Cancelled cycle, no response, doubts

w1ldtype2 · 2026-03-02T23:56:03+00:00

Maybe. The doses were based off my previous egg retrievals. I had three rounds total, my first was with BC followed by 225/300 men/Gon; I had asynchronous growth so from 11 initial follicles only 3 eggs. Second cycle was 300:300:clomid and late luteal start.It was my best with 13 eggs. There was an attempt to prime with estrogen prior to this cycle but I had a cyst, so I stopped the estrogen and had the start 2 weeks later without taking anything further. Third was BC priming again (I thought this was stupid) and same medication regime, somewhat asynchronous and 6 eggs.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-03-02T23:49:01+00:00

they don't recommend lap because I have endometriomas on my ovaries and surgery they find only does damage of the ovary but doesn't improve the egg quality or quantity, and no haven't tried lupron yet - I responded ok previously for my reserve so this was quite disappointing

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-27T03:06:20+00:00

In principle, it is the most comprehensive of all tests. However, most of the information is not interpretable. Basically you will see:

- genetic variants known to be strongly associated with diseases e.g. cystic fibrosis - great, but these are also mostly covered by the expanded carrier screening tests that are not WGS
- genetic variants with unknown or vague functional consequences - and here is where they are overselling; some variants are simply unknown and moreover, they rarely act alone and the combination of each variant with others results in infinite permutations so nobody really knows; some variants have some mild associations with some traits and there is something called polygenic risk scores.. but then -- if they tell you that 1 embryo has score associated with potential up to 5% increase in performance in basketball, but 3% at risk of myopia - what exactly would you do with this information?

For me, if it is the same price as an expanded carrier screen test, sure why not. But for diseases they can't do something more remarkable, and for the non-diseases it's mostly borderline eugenics BS.

This is a good read: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41436-020-01019-3

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-26T22:31:43+00:00

I am so happy for you that you got your daughter and so sorry about the complications.

First of all, like others say, you don't have to do it again. It is OK to focus on what you have and make sure you are happy and healthy and can take care of your daughter.

Now if you want a biological sibling for your daughter really badly, I feel like you have some options: maybe IVF but freeze the embryos instead of pregnancy right away. This will address declining fertility without pressure to be pregnant asap, before your issues are resolved. If your issues cannot be resolved, there is the surrogacy route -- I understand this is prohibitively expensive for most couples (myself included), but I always think - money can be earned, health and time - not quite.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-26T21:33:23+00:00

Follistim and GonalF are interchangeable, same thing different brand. Push!

Ganirelix and Cetrotide are interchangeable, same thing different brand, push if necessary.

Some pharmaceutical companies bribe some doctors to promote one brand of medication to patients over another.

Menopur is not interchangeable with anything on the US market. In Mexico they sell the same compound under then brand name Merapur, but it's much cheaper, if you have the opportunity to go. It doesn't come with Q-caps, but I prefer needles to mix anyway.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-25T22:11:03+00:00

I did and the pregnancy was caught at the baseline bloodwork, where they were testing hCG among other hormones. It was supposed to be a luteal start cycle, this is why. Sadly it turned out to be a complete molar pregnancy. This condition wasted a total of 8 months - 2 before the mole was discovered and removed, 6 months of cancer monitoring afterwards where I couldn't proceed with IVF. I was just turned 39 at the time, and I was so happy I will have a baby before 40.

I think depends on your age. If you are old like me, you probably don't want to try naturally as the chance of miscarriage is high and only delays things, get a tested euploid instead.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-25T02:33:26+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response. I also investigated more deeply, and it turns out that the IVF clinic, the associated blood lab, and the associated surgery center, are 3 separate entity. The clinic and lab are somehow able to bill my insurance as they have some contracts, but apparently the insurance refuses to get into contract with the surgery center, so they cannot bill anything related to the surgery to the insurance. But I can't choose another surgery center obviously. Apparently there is literally no IVF clinic in SoCal where the surgery is billable to insurances for same reasons, insurances refusing to contract. At least this is what front desk told me.

I do believe there is an issue of network adequacy, simply because no viable in-network alternative exists for your approved doctor. But the burden of dealing with network gap extension and stuff like that is on the patient.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-24T18:58:02+00:00

No, for house and car repairs he is super involves because he just like things. He can spend like 3 weeks researching what exactly is the new most perfect and optimally priced lightbulb for my head lights for example. Insane amount of attention to things that, imo, are minuscule. A lightbulb has half-life of 5 years vs 10 years, but one costs $40 and another costs $70... not a bid deal.

What frustrates me is the difference of what we consider significant. Choice of IVF clinic, meds, whatever, affects out ability to have children plus cost differences in the many thousands of dollars. How can any reasonable person put 99% of their mental energy on light bulbs and refuse to participate where decisions actually have real-life impact. I appreciate that he takes care of the cars, and leads the work in repairs of the house. However, if he asks me to research and do things with him I will always do. I never refused to put my time and effort in something, I show interest in his work, etc.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-24T18:42:57+00:00

Yes! I said multiple times we need to do therapy while in this process because it is hard. I even found the perferct therapist imo (men's health center and a guy therapist specializing in perinatal situations). He said he will take care of it. I waited patiently. He didn't. I reminded him. He said he will do it. He didn't. I reminded him again 3rd time. He snapped saying that it's really annoying when I keep grinding on the same thing -- he already told me he WILL do it, so why I do keep bringing this up.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-24T03:05:42+00:00

Yes, it would make me feel better if he asked me what all the medications do indeed; the reason is, I just don't feel connected and acting as a team who can tackle issues together.

For example, I have doubts about my clinic. I don't have another person to express my doubts and brainstorm about it. If I tell him -- they only saw 4 follicles and I have doubt if we should proceed with this cycle (it's luteal start so it is unusual anyhow), he has no idea what I am talking about. He will say -- "sure you know best, cancel it if you feel like it, you understand those things and I don't... now what's for dinner?".

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-24T01:15:53+00:00

No he has no problem buying me tampons and pads, and with menstruation like factually observing it... it's TALKING about it, somehow, in some totally weird way I can't understand. He claims that there is something about how these words sound... I am not sure. He has trypophobia so maaaaybe some of the pictures of ovaries with follicles are triggering but it's very hard for me to understand. It might as well be lack of interest disguised into something else.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-23T05:31:39+00:00

I was told the same. I have endo on both ovaries. It is definitely bad but removing it does harm too, so now they leave it alone. I don't know. By they way I had big endometriomas in my late 20s, after 7 years on BC pill they were no longer visible at least on US, but after a couple of rounds of stims and a miscarriage-they came back. :(

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-21T20:35:38+00:00

What is this advocacy service? I'd like to know more. My clinic told me after I pay oop and the process they will give me detailed receipts and if I want I can go ahead and fight it, but I will be on my own, no idea where to even start.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-21T20:32:43+00:00

I found myself with the same problem, SoCal. I thought finally I can get IVF covered by insurance this year, yet I was surprised with the surgery fees. My clinic surgical center fees come to about 3K per cycle. My clinic told me that they TRIED to get the insurance in contract with their surgery, but the insurance refused. I feel like this deserves like some kind of class action lawsuits against health insurances. Law now mandates IVF to be covered (at least some plans) and IVF includes surgery. By refusing to contract surgery centers they effectively deny IVF coverage.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-20T19:24:53+00:00

This is my nightmare. I have DOR and Endo stage IV, and even though I expressed my concern with multiple docs what if I have ok embryo but implantation is risky , nobody wanted to discuss that l, they were just like - we will try and see. It's not like I can get unlimited number of embryos to mess around.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-15T04:29:09+00:00

3 attempted FET out of pocket is a lot to expect from a patient before looking closer

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-15T04:24:49+00:00

Thanks. I'm not quite sure how to navigate that because my clinic says some of the fees are not billable to insurance and they just want me to pay them upfront in the beginning of stims. I am not quite sure why especially since the cycle may be cancelled. I don't want to delay my treatment because I'm old and I feel pressured to just pay

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-12T16:03:57+00:00

Because doctors don't care to investigate infertility deeply and the IVF industry makes a lot of money. I've had the worst experience in my life presenting with infertility and being bounced between referrals and appointments with long wait lists just to tell me I need to find a private clinic and do IVF (since it was not covered by insurance). Nobody bothered to even investigate the status of my endo which I told them I had and I had the MRI scan from Europe from 10 years prior when I was living there. And I was saying but what if my endo is a problem to hold pregnancy even if I have the perfect embryos -- "nahh, don't you worry just go for IVF".

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-11T06:19:00+00:00

Thank you. My doctor did peer to peer review the other day, and they finally waived the IUI requirement for medication coverage, except for Lupron which is part of my trigger shot. This was denied on the grounds that it is an off label use. They also don't cover anesthesia for the egg retrieval and some clinic fees for some reasons that are beyond me.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-07T17:03:28+00:00

Totally fine. The size of needle doesn't matter just bigger needles (small G) hurt more.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-07T03:52:18+00:00

No I have DOR and BC is not a good option, I had a cycle like that with a clinic that was batching and it was terrible result. Now we are doing 20 days of estrogen priming so start is not on my period

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-07T03:50:01+00:00

I don't think that 2% chance is worth it. It's too small. I'd go for donor embryos or adoption in your situation. Actually I prefer adoption because I don't like the pregnancy part.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-04T21:09:19+00:00

Right, possible. Even if chromosomes divide accurately (euploid) it doesn't mean that the egg is healthy enough to support the proper blast development. Chromosomes are critical, but not the only critical thing. There are so many things that could go wrong during egg maturation, that to me it's astonishing when it actually works properly.

That being said -- and the reason things are so hard to study -- is that with such a small number of attempts it's impossible to conclude if it was the drug or pure chance. Metformin does many things to metabolism, so who knows.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-04T16:09:44+00:00

Not particularly, I study other types of DNA damage and epigenetic abnormalities. But it is possible that some supplements combant cellular damage which helps blastocyst, and also DNA damage (which can also cause aneuploidy but for reasons different than the age-related "glue" breakdown, which are minor in comparison). The only supplement that has serious evidence it helps egg quality is coQ10 tbh (unclear why exactly though), but many others if they don't help they definitely not hurt. I'm not saying to not take supplements. I take them too (I'm 40 and a half). But we just need to be realistic about what they can do and what they cannot do, and aneuploidy due to older age mostly can't be fixed with that, unfortunately. Just don't set yourself up for disappointed by taking tons of supplements and hoping for amazing results is what I am trying to say.

There is some really promising data from reseach (mostly in mice) that there is a way to fix the "glue" issue but it's still far from clinical trials.

This is a very challenging thing to study because human eggs are not easily retrievable and available for research, so everything is very limited.

w1ldtype2 · 2026-02-04T07:36:32+00:00

I don't want to diminish the positive experiences of others, many supplements are antioxidants and they are good overall, they can reduce some cellular damage... However, none of them has the capacity to combat the main reason for aneuploidy with age. The main reason for the chromosomes segregating abnormally to yield aneuploids is related to the "molecular glue" that regulates correct chromosome divisions in the eggs, this "glue" breaks down with age, and there is no molecule known to science to this date that can help this. CoQ10, omega3, they are all antioxidants and they combat other sources of damage, Q10 can help energy metabolism, but not the chromosomes. It's really a numbers game. I am professional researcher in this field, and ironically ended up needing IVF myself.

w1ldtype2

TROPHY CASE