IVF success rates?

[silentbunny]

Hi ladies,

it looks like DH and I may be moving on to IVF in the next few months. No fertility treatments are covered by our insurance, so we will be all self-pay. My RE is involved in a program called Shared Risk Refund -- basically, we pay for 2.5 cycles of IVF, but they will give us up to 6 cycles (3 IVF and then 3 frozen embryo transfers) for that, and at the end of all of those, if we are not holding a live baby, we are refunded a significant portion (about 70%). My DH keeps saying, "But what if we're successful the first time?" which is a valid concern, However, I think the peace of mind may be worth it.

So, I am wondering -- if you have done IVF, were you successful the first time? If not, how many cycles did it take, or did you ultimately decide to stop? Thank you in advance!

[pocahontas]

Hey SILENTBUNNY...haven't done IVF, but I am wondering if we are in the same state because the clinic I have been eyeing and contemplating making an appt with does the same "Shared Risk" thing. I am going to PM you.

[Scooter]

Did you post this in teh IVF thread? There are quite a few women around here who have done shared risk programs. From what you said, it sounds like you may be going to an IntegraMed clinic?

Before doing IVF with a clinic, especially an IntegraMed clinic where the experiences can vary widely, I would suggest three things:
* getting a second opinion at a clinic that is not so based on profit (like through a University Hospital or even a Kaiser, if they're in your state)
* researching your clinic choice on your local boards over at IVfconnections.com
* researching the detailed success rates at the clinics in your area (not just the pregnancy rates, but the quality of the fresh blasts, quality of the defrosted blasts, etc. This info should all be online, I have lost the link but that info should be updated recently. Again, check the IVF thread because they probably have the current stats for the clinics.)

[silentbunny]

Wow! Thank you, Scooter. I read through the "IVF, anyone" thread tonight, but didn't see mention of the IntegraMed stuff... though it may be in past threads. I will look again.

I have looked into a few clinics in my area, and the success rate at this one seem quite good. They also have a good reputation and I was specifically referred to my RE by my GP, who had heard good things from some of her other patients. I will do more research, though -- this is not a decision to be made capriciously. :)

pocahontas, There are several IntergaMed affiliates -- the one I am working with is in Seattle. But PM me anyway -- I'll share whatever info I've got!

ETA: Here are the numbers for my clinic in my age range. I *think* they are good (better than the other clinics in my area, after a quick search), but I am still learning.
Cycles Started for 2005
Age 35-37
Cycles Started 141
Number of Egg Retrievals 122
Average # Embryos Transferred 2.0
Number of Embryo Transfers 118
Clinical Pregnancy Rate* 53%
Live Birth Rate* 48.6%

[gator97]

Hi Silent Bunny! Glad to see you joined the IVF thread. It is an amazingly supportive group of women.

We were successful on our third try of IVF. We did a minimal stimulation IVF and they used two different protocols the first two times. They said this gave them a lot of information about how I responded (too well). So, they added the Metformin to dampen my estrogen response a bit. Seemed to work b/c I though I had less eggs, the embryos were of higher quality and a greater number of cells at the 3 day transfer.

We transferred back 1 -8 cell (grade 1)and 1 -7 cell (grade 2) this last time. We were originally pregnant with twins but lost one of them at around 7 weeks. I'm currently 10 weeks pregnant.

We didn't do shared risk b/c we were fortunate enough to have some insurance coverage- so I can't help you with that decision.
Good luck on your journey and with your decisions!

[angelgirl8]

we actually did the shared risk program at my clinic. we were successful on IVF #2, but our thought was that if we were successful on the first IVF, we wouldn't mind losing the extra money because it would mean a baby!

it actually took some of the stress (financial, mostly!) away from the process of IVF, which i liked.

[mrselle]

We did not do the shared risk program.

We did one fresh cycle where I responded well to the drugs and went through with the retrieval, but I developed a severe case of OHSS and cancelled the transfer. We froze our embies and went back for an FET a few months later and were successful. Our little girl was born in August.

[amychris03]

We didn't have any insurance coverage, and our clinic didn't do a shared risk program, so it was pretty expensive. We were successful our first attempt at IVF. My problem was tubal(I lack the musculature to get the egg through the tube), and my RE was fairly confident that once we skipped the tubes and did IVF, we would be successful. Luckily she was right!

[Cath]

I was successful the first IVF cycle. My clinic offered Shared Risk as well and we discussed it before it was certain that our insurance would cover the cycle (we live in a mandated state where my husband's company is based). My RE said we could consider the Shared Risk, but that he didn't recommend it because of my age (32 at the time) and the success rates for my age group - 55% clinical pregnancy and 48% continued pregnancy.

Good luck in making your decision.

[karlatta]

I was successful with my first IVF cycle too. At least so far - I'm only 6 weeks along.

We did not consider doing Shared Risk, for a couple of reasons. 1) We didn't have the funds available - we only had enough for one cycle and that's it. 2) I'm young (26) so the RE gave us really good odds of conceiving.

[miaclear]

I hope you don't mind but I voted on behalf of my good friend who is not on CC....but she shared her entire story with me along the way. They were lucky the first try. She had 2 implanted and 1 took, she is now the proud mom of a little boy. Their problem was with the husband who had cancer as a child and his sperm count was very very low. Her being healthy they highly expected a successful IVF and they got it. They are working on saving up for #2 now, they did not do a shared risk program.

[silentbunny]

Thank you everyone for your responses -- and please keep them coming. As for us, DH seems to be fine in terms of sperm count, morphology, motility, etc...it's me that's the issue. Thanks for giving me some more things to ponder!

I'm really pleased for everyone that so mnay of you were successful the first time!

[DisneyBride2002]

I was sort of in between a few of the choices.

I got pregnant from IVF #2, but it was ectopic. IVF #4 was magic somehow because this one is doing great!

I was given a 70% chance of success based on our age and situation (I was 28 and we had MFI due to low testosterone). That turned out to be crap. My advice - go in thinking 50/50. To me, success rates either set you up for massive disappointment or end up upsetting someone by indicating a low chance of success.

[Sidsou]

We were successful with our first IVF and have a DS. However, we haven't been successful trying for a second child after two more IVFs. We are in an insurance mandated state.

It's really hard to figure the odds. I think it depends a lot of what issues you are facing. But I kind of like angelgirl's attitude that if you are successful with IVF #1 you don't mind the money.