For me it came down to whether I still had it in me emotionally, physically and financially. The failed cycles were heartbreaking, but I also didn't want to make a decision in the middle of that grief. I took a step back, gave myself some time, and then decided what I could realistically cope with. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.
This was one of the hardest parts of IVF for me. I found that each failed cycle moved the goalposts a little. At first I had a specific number in mind, but after every setback I'd tell myself I could handle just one more retrieval or one more transfer. Eventually I realized the decision wasn't really about a fixed number of cycles, it was about whether I still felt physically, financially and emotionally able to continue. I'm curious how others knew they had truly reached their limit.