Dear Dr Sher,
I have listened with interest to your interviews on The Egg Whisperer and I hope you won’t mind my reaching out.
I am a 46 year old woman from London, UK. I began IVF treatment with my partner last autumn (I was 45) having tried unsuccessfully to conceive naturally for two years. Aged 42 my family doctor advised me to take some vitamins and try a couple of times a week, which I now realise was probably not the best advice…
We began fertility tests when I was 44.
I had AFC 5 and AMH of 2pmol/L consistent with my age, but have regular menstrual cycle and am fit and well.
To get to the point, my first IVF cycle resulted in 6 eggs collected and a Day 5 blastocyst which was genetically tested, and came back complex abnormal. (+2, +8, -13, -14, +16, del(18)(q11.1-qter)
We now have to make the very difficult decision to discard this embryo. Our following two cycles did not result in an embryo and we have now ended treatment due to financial constraints.
Your expertise in the genetic testing field has really resonated with me through the podcasts, and I would just like to know your thoughts on whether discarding this embryo really is the only option, I can send more details or the test results should this be relevant.
I am under no illusion and understand completely that at my age, a complex abnormal embryo is very unlikely to implant, let alone result in successful pregnancy. The clinic will not allow me to use it in any case. However, I have read some conflicting information online and so if you have the time, or indeed incase it can help other women of my age, it would be really good to know some statistics or be referred to some studies so I can put my mind at rest if we have reached the end of this journey.
Many thanks for reading and all best wishes,
Belle