Hi Drs!

How much impact does embryo quality have on success rates of an IVF attempt? 

We have been ttc for about 4 yrs now.  I will be 38 in december.  After an HSG showing that both fallopian tubes seemed to be blocked, a laparoscopy was prescribed in February 2005 and i was diagnosed with Endometriosis, and one of my tubes is “twisty” .  The endometriosis was cleaned up, and we attempted 2 IUI’s with clomid etc, then 3 IUIs with injectables with no success.  This is our first IVF attempt.  My day 3 fsh is has been around 11-12 for about a year now, so gonal-f doses were pretty high.  We got 6 good ovules, and only 2 managed to fertilize, but we are told they are of good quality, so we are going ahead with a transfer tomorrow. 

Just looking for a little silver lining, i guess.  I’ve been told quality is better then quantity in this case.  Is this true?

Thanks for your time!

Briggie

Dear Briggie,
It sounds like you have been through quite a lot! This can be such an emotionally draining process.  Success rates are dependent on so many factors, many of which you have mentioned (age, infertility diagnosis, response to stimulation medications, number of oocytes retrieved, fertilization rates, number of embryos transferred, etc).  It is hard to give you a clear cut success rate without having your entire history, however average rates can be obtained from the SART (society for assisted reproductive technology) website (http://www.sart.org) based on the infertility center that you attend and your age group. 
Best of Luck with this cycle,
Keri L. Greenseid, MD

thanks for the reply… i’ll check out that link!

hopeful,
B