Low fertilization rate

SunTan313 · December 2011

We had ER on 12/13, and transferred two, grade B blasts. We only had one left to freeze. I am trying to understand why we only had 3 usable embryos, when we retrieved 31 eggs. DH has morphology issues, and up until retrieval day, we planned on doing ICSI. His morph had always been around 1-2%, but on retrieval day, it was 5%, so doc recommended doing conventional IVF, and asked for our approval. Now that we only had 13 fertilize, and only 3 that we could use now or in the future, I'm starting to regret my decision. Could we have had more if we had gone with ICSI? Also, I don't know enough about embryo grading to know what a grade B really means (our embryologist had a super strong accent and was so hard to understand).. Any insight?

Trying to remain hopeful. Thanks!!

jessican08 · December 2011

I'm sorry you didn't get he results you were hoping for.

My DH also has low morph (1%) and my RE said we're "ICSI all the way". It's certainly possible you could've had higher fert rates going with ICSI -the morph could have definitely been a culprit but I would ask your RE about the quality of the eggs as well.

And definitely still remain hopeful! GL, Hon!

wordslikeswords · December 2011

Hi hon,

I saw your SAIF/PAIF so I hope it's Ok that I post. First, I wanted to say don't lose hope for your cycle. It's hard not to, I know. DH's morph is 5% and my RE recommended ICSI. My first cycle we had 3/5 eggs fertilize, which is lower than they like to see. My second cycle we had 5/9, which is lower still percentage-wise. I think without ICSI we might have not even had any fertilization, so it's possible that ICSI might have helped you. However, since hindsight is 20/20, I wanted to give you some hope for the future! My first cycle had only 3 embryos. While the cycle did fail, we ended up with a fantastic blastocyst to freeze. I was shocked when they told me. The second cycle we had 5 embryos, implanted 1 (that took) and froze 2. so while we always had low numbers of embryos, they were good embryos. So please don't lose hope. I know it's easy to say "quality over quanitity" but for us it was absolutely true. Even with a low number you CAN have a successful cycle. I'll be thinking of you!

kelnyc · December 2011

MH's strict morph also came back at 5% and the decision to do ICSI or not was left up to us, since their cutoff is 4%. We decided to go for it since it was so close, and had 14 out of 14 mature eggs fertilize! We then transfered 2 on day3 because we didn't know how many would make it to freeze, but did end up with 6 frosties by day6. My point is that even at 5% morph, we may not have even needed ICSI. Sure, we may have had less, but it looks like we would have still had some, so maybe doing ICSI would not have made a huge difference for you either? At this point, you can't change anything, so I would just think happy thoughts for the ones you have. GL!

SunTan313 · December 2011

Thanks so much ladies!! I really hope that my doc made the best decision regarding this cycle and that it all turns out okay. I appreciate it!!

Mrs.Slick · December 2011

Out of the 31 retrieved, how many of those were mature? I had 26 retrieved, 20 were mature, 16 fertilized, 11 fertilized normally and 9 survived (transferred two and 7 made it to freeze).

If all 31 were mature, then 13 fertilizing seems low, if only let's say 15 were mature, then 13 fertilized sounds great. I would ask questions about the 3/13 of the fertilized embryo's surviving until transfer but I don't know if that would be a morph/sperm issue alone or a possible combination of other things.

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