Introduction

laura-kay

Hi everyone.  My name is Laura.  I am 37 and my DH is 42.  We’ve been dealing with infertility for years now, ever since we married each other back in 2014.  It’s been a struggle to understand the “why”.  I still don’t understand.

Around 3 years ago, we started with a diagnosis process with my primary gynecologist office.  It honestly was not a good experience.  They performed an HSG improperly - and I got a diagnoses of both tubes being blocked.  That was a devastating blow.  I went into a laporoscopy in hopes that it could help.  It turned out that they were wrong with the HSG results.  I actually don’t have blocked tubes.  It really was an awful experience and I believe the tests were not done correctly.  

Eventually, about 6 months ago, we switched to a REI at a really good medical center.  We continued research with the end diagnosis of unexplained infertility.  My doctor gave us four choices: do nothing (3% chance), IUI plus Clomid (8% chance), IUI plus superovulation (18-22%) or IVF (25-28%).  Hearing these statistics was shocking to us.  3% if we did nothing?  8% with treatment?  It feels like my body just is failing on us in this department.

After long deliberation, my DH and I agreed that we would try IUI + superovulation.  We were concerned about some risks - but we think it is the best choice for now.  It is really expensive though.  It isn’t as expensive as IVF, but it is stretching our budget.  Apparently our insurance doesn’t cover a dime.  We also are concerned about chances of high multiples (triplets or more - 8%), though we’d be happy with twins (23%) if we were blessed with that - and if we are successful, we will be thrilled no matter how many.

We had our teaching and planning sessions with our doctor and nurses in the past few weeks, as well as an AMH blood test.  I also got my medicines today (Gonal F Redipen and Ovidrel).  I am anxious, nervous and excited about this - and am hoping it works!

We expect to start treatment on Thanksgiving, so it is right around the corner!

All that said, I am glad to see this group is available and look forward to participating.

mbradfo2

I'm not your doctor, but I'm surprised he gave IVF such a low chance in comparison to IUI. Technically, across the broad population, yes, IVF is about a 25-30 percent success rate, but that pool includes many couples who have major, known issues and who are over 40 -- a much lower chance population overall than the typical IUI population.  https://www.cdc.gov/art/ivf-success-estimator/index.html  is a little tool that can give you good idea of success rates depending on diagnosis, treatment, etc.

We had a diagnosis of unexplained IF as well, although it gradually evolved over time to show that the major issues were egg quality and reserve. I'm now considered low AMH/DOR by my doctor.

That being said, we did 3 IUI cycles like yours -- superovulation - and were unfortunately unsuccessful...but then did have a natural pregnancy a month or two after the 3rd IUI. That sadly ended in miscarriage, but was considered by my doctor to be a pretty positive sign that I -can- get pregnant. We ended up doing a cycle of IVF a year later after I had healed and recovered from the loss, and the end result of that was a happy little girl after 6 years of 'trying'. 

I know your doctor is just being pragmatic, but try not to worry over the "chances" too much -- so much varies from couple to couple, patient to patient. Sometimes this journey can seem endless, but there are so many reasons to hope and look forward to successful results.