9 replies to this topic

[olangan]

Hi I am 46 years of age and I have had four children and after the fourth at 33 years of age I got pushed into a tubal ligation. I am wondering if my eggs would even be considered for IVF? I know at the clinic I am thinking of they have a cut off of 45. I have three cousins that have had perfect children one at 42, the other in mid 40's and lastly twins in her early 40's. Should I use donor eggs just to be safe?

[Crazy]

Hi olangan,

Unfortunately, the odds of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby with your own eggs are very, very low. Our egg numbers and quality start decreasing dramatically once we approach our 40s.

You would have to talk with clinics to see if any of them would consider it. And, realistically, you need to think about the possibility of a cancelled or failed cycle.

[rollergirl]

Most clinics will not treat you with your own eggs after the age of 43 let alone 45. Sounds rough but that is how it is. And also to add what crazy says the odds of having a downs syndrome baby for example increases greatly. If you feel that the path of least regret would be to do a ivf cycle ...maybe depending on your bloodwork you might be a good candidate....good luck with whatever you chose. 

[GabyP]

Hi,

 

The odds are bad and something else to consider, that if I remember correctly, there was only one recent success with an egg of a 48 year old, it was published in medical journals as such rarity. This physician accomplished it after years of trying with others. Look at the odds, but something else is important. You would have to find a clinic wiling to try it, and the cost of numerous cycles, and it will take numerous ones to maybe find one or two genetic viable eggs. That still will leave you with the worries thereafter.

While this happens, time passes and the odds decrease. 

Miracles do happen, but it might be a journey of many obstacles, more than donor eggs.

[ociwoman]

Well, you potentially have a few options; however probably two of the most important factors to consider are:

 

(1) How much money do you have to spend on this venture?

 

(2) What is your cut-off date for having a baby?

 

There is a woman on this site that is doing "embryo banking". I believe she is in her early 40s. She has a diminished ovarian reserve (like almost all women over 40) and she found a clinic who is willing to do ivf with her own eggs. Essentially, she is undergoing several ivf cycles so that she can bank up several embryos. From what I recall, however, she has not been able to retrieve vary many eggs and very few are fertilizing, so she has very few frozen right now. I don't believe she had PGS done on the embryos, so she is probably not certain what the quality is of the embryos (e.g., whether they have trisomies are not).  

 

The challenge with women over 42 doing ivf with their own eggs is that most eggs are not viable due to age. Plus, older women often respond poorly to having their ovaries stimulated, so if you get any eggs (I've seen MANY women on here over 43 get NO EGGS from their ivf cycle), usually there are very few if any at all, and this does not mean they are viable.

 

For the embryo banking, each cycle has a price tag around $10K depending on which clinic you use and how much meds you need. You can easily count on 5-6 cycles before you have a few embryos, if any.  So, very expensive option, that still does not guarantee a single viable embryo.

 

Even if you do not choose to embryo bank, you need to consider that it is the NORM for the first cycle to result in a negative result for most women, regardless of age or diagnosis. Many women require several cycles to get pregnant, regardless of their age. So you need to think about how much time you are willing to dedicate to trying with your own eggs and how much money you are willing to spend too. That's not even considering the toll that multiple stimulation cycles will take on on your body and mind. Just ask any woman on here that has done an ivf cycle - it's pretty rough, and worse if you do several cycles in a year.

 

At your age, the fastest and likely cheapest way to get pregnant is by doing donor egg treatment. Approximately 90% of women who pursue donor egg treatment will become pregnant within three cycles. Contrast that to the fact that most women who pursue own egg ivf in their mid-40s, will NOT bring home a baby. 

 

I hope you don't find my comments harsh, but they are based on experience. There are, unfortunately, some unscrupulous clinics out there who will take your money even when they know there's only a minute possiblity that a 46 year old woman would be able to retrieve any eggs at all, much less ones that will produce a baby. 

 

Good luck in your choices, and if you want more information on egg donor treatment, we have many threads on here that discuss the how's and where's, including costs! There is also a thread for women who are pregnant with donor eggs. Happy reading!

[SunshineTTC]

Ociwoman - you might be talking about me?  See sig below.  However I'm "only" just 42.  To clarify however, my cycles have not cost anywhere near as much as you say, and I have specifically done low doses of meds -- older women often do not do any better with higher doses since there are so few eggs anyway, so it can be a waste of money not to mention frying the eggs.

[ociwoman]

Glad you clarified the info, SunshineTTC. And I see you just got a BFP! How awesome for you - congratulations!

[Tess]

"Hi I am 46 years of age and I have had four children and after the fourth at 33 years of age I got pushed into a tubal ligation. I am wondering if my eggs would even be considered for IVF? I know at the clinic I am thinking of they have a cut off of 45. I have three cousins that have had perfect children one at 42, the other in mid 40's and lastly twins in her early 40's. Should I use donor eggs just to be safe?"

 

Statistically odds are very low.  If you only want to spend on 1 fresh cycle, I'd suggest donor egg.  

[olangan]

Well, you potentially have a few options; however probably two of the most important factors to consider are:
 
(1) How much money do you have to spend on this venture?
 
(2) What is your cut-off date for having a baby?
 
There is a woman on this site that is doing "embryo banking". I believe she is in her early 40s. She has a diminished ovarian reserve (like almost all women over 40) and she found a clinic who is willing to do ivf with her own eggs. Essentially, she is undergoing several ivf cycles so that she can bank up several embryos. From what I recall, however, she has not been able to retrieve vary many eggs and very few are fertilizing, so she has very few frozen right now. I don't believe she had PGS done on the embryos, so she is probably not certain what the quality is of the embryos (e.g., whether they have trisomies are not).  
 
The challenge with women over 42 doing ivf with their own eggs is that most eggs are not viable due to age. Plus, older women often respond poorly to having their ovaries stimulated, so if you get any eggs (I've seen MANY women on here over 43 get NO EGGS from their ivf cycle), usually there are very few if any at all, and this does not mean they are viable.
 
For the embryo banking, each cycle has a price tag around $10K depending on which clinic you use and how much meds you need. You can easily count on 5-6 cycles before you have a few embryos, if any.  So, very expensive option, that still does not guarantee a single viable embryo.
 
Even if you do not choose to embryo bank, you need to consider that it is the NORM for the first cycle to result in a negative result for most women, regardless of age or diagnosis. Many women require several cycles to get pregnant, regardless of their age. So you need to think about how much time you are willing to dedicate to trying with your own eggs and how much money you are willing to spend too. That's not even considering the toll that multiple stimulation cycles will take on on your body and mind. Just ask any woman on here that has done an ivf cycle - it's pretty rough, and worse if you do several cycles in a year.
 
At your age, the fastest and likely cheapest way to get pregnant is by doing donor egg treatment. Approximately 90% of women who pursue donor egg treatment will become pregnant within three cycles. Contrast that to the fact that most women who pursue own egg ivf in their mid-40s, will NOT bring home a baby. 
 
I hope you don't find my comments harsh, but they are based on experience. There are, unfortunately, some unscrupulous clinics out there who will take your money even when they know there's only a minute possiblity that a 46 year old woman would be able to retrieve any eggs at all, much less ones that will produce a baby. 
 
Good luck in your choices, and if you want more information on egg donor treatment, we have many threads on here that discuss the how's and where's, including costs! There is also a thread for women who are pregnant with donor eggs. Happy reading!

I do not find you harsh at all. I want success not to fail. You said that it take several cycles but can you explain to me what a cycle is? Also where do I find this donor egg info?

[LastTry]

"cycle" or "attempt" - it is the period when you work closely with RE to get pregnant. Usually it takes 1-2 months to go through 1 cycle, but there is much more time needed before you start - all REs (especially good ones) have the waiting time for the 1st visit 1-12 months. Then you need to do a lot of medical tests - blood work, monitoring, some other special tests, your partner is going throught the testing too. If you decide to go donor egg you will need less testing.

 

you can go through these threads where you will get tons of info about donor eggs-

https://ivf.ca/forums...rogacy-buddies/

 

or more particulary this topic -

https://ivf.ca/forums...or-eggsembryos/

 

or even more particulary this page - look for ociwomen's summary (from my opinion it is the best summary I've ever seen here) -

https://ivf.ca/forums...mbryos/page-270

 

After reading a lot of topics you will know more than your RE about the donor eggs options :-)))

 

Realistically if you go to your family doctor tomorrow and get the referral to RE, it will take you about 6 months (if you are lucky) to actually start "cycling". It is a long process. I was unlucky and it took for me 22 months from the time of sending the referral to the doctor until we started iui cycle.