I didn’t plan my future when I was young, is oocyte donation my only option?
I've never heard of the concept of freezing eggs for future use when I was still young.
Hong Kong people are known for their hard-working and high living expenses. However, working women are often spending time at work in the golden age for marriage and childbirth. They are often labeled as three-high leftover women (higher age, high educational background, high income). I've been there, no choice but to suffer in silence. Hong Kong looks like a modern, civilized, and open society, but it is still very behind in terms of constitutions such as bachelorettes freezing their eggs.
In recent years, some HK celebrities have mentioned their egg freezing treatment overseas. It created some attention in the society of egg freezing. I waited until the age of 41 to come across the concept of egg freezing, embryo freezing. In the meantime, in Taiwan, most high school students learn about it in a science lesson. It highlighted the lack of sex education and moral education in Hong Kong. As for me, I started IUI treatment as soon as I got my marriage certificate.
After a failed IUI treatment in Hong Kong, a friend of mine from Taiwan introduced me to a small clinic in Taiwan. I went through two egg retrieval surgeries and three implantation surgeries. Though we had culture 12# Day 3 embryos, the doctor convinced me the outer layer (trophectoderm) is fragile and freeze those instead of culture till day five. I felt like I hit the bottom of my self-esteem.
Personalized IVF treatment collecting embryos
With an adequate AMH index and decent response after injections, I am not ready to give up yet. At 43, I heard of Doctor O from Stork Fertility Center for the first time from a Shanghainese friend. He carefully reviewed my clinical history and agreed with us. At our first visit, he prescribed a long-acting injection and a few other injections for me to bring back to Hong Kong. I waited for my period to come. I used a long-acting injection on my period day 3, it will last about 4-5 days. unlike traditional IVF treatment, I don't need to do injections every day, it was much easier for me.
The result of my first egg retrieval was 17# formed four blastocysts which were very comforting. But based on the fact that only one blastocyst has reached BB grade. And the result of PGS/PGT-A (pre-implantation chromosome screening) showed "abnormal chromosome". Thus I implanted the other two embryos without PGS test. It was like a gamble, and I lost. Doctor O suggested I undergo another retrieval surgery while my ovarian function was still ok. Aimed at collecting embryos. I got 6 BC-grade embryos at last. Some might say transferring BC-grade embryos is gambling with our bodies. But isn't life a gamble? Life's always been a gamble since I was young working overseas, the encounter with my significant half.
Desperately, praying for a good pregnancy
Considering all factors, I decided to implant four blastocysts at one time! On the one hand, I pray that the transfer will be successful, and on the other hand, I hope my 44-year-old body can be capable of twins or more. Everyone said that the two-week waiting is more painful than the injections and the postoperative. However, after four failed implantations, I was mentally prepared for everything that could happen. Maybe it’s because I didn’t put pressure on myself. I was lucky. I got a positive result for the pregnancy test. I am so thankful for the consultants at Stork. They were very supportive and reminded me of every little detail. I was calm when I saw the result. I was even suspicious while I was waiting for the time to take the ultrasound test. I was truly relieved when I heard the baby's heartbeat in the hospital. My 88-year-old dad shed tears ...
It may be because God already knows what I have been experiencing for the last 3 years. He treated me well during the 10 months of pregnancy. I've been a good patient, I took my medicine as the Doctor told me. I experienced zero morning sickness. In my second and third trimesters, I was able to work at home due to the spread of COVID19. At 39 weeks, my baby came to this beautiful world with loud crying. The moment was surely amazing. It feels like a miracle. Stork Fertility Center helped me through the journey.
