How Long Should I Try With My Own Eggs Before Donor Eggs?

Failed IVF? Low AMH? High FSH? Told donor eggs? Book a free Functional Fertility Second Opinion before your next fertility decision.→ fabfertile.com

Your clinic told you donor eggs. You walked out wondering how much time you actually have left. Whether waiting six months means missing your window. Whether trying with your own eggs one more time is brave or stupid.

The honest answer is longer than your clinic implied. And the window is not your AMH number.

In this episode:

- Why a 2024 study in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics found that ovarian reserve markers like AMH do not significantly predict natural conception in women with regular cycles
- What the 90-day window before ovulation actually is, and why the eggs you work with six months from now are not the eggs you are working with today
- The inputs your clinic's timeline assumed would not change: mitochondrial function, inflammation, iron, B12, zinc, vitamin D, cortisol patterns, toxic load
- The clinical pattern we see over more than a decade of cases: month zero to six is where the picture comes into view, twelve to eighteen months is where it can start to move substantially
- Why some pictures do not move, and why that is still a reason to look before you decide

If this is the first episode you have landed on in this series, go back and listen to "Told Donor Eggs Are Your Only Option? Ask This First" and then "The Gut Findings Your Clinic Did Not Look For." This episode builds on both.

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WHAT YOUR CLINIC MISSED

The full thyroid panel, not just a TSH. The iron panel that flags ferritin. The gut microbiome testing that your REI does not order. The inflammatory markers no one notices. The male side that almost no one investigates.

Email hello@fabfertile.ca, subject line MISSED, and we will send you the guide.

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FUNCTIONAL FERTILITY SECOND OPINION

A free 45-minute call where I review your labs, your history, and your partner's results with you. You leave knowing what your biology has been telling you and what your next decision could be.

Email hello@fabfertile.ca, subject line FERTILE, or book here.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Now in its eighth year, Get Pregnant Naturally was one of the first podcasts dedicated to the functional fertility approach for low AMH and failed IVF. Hosted by Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile, author of Fabulously Fertile, and host of a podcast with over one million downloads. Fab Fertile is a functional fertility team that works with couples to review the lab work most fertility clinics do not run: gut microbiome, food sensitivity, vaginal microbiome, nutrigenomics, HTMA, DUTCH, full thyroid panel, the iron panel, and inflammation markers, alongside nervous system work. Each week Sarah brings you what the team sees across more than a decade of cases.

Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile, host of Get Pregnant Naturally (1M+ downloads), and author of Fabulously Fertile.

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The Donor Egg Recommendation and the Real Question
01:00 Who's Reviewing Your Case at Fab Fertile
01:30 AMH Is Not the Countdown Clock
03:00 The 90-Day Window Before Ovulation
04:30 What Actually Changes In 90 Days
07:00 The Fab Fertile Method: What We Investigate
08:30 Why Some Cases Do Not Shift
09:30 The Functional Fertility Second Opinion