What is the success rate of fertility shots

Question

I just needed to ask advice from those who have tried these shots. My husband and I had been trying with clomid for six months and now we are going to start on fertility shots. I was just wondering how successful these shots were. Thanks!

Answer 1

It's not a question of the success rate of the shot or not, but if they will help in over comming YOUR particular fertility issue, and whether you'll get lucky enough at the time you are using them.

Healthy couples WITHOUT fertility issues only have about a 25% chance of getting pregnant in any given month, assuming they've timed the Baby Dance correctly (Source: "Taking Charge of Your Fertility").

Likely, you are using these shots because the doctor believes there is some sort of problem with your ovaries getting properly stimulated, and these shots will help boost ovary stimulation to ensure that you are at least ovulating.

After that, the odds will depend upon what else is happening.  If after the shots, you are attempting to get pregnant via the baby dance, then I would suspect that you will have about a 25% chance of getting pregnant assuming there aren't other factors affecting your fertility.

If the doctor believes you might have difficulty concieving that way, AI will likely be utilized.  But AI is only going to overcome that issue (such as an environment hostile towards your DH sperm).  So again, I would assume your odds would be about 25%.

If and when you move up to IVF, odds for the average couple increase to about 33%.  This is because the process of IVF insurse the 1st step of baby making... successful and healthy conception.  Once the conception has occured, the embryo is returned to your uterus where it's hoped implantation will occur.  Since implantation is the only hurtle to overcome at that point, success rates for IVF are higher than healthy couples doing it on their own.

What I can tell you is that 6 rounds of AI for us (some with clomid, some with "fertility shots") all came up with 6 BFN.  However, today DW is pregnant with our 3rd, all concieved without direct intervention of RE.  (In the case of this latest baby, we did a clomid challenge with RE, then got pregnant the following month without any fertility medications.)