Chances of IVF success at 40

Dear Sirs

My husband and I have been trying for a baby for 6 years now. We discovered low sperm count early on and my husband was prescribed clomid. We managed to conceive naturally twice within 3 months both times, but the first one was terminated for medical reasons (T21), and the second was a miscarriage. We have done 4 IVF cycles. The second one resulted in yet another miscarriage. We had 3 good quality blastos and transfered one. We recently discovered high DNA fragmentation for my husband and proceeded with TESE. We got three vials of very good quality sperm. We proceeded with 4th ICSI recently where I had an antral follicle count of 17, got 12 eggs, 11 mature, 7 fertilised but we only got one 4CC blastocyst and got a BFN. We have 3BB frozen embryos left from the previous IVF and two vials of good quality sperm (we have tested fragmentation and it is about 20%). What do you think our chances of success are at 40? I am really disappointed to only have achieved a 4CC blasto after all this effort and having performed TESE. My most recent AMH was 7.2 pmol in January 2017. I also have been diagnised with a blood clotting issue ie taking clexane and baby aspirin

Many Thanks

Our Expert's Answer

This information was published 5 years, 7 months ago and was correct at the time of publication. It may not reflect our current practices or regulations.

Please note that all the answers we give are on a generic basis only, as we cannot provide more in-depth answers without access to your medical history. If you need a more detailed response, tailored to you, we would recommend a consultation with one of our Fertility Specialists for more comprehensive medical advice.

It appears from your history that the early embryonic development has a very important role to play in the outcome, which is leading to chromosomal abnormality and miscarriages. The quality of embryos is affected by aging (male and female), presence of other factors such as DNA fragmentation etc. Unfortunately in your situation, there are additional risk factors to contribute to miscarriage (blood clotting disorder) .

You may wish to consider additional testing such as a preimplantation genetic test for the frozen embryo or for any embryos in a fresh cycle before the transfer. You can discuss this in more detail with a fertility specialist.

If you'd like to book a consultation with one of our specialists, please telephone our team on 0161 300 2737.