PCOS Egg Retrieval Experience
Hi everyone, this is a lengthy post, but I wanted to share my experience for anyone feeling discouraged by low follicle counts or a slow response—especially those with PCOS. I’m 32 (turning 33), and after a long road of five failed Letrozole attempts and a "Secondary Unexplained Infertility" diagnosis, we decided to start IVF at the beginning of this year. My AMH in early 2025 was 8.65, but it shifted to 2.45 by the start of this year. I’ve been taking Metformin to help with egg quality, insulin resistance, and weight loss, and since my husband’s results were normal, we skipped IUI and jumped straight into an IVF protocol.
Because of my age and PCOS, my doctor was very concerned about OHSS and put me on a conservative protocol including birth control priming, 150 IU Menopur, oral Medroxyprogesterone, and a dual Lupron/Pregnyl trigger. Midway through, my estradiol levels shot up, so he decreased my Menopur to 112.5 IU to stay safe. Unfortunately, my levels then plateaued. My left ovary never "woke up," and two days before the retrieval, ultrasound showed only a few follicles growing on the right side. My doctor admitted we may have been too conservative with the dose, but the priority was avoiding OHSS at all costs.
On retrieval day, they only got 3 mature eggs. I was devastated. We’re often told that PCOS means high egg counts, and I was certain we wouldn’t have a single embryo make it to the blast stage. However, I am so happy to say that all 3 eggs fertilized and all 3 made it to blasts (graded 5AA, 5AB, and 6BC). We also did PGT-A testing, and all 3 are euploid.
We really thought we would be lucky to get even 1 euploid from such a small starting number. We aren’t "out of the woods" yet, and we’re meeting with our doctor in a few days to discuss transfer steps, but we are cautiously happy. I'm aware higher grade embryos don't necessarily mean a pregnancy will be successful, but at least there's a little more hope. I wanted to share this because my experience felt so different from the typical PCOS story. If you are facing a low retrieval count, please don’t lose hope. Sometimes, quality truly does win over quantity.