question about fsh levels

[Sherry]

i am not sure if this is the correct forum, but i had a question. i am doing a surrogacy ivf cycle...the intended mother has had fsh numbers at 8 and 9, so the RE had her do the challenge and her numbers came back at 20. i doubt seriously if he would compromise his statistics by doing an ivf cycle with those kind of numbers...especially tossing a surrogate into the equation. most likely we will end up doing an egg donor/surrogacy cycle.

can anyone give me some feedback/thoughts on this situation? has anyone ever achieved a pregnancy with those kind of numbers?

[F and L]

nobody has replied, & it is a month since your question, but in case it's still of use, I'll try to answer. an fsh of 20 really is a bad number -the 8 & 9 were borderline, it would be very hard with an FSH of 20 for the clinic to get the woman to respond to the fertility drugs & make enough eggs, if any, for ivf tteatment. she would need to be given the highest legal dose of the drug, & would still be likely to respond poorly, if at all. because her previous tests weren't so bad, it might be worth getting the clinic to retest in case the 20 were atypical (though they say you are only as good as your worst fsh) or perhaps they tested at the wrong part of her cycle or there was some factor in her life to make the number wonky. whatever her age, the fsh number doesn't indicate her egg quality, just that she hasn't many eggs left, & is probably nearer to the menopause than someone with low fsh. so if she is very young, the clinic might still try once. I have heard of women with high fsh achieving natural pregnancy - partcularly when young - despite not having responded to ivf drugs. But I wouldn't want to give anybody false hope by pretending this is very likely.

[Sherry]

hi, thanks for your reply.

in our case, the IM is 41 and no longer has a uterus, so her fsh levels with the challenge were most likely accurate. the test was done at the appropriate time as well, so i think they are right to start looking for an egg donor.

it was just a shock to her to get those numbers and i was no help since i havent been on that end of it. hopefully they can find a donor soon.

thanks again!