Lina @linaatteryd:
"Important reflections I have made on my IVF journey, which started in 2019, are how certain decisions turned out to be very important or perhaps completely crucial for me to have the honor of becoming a mother. My daughter is today 2.5 years old.
- The importance of the clinic.
- It is ok, and can be crucial, to change clinic during the IVF journey. Don’t wait
- My choice of doing individualized stimulation for my own eggs and PGT-A:
- Not only shortened my time to become a mother but was probably crucial for me to be able to become a mother using my own eggs;
- Helped me “save” my health, energy, time and money;
- Made it possible for me to be successful with my own eggs.
My IVF-journey started in Sweden when I was 37 years old. After bad experiences on many levels, most important result-wise but also on the process and engagement level of my local I realized that my local clinic was not enough for me to become successful as well as to keep my hopes up during the journey. During only a period of a couple of months I went from being hopeful and full of energy to anxiety, many tears and dejected and despondent. In parallel I heard about the OLGA Clinic and started to attend their webinars which increased my interest in the clinic. It was spring 2020 and the clinic was at that time closed due to Covid, but we had video calls with OLGA doctors and their professionalism, long experience of IVF, offering individual treatment plan, giving PGTA possibilities, sharing the risk with the clinic by offering money back guarantee as well as sharing facts and figures on my specific case made a huge and important impression on me, and I got my hopes up again. After only one attempt in Sweden, I decided to change clinics even though it was early into my IVF journey and that I only had a 20min bike ride to the hospital in Sweden. I am grateful that I travelled to St.Petersburg as soon as Covid allowed it and today I know it was an important and crucial decision I made. It was not easy but SO WORTH IT.
It took exactly 1 year after I attended the very first webinar until I was pregnant, despite that I started treatment in a local clinic first, then the OLGA Clinic was closed some time due to Covid. Also I had a low AMH with fewer eggs, which made me expect many more attempts, I also had issues with my thyroid and had turned 39 yrs. I got a combined package with money back guarantee of live birth which included 2 IVF cycles with own eggs & egg donations IVF cycles. I was successful in St.Petersburg on my second attempt with my own eggs.
Sweden: 1 egg retrieval, 4 eggs where collected, 3 of these were used for ICSI and 2 got fertilized normally. 1 embryo was transferred on day 2 but with a negative pregnancy test. The second embryo died before day 5.
OLGA team:
First egg retrieval, 3 eggs were collected, 3 got normally fertilized by ICSI, one survived 5 days and was PGTA tested, 0 embryos turned out to be chromosomally normal. No embryo transfer. Second egg retrieval, 6 eggs were collected and got normally fertilized by ICSI, 4 embryos became blastocysts and were PGTA tested and 2 turned out to be chromosomally normal! The first transfer was successful, and my daughter is now 2,5 years. I have one left stored in the freezer 😊.
I am forever grateful to the OLGA team."
Watch the informative InstaLive with Lina, her treating doctor Anna and Dr. Olga. Find out more about opportunities of individualized IVF with own eggs and PGT-A
Lina’s treating doctor Dr. Anna Ivanova explains:
I met Linna in the summer of 2020 during the Covid pandemic. At that time, Linna was 38 years old and had already undergone one IVF+ICSI attempt and transfer of one fresh embryo Day-2, but unfortunately didn’t reach the desired pregnancy. Linna's AMH was 0,3ng/ml and we needed an effective stimulation protocol to obtain the maximum possible number of mature oocytes within Linna's AMH. Therefore, the first step was to optimize the stimulation protocol.
It is also important to note that possible causes (in addition to age) of a decrease in ovarian reserve, as well as a suboptimal and "poor" ovarian response, include autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism. Thus, an additional attention was paid to monitoring Linna's TSH level throughout the treatment.
Unfortunately, the 1st treatment protocol did not bring us success — just one blastocyst which was sadly chromosomally abnormal. For the second stimulation it was decided to use a short stimulation protocol with GnRH antagonist priming in order to avoid possible asynchronous follicle growth. Also, the choice was made to use a combination of rFSH and rLH in the superovulation stimulation protocol. Most clinical studies show the need for a specific combination treatment using rFSH and rLH to optimize ovarian stimulation in patients of advanced reproductive age due to age-related changes in gonadotropins and their receptors, leading to a deficiency of rFSH and rLH. At the same time, a positive effect of rLH on the maturity and fertilization of oocytes has also been proven.
I made stimulation for 10 days without coverage by GnRH antagonist (Orgalutran) which is used to prevent premature ovulation. In Scandinavian countries Orgalutran/Fyremadel is usually started in standardized protocol on day 5-6 of stimulation, probably in fear of premature ovulation, and being started so early it suppresses small follicles significantly and many of them discontinue growth. I gave Lina’s follicles all the time and started with Orgalutran only from day 11 of stimulation when the size of the follicles was already big enough. Because I followed Lina’s stimulation so closely I tuned the stimulation into her individual rhythms – I listened o the needs of her ovaries sand I did not risk.
And the last but not the least pat of success was given to a double trigger – both HCG (Ovitrelle) and GnRH Agonist (Decapeptyl)
As a result we received 6 eggs and 4 blastocysts, 2 of which were confirmed to be euploid by PGT-A and recommended for transfer!
The next step was to perform a check-up of the 1st future "home" for Linna’s embryo and prepare it for the embryo transfer. In February 2021, we performed a hysteroscopy and ERA test. During the hysteroscopy procedure, micropolyposis of the uterine mucosa was diagnosed, as well as a cervical polyp in the upper third cervix, which was fixed immediately during the operation. After that, Linna was prescribed anti-inflammatory and antiviral therapy.
In April 2021, we performed the transfer of the 1st euploid embryo, which led to the long-awaited pregnancy and a live birth. Today, Linna’s daughter is already 2.5 years old!
We believe that the following steps in Linna's individual treatment plan helped prepare her in the best possible way for the pregnancy and a live birth:
- Individualized stimulation protocol taking into account Lina's low ovarian reserve and age-related features;
- Embryo culture to the blastocyst stage and PGT-A test to exclude pathological embryos from transfer;
- Hysteroscopy and ERA test to estimate the uterine cavity before planning the embryo transfer and to maximally prepare the VIP environment in the uterus for Linna's VIP embryo;
- A gentle embryo transfer within the individualized treatment protocol with supporting a proper growth of functional endometrium in a separate cycle with HRT preparation;
- Supportive treatment after embryo transfer reducing the risks of pregnancy loss and the risks of potential complications in pregnancy;
- Linna's compliance and strict adherence to her treatment plan, dynamic monitoring of her TSH levels.
If your fertility treatment did not succeed yet in other clinics, discuss your situation with us and find out about best options by O.L.G.A. Fertility in St. Petersburg or Cyprus!
Comments are closed.