When to move on to IVF?

Question

Hi, we've been trying for about a year and have done 4 IUI's with no success. Thankfully with our son we got pregnant on our first IUI, he's 2.5 now. I know after 3 or 4, odds start declining but we've been nervous about IVF, how bad are the shots? Did anyone feel nervous about the increased risk of birth defects? I knew someone that got pregnant on their 4th IUI but don't know anyone that's done more than that. Has anyone done more than 4? Or for people who have done both when did you move on?

Answer

I am currently pregnant with our miracle IVF baby :)

We tried on our own for over 5 years. Tried I can't remember how many rounds of Clomid. Saw a fertility specialist and went on to IUI. We did three with no success.  Between the 2nd and 3rd we weighed going on to IVF. My thoughts were if we had a chance of getting pregnant without all the invasiveness of IVF it was worth one more try.

After the 3rd failed we had to decide IVF or adoption. Our chances with IVF was about 37% of success. Which was mich higher than the 2 to 5% on our own and the less than 20% with iui. We have male factor and I didn't make eggs.

Trust me I was really scared of IVF. overall it wasn't that bad. The shots didn't hurt much.  With each one I told myself one step closer. The procedures weren't that bad either. Honestly Clomids side effects were worse than any if the IVF process.

Now that we are about a week away from having our precious little girl miracle I would say...I wish we had moved onto IVF sooner. IUI was such an emotional roller-coaster. Not that there is any guarantee with IVF.  The chances are so much better.

If you want more information about how IVF was for us let me know. Best wishes :)

Answer

Agree with the above poster. Shots were not bad at all. I paid a nurse to come to my house and show me how. Best 50 bucks I have ever spent! Retrieval and transfer was cakewalk! Ovaries got a little angry but nothing I couldn't handle. Expect to live at drs office. I am 34w 5 days with my little girl. Oh and when the my take your eggs they put the best graded one in. My little blastocyst was a grade a... The 2nd blastocyst was a b I think. Didn't make it past 9 weeks. But A is thriving and kicking!! I would do IVF with ICSI again in a heartbeat and not wait too long!!

Answer

I am in my TTW on my SIXTH IUI. my HMO Kaiser will allow me one more but I am done. I discovered Japanese (Mini) IVF that costs so much less so I'm saying to hell with spending another $1000 on my last IUI and am going to apply it towards IVF ($7200).

Japanese IVF uses way less drugs and anesthesia to produce a more quality egg, embryo, and pregnancy.

This is where I'm going. They have a lot of info if you're curious. Read every little link on the page: hanabusaivf.com

Answer

The hard part about the IUI's is that you are spending money that you could be using towards IVF, but I think they say don't do more than 3-6 cycles without considering moving on. Only you can say when it is truly time to move on to IVF depending on your emotional and financial state, but don't let the shots stop you. They are not that bad. Where did you hear that there are increase risks of birth defects with IVF? You can ask the other IVF mamas, but I don't think this is accurate...
IVF really was not a bad experience for me, but emotional and nerve racking...something you are already experiencing anyway going through IUI cycles each month. GL!

When to move on to IVF?

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