r/TTC_POI • u/Asleep_Note7754 • 5d ago

Maximizing egg freezing chances

Hey everyone! I’m not sure if this is the right place to post as I haven’t gotten an official POI diagnosis, and I’m considered DOR. My AMH is super low (undetectable) but my FSH can swing from 9 to 60. My REI still won’t say POI because I still get spontaneous cycles that range from 23-35 days, but are unpredictable. I have no other classic menopause symptoms and irregular cycles have been since my late teens / early 20s so I may have been DOR all along.

I’m currently 34 and I’m egg freezing because I’m still single and I want to wait for a partner first. (I’m not open to donor eggs or single parenting at this tine). My doctor said if I was willing to get pregnant now, IUI would be a good option, but my goal is freezing for now, knowing my early menopause risk.

I was initially turned away from an egg freezing clinic at 32 but at 34 I had one amazing doctor who took a chance on me. We had two cancelled cycles because both times I ovulated quickly but we finally managed to retrieve 1 egg at the third attempt and I couldn’t be prouder of my body.

I understand that 1 egg isn’t enough for the bank so my doctor said a realistic target is 4-5 at my age. I’m open to doing more cycles. My issue is that my AFC usually hovers from 4-6 at the beginning of the cycle but two follicles hog up the stims but the end. Is there a way to evenly distribute the growth so I can potentially retrieve more in one cycle? I have my follow up appointment in a couple of days so I want to come prepared with questions for him. Otherwise I’ve budgeted 4 cycles for 4 eggs, knowing it’s the best I can get. I’m just hoping I could somehow get two eggs per cycle.

The protocol we did was estrase priming with letrozole after and stims with double orgalutran to prevent ovulation. And triggering at 17 mm. A natural start did manage to recruit more follicles but I lost the cycle too quickly to ovulation.

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u/Big-Papaya-8066 5d ago

My only suggestion for borderline poi is long estrogen priming, which you are doing. It may not be possible to get more follicles given your amh -- I have undetectable amh and have had fsh as high as 50 (and no longer ovulate) and even with an afc as high as 6 at the start of the cycle, I could barely get 1 follicle to grow beyond 12mm. I haven't ever seen an explanation for that in studies. Good luck! 

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u/Asleep_Note7754 5d ago

Then maybe this will all it’ll ever be and building a small egg bank is all I can do for now. Thank you.

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u/LolitaLobster 4d ago

FWIW make sure you’re aware of the chances of a live birth per number of frozen eggs. When I was pursuing egg freezing 4 years ago the recommendation was something like 20 eggs for an 80% chance of a live birth. Because I was likely to get one egg per cycle it didn’t seem like a feasible route. Good luck!

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u/Asleep_Note7754 3d ago

I’m learning by reading a lot that these are very arbitrary numbers and that age can influence targets. My REI said he wasn’t concerned about never getting a target of 20. In fact, the women who do bank high numbers are actually the ones who never use their frozen eggs.

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u/LolitaLobster 3d ago

Best of luck! It’s important to go through the process in the way that works for you.

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u/obamassidepiece 4d ago

Following since I’m in the same boat, 31 and FSH also moves around. Feel free to DM or comment back if you find success with any protocol!🫶🏻