After 18 years of infertility, 6 retrievals, and more than 50 embryos arresting at day 3, Dina conceived at 41 from four frozen day 3 embryos. She delivered a healthy baby boy at 42.
⚠️ These stories are personal experiences, not medical advice or scientific evidence. Success stories are more likely to be shared than unsuccessful ones, so they should not be interpreted as proof that a treatment works. Always discuss treatment decisions with your doctor.
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📊 Story Snapshot
👩 Age: 41📆 Years trying: 18
🧬 Embryo: 4 day 3 embryos
🧪 Retrievals: 6
🐣 Transfers: 2
💊 Diagnosis: Unexplained infertility
📈 Outcome: Healthy baby boy
I married at 24 and never got pregnant. I had 3 OBs dismiss me saying I was young and it would happen. Not one thought to refer me to a fertility doctor. My husband and I couldn’t afford IVF until we were done with medical training. By then I was 38 and diagnosed with unexplained infertility. We did 2 retrievals at a local clinic and all my embryos arrested at day 3. I was told donor is my only option & when I asked about day 3 transfers I was told I needed to find another clinic.
Second clinic in another state same results. Beautiful cycle response with lots of embryos. Did 1 fresh transfer of 4 embryos and it was unsuccessful and the rest of embryos we tried to push to blast also arrested. I was told I had a poor prognosis.
I went to another clinic. The doctor said I had <10% but would be willing to try IVM, a new approach in the early phases that was being tried. It involves low dose medications and early trigger around 12-14mm. Our plan was to push to blast with IVM. Clinic called me on day 3 and said the fertility doctor recommended freezing all on day 3 because embryos were lagging behind. We did another retrieval and froze all on day 3 again. I was told my embryos were beautiful with no fragmentation. They were only 4-5 cells. These were retrieved at age 41.
We did our very first transfer at this clinic, with 4 day 3 embryos (3 were 4 cell and 1 was 5 cell) and one stuck!
We transferred 12/14/19 and the world shut down for pandemic that March. I was terrified working the frontlines of COVID during a much wanted pregnancy. It went well though! I delivered a healthy baby boy via c section because he was breech.
I was 42 when I had him and he’s a beautiful thriving 5 year old. It took 18 years of waiting to have my miracle. A total of 6 retrievals at 3 clinics. I had over 50+ embryos arrest.
Unexplained infertility is a frustrating diagnosis and I still don’t know why my embryos arrest. I was told early on a majority patients with unexplained will go on to have success. It was a grueling journey but worth every tear & heartbreak 💔
My biggest challenge was overcoming the shame and stigma. Also learning to trust my intuition despite what I was being told. Finding community was key.
What would you say to someone who’s going through what you went through?
Trust the journey even though none of it makes sense. Your baby is finding their way to you!
Find a bump squad that supports you! That includes the doctor, acupuncturist, therapy, friends and other warriors.
— Dina Wilson DO, @doctordina
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Want to learn more about why embryos stop developing? Check out my guide on embryo arrest.
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