory tract infection with laryngitis just before and at the beginning of the cycle. Nevertheless, the stimulation was the same as with the first Icsi. This time the puncture revealed only 5 eggs and only 3 of them were mature. The sperm were selected with Zymot chamber and the eggs were placed in calcium ionophore. Again, only one egg was fertilized. On the day of the planned transfer, I was called to say that this egg had also failed to divide. Desperation.
This was the last attempt in which the health insurance company was involved.
My husband has now received the results of the DNA fragmentation and everything looks good (we are still waiting for all our documents!).
On the phone I was told by the doctor that with our fertilization rate he can't advise me to try again with my own eggs.
In the meantime, I wish we had gone back to another fertility center. My doctor was unavailable most of the time and I saw many different doctors. Even after the unsuccessful attempts, there was often no contact person available to discuss the next steps properly. My husband was usually completely ignored. He wasn't supposed to come to the appointments either, except for blood tests and sperm collection. I was often not called back as agreed or at other times (e.g. when I was at the gym) and I could neither talk freely nor take notes etc.
I don't know if I want to give up yet. But I'm also overwhelmed by the possibilities at the moment.
We live in southern Germany, so the Czech Republic and Austria would be good options for treatment abroad.
I have asked a Spanish clinic for an online consultation as they offer "ovarian rejuvenation" - do you have any experience or opinions?
What are your opinions and experiences of double IVF? Does it make sense at all if the egg quality is poor?
Is there a test to determine the quality of the eggs, I couldn't really find anything on this.
I am now so confused and unsure that I can no longer absorb the information I am researching.
Our fertility center uses a portal where all results are supposed to be uploaded, but blood values have only been uploaded once, although we have asked for our values several times...
Sorry for the long text, I guess it all had to come out.
Have a nice evening and best regards