Dear Elaine
Many thanks for your reply above. We do not want to use donor eggs and have more or less decided not to go down the ICSI route but we intend to give it our best shot naturally although we know the chances are very slim.
I have since telephoned the clinic to request details of my fertility tests. Could you comment as they mean nothing to me. Are they good for my age (45)?
LH 8.4 IU/L, FSH 7.3 IU/L, Oestradiol 131 pmol/L, Anti Mullerian Hormone 11.2 pmol/L, Progesterone concentration 103.6 nmol/L
We have also been advised to visit a lab for sperm morphology results, a male hormone profile to check for testicular failure and also to check for antibodies in my partner's sperm.
My partner had a vasectomy reversal on Nov. 6 and he was given results of a semen analysis around Dec. 20. He was told that is was "normal". That was great news for us, as he put it, he "has swimmers". But I wanted to know more, such as the info you received - count, motility, etc. Do you know, if the clinic did not provide any of this info, should we assume it was all healthy and at least average? I'm not sure if they tested simply for the presence of a sperm.
Hi!
I took care of a couple once who married at 50. They didn't bother with birth control because they were "too old". She delivered her first child at 51 and her second at 52.
So, it is not impossible.
However, stories like this one are the exception and not the rule.
43 is about the MAX age at which most women can use their own eggs.
If you were my patient, I would ask you to think very seriously about what you really want. If you are dying to have the pregnancy experience and hold and love a baby ( I HIGHLY recommend all of the above ) your best bet might be embryo donation. The child would not be genetically related, but who cares about DNA?
If you really want a child that is genetically related, and are willing to try to beat the odds and settle for no children if you don't, then ICSI is probably your best bet.
Actually it might even be worth considering a testicular biopsy to retreive the sperm--but again, that depends on how far you two want to go.
I wish you all the best with your decision!
Good luck!
Dr B