Hello, I am 26 years of age and my partner is 29 years old. Due to my partner having a low sperm count of 1million we have started ICSI treatment but unfortunately our first cycle failed. I responded well to gonal-f with 14 eggs retrieved. Out of the 14 eggs 7 were mature with a further 3 maturing over night but only 3 fertilised :-( I then had 2 embryos put back, one 6 cell and one 4 cell but resulted in a negative test. I will be due to start cycle number 2 in Jan and was wondering if there was anything I can do to try and get a better fertilisation rate as I was devasted with the result this time? Also would it be worth gettin an endometrial scratch done? Thanks, MissFruity
Many thanks for your email and input provided.
The evolution of your ICSI cycle was normal and you responded very well to the ovarian stimulation though the fertilization rate was a bit lower than expected (probably due to the low sperm quality).
Before a second attempt I would recommend you and your partner to carry out a karyotype (a basic genetic test to check the number and shape of chromosomes). Although some studies show that endometrial scratching on the previous cycle could increase the implantation rates there is still no clear scientific evidence on this subject and I wouldn’t advise you to start trying experimental techniques yet.
It is true that fertility treatments can be tough from a psychological point of view and you have to be aware that, even when the cycle evolves correctly, pregnancy rates are not of 100% so I advise you to persevere and be positive, since you are still very young.
I hope my comments have been of assistance to you.
Kind regards,
Dr. Clara Colomé