IVF with Poor Ovarian Reserve

When we learned that my ovarian reserve was rapidly diminishing at the age of 32, and for reasons that remain unexplained we had not had success with oral ovulation medications, or multiple IUI’s with injectable stimulation, so IVF was our last hope for a family.

After we had two attempts at IVF cycles that had to be cancelled due to a poor response to stimulation, it was decided that with the last attempt we would push forward to egg retrieval no matter how few eggs there were.

Stephanie chose a Dao protocol of acupuncture points specifically for patients with high FSH/poor ovarian response.

I started the cycle with 4 antral follicles (about 1/5 of the normal amount for my age), and 3 of those responded to the maximum dose of medication. Quality over quantity was our mantra.

There were just 2 mature eggs on the retrieval day, and to everyone’s surprise both fertilized and we ended up with two great quality embryos to transfer on the 3rd day.

I had another acupuncture session the afternoon of the transfer, and one about a week later to encourage implantation. Two weeks later we got the call we’d waited for 3 years -the pregnancy test was positive.

I’m nearly through the first trimester now and pleased to report that everything has gone very smoothly so far with the pregnancy. We are so grateful to have beaten the odds.

There were at least a dozen people who each played an important role in making this dream a reality –Stephanie being one of them. It is said that it takes an entire village to raise a child, well, sometimes it takes a whole village just to create one.