Pregnancy with an FSH level of 43 - A Patient Success Story

We recently tele-graduated a patient from our clinic! She came to us three years ago in her mid-30’s after two years of trying.

When she first came to us, her gynecologist found that her FSH was 43, and AMH was <0.03. She researched her options and then realized that traditional fertility treatments would not work for her. After discovering we offer different treatment protocols, she traveled to our clinic.

Because of her high FSH, we started a “suppression” stimulation. It took us four months to see any signs of egg follicles.

Eventually, we could perform a single egg retrieval, which resulted in a Day 5 blastocyst. PGT had been performed but, unfortunately, the biopsied cells degenerated, and we could not provide a diagnosis. We did not dare to repeat the biopsy and risk damaging the embryo.

For the next 14 months, we tried various treatments, but our efforts were to no avail. We did one last egg retrieval, and now she is in complete menopause. Because we only had one opportunity for transfer, she had never been pregnant, and surrogacy was not an option, we had to take everything but the kitchen sink approach to transfer.

To eliminate any uterine lining issues which could come about from not having regular periods, we cleaned out the uterus and artificially brought back her menstrual cycle for 3 months.

Although ERA testing is unnecessary for most patients, we only had one chance. We performed this test to confirm our protocol.

Although the likelihood of embryo rejection resulting in miscarriage is <1% because we only had one chance and embryo rejection testing is fraught with false positives and negatives, we took the risk and treated with blood thinners and steroids.

Fortunately, she is pregnant and started seeing her Ob for obstetrical care. We still have a long way to go, but the pregnancy has been progressing perfectly.