15 replies to this topic

[dayattatime]

Excuse this first post. Im still trying to catch up on all the lingo and meanings of everything. 

 

We are going to be starting IVF at Olive, and someone told us that olive only will do one egg to avoid multiple pregnancies (Because they are considered) high risk. 

 

apparently this is a new thing they have just started to do.  (Cracking down on multiple eggs) 

 

thoughts/opinions about this would be great. 

 

(Im the husband)

 

 

 

[EverHopefull!]

Hi and welcome!

 

It's not a new thing.  I had an IVF 5 years ago with the Olive Doctors (they were at Genesis then, they've broken off to form Olive since) and they were doing eSET's then.  eSET is Elective Single Embryo Transfer.  And yes, it's to minimize the chance of multiples because of increased risk.

 

They will assess your chance of success based on the number of embryos transferred during your IVF.  If you have a good chance of success they will only transfer 1 embryo.  Your case looks to be male factor so you are a perfect candidate for eSET.  If they know they've got 1 really good quality embryo/blastocyst, and there is no female factor involved in your diagnosis, then the chances of your partner conceiving with IVF are really good.  If there was a female factor, or if your partner was older (35+), or if they cannot get a really high quality embryo/blastocyst, they may transfer 2 because the odds of success would be lower so there is less risk that 2 will turn into a high risk pregnancy (ie multiples). 

 

So if both you and your partner are young and there is no female factor diagnosis, then yes, Olive will only transfer 1 embryo/blastocyst.  So will all the other Vancouver clinics, that's not just an Olive thing.  You will get the same information at Genesis or PCRM.   

 

It's a good thing.  Lots of people want twins and when you're going through IVF it's easy to think that if you get twins that you only have to do IVF once, but the risks of a pregnancy with multiples are real, so the eSET is worth it if you're lucky enough to be in that situation.

 

Good luck!

[dayattatime]

Thanks for the info. 

we im 32, and my wife is 30. 

 

just out of curiousity is there still the possibility if twins, with the eSet. or is it one embryo one pregnancy 100% (If successful) 

 

can the embryo's split.. or is that just egg's that can split.. or am i way off base? 

[Nerd4Life]

Embryos can still split, resulting in identical twins, but I don't believe it's any more likely than twins occurring in a non-ivf pregnancy. Transferring multiple embryos significantly increases the chance that there will be fraternal (dif embryos, same womb) twins

[mouse]

Eggs don't split; it's embryos that do.

[smurfette_w]

I think the stats for identical twins are slightly higher with ICSI.

 

Agree with everhopeful, eSET is not a new thing for Olive/Genesis.  They've been doing this for at least 4 years.  I had a friend who went to Genesis back in 2008 and she had two embryos transferred on a fresh cycle but that's because the embryo quality wasn't great.  She ended up with a singleton.  She did an FET in 2011 and again transferred two not-so-high-quality embryos and ended up with a BFN.  She did another fresh cycle in 2011 and got another singleton but not sure how many she transferred.  So yes, they do transfer two embryos, but there needs to be a good reason for it.  I know another lady here (also at Olive) who had many failures and she transferred two embryos on her last cycle and had twins.

 

You're relatively young, so chances are they will do a eSET.  Are you doing PGS testing for chromosomal abnormalities?  If so, it's even more likely that you will be doing an eSET.

[vball_gal]

I'd do a search on this topic as well, you will find this has come up quite often in the forums here with some good conversation regarding the 1 vs 2 embryo transfer.  My motto has always been don't transfer more than you can handle.   We did eSET transfers twice with no luck so we went to a double embryo transfer on my first frozen transfer and I ended up with twins (I was 37 at the time).  It was not an easy pregnancy and I was put on bed rest at 26 weeks so personally if I was to have another I would stick to one embryo at a time, but I also don't regret having my twins either.

[karmapawz]

Like the others have mentioned Olive will usually only transfer 1 embryo & they firmly believe in eSET. In my case I had been trying for several years, 1 m/c, & diagnosed as unexplained (ie. all tests were normal & hormone levels excellent). I was 37.5 when I had my IVF cycle this past May & they transferred 2 as they felt it would give me the best chance. I was worried about twins, but ok with the possibility. As it turned out I only have 1 cooking (due next month) so it all worked out in the end.

 

I do have 2 frozen embryo's in storage from that cycle & plan to try again. Although I'm still not sure if I'll transfer both (for potential better odds) or just 1 at a time.

[dayattatime]

Thanks for the info. 

My wife's father is a twin, her cousin had twins. 

 

It was just a topic we were talking about.. and the idea that 2 chances is better then one chance when your shelling out all the $$$. 

[nervus optimist]

I have had 4 pregnancies, only one of which resulted in a healthy baby. My preference was always to do eSET, but after my personal experience I feel even more strongly in favour of eSET. If any of my other embryos had been transferred along with the one that lead to the birth of my son then the loss of each of those embryos would have put my son's embryo in danger. So it's not just about the likelihood of having multiples, which definitely has it's own risks, but also it's own really amazing moments, but also the risk that one embryo puts on another embryo. For example, if the ectopic embryo had been transferred along with my son it almost definitely would have resulted in my son not surviving. It is certainly a difficult and very personal decision, and in the end there are no wrong answers, only right answers for you, but having lived the path that I have there is no question in my mind that eSET always has been and always will be the right path for me.

 

As a side note - a lot of people worry about risks to embryos from being frozen and thawed, and I just like to share that the freezing/thawing technology has improved so dramatically that many clinics have equal success rates from fresh to frozen cycles, some argue frozen is actually better because you are transferring embryos at a time when the mother has not just had an onslaught of egg producing hormones, so some people are considering freezing all of their embryos for this reason. My son was from an embryo that was twice frozen and twice thawed, and I can say with great certainty that he had no ill effects from his adventurous embryonic days.

 

Best of luck on your journey

[smurfette_w]

Yes, freezing/thawing methods have improved dramatically, I haven't heard of a lost embryo due to freezing and thawing using the relatively (but not really) new vitrification method.  All reputable labs use this method now, Olive does for sure.  It's been around for several years, I believe.

 

There are stories of twins carried to term with no problems, twins born early and in NICU for weeks, moms on bedrest early due to twins (one of my friends was on bedrest pretty much from the second trimester on and nearly lost her life when she was giving birth to her naturally-conceived twins), moms losing one twin, moms losing both twins, etc.  Our RE told us about two losses they had with moms who were carrying twins.  Now, whether that's true or not, we will never know, but he told us because he was dead set against us transferring more than one normal embryo (not that we even asked for it).  It's hard to say what will happen to you, just that it's important to understand the risk of twins. 

[vball_gal]

We definitely had that discussion around money as well.   Keep in mind the cost of an FET is much lower than a fresh cycle and comes with less risks like OHSS so it's something to think about.  Also consider if you do end up with twins, that's 2 cribs, 2 mattresses, double the diapers, double the swaddles, blankets, clothes etc.   When you add it all up, honestly it won't be 'saving' you money in the long run so it really should come down to other factors.    One of the primary reasons for us to go with 2 embryos was our past (2 failures by that time) and age.   We always wanted 2 kids and knew that if it wasn't twins there was a chance we would only have the one child.

[pcanoe]

Hi there,

 

When we were able to start transferring our embryos we were not given a choice, our first transfer was unsuccessful and our second we did become pregnant but unfortunately we miscarried at 6 weeks. Now that we have two transfers under our belt that did not succeed in producing a baby we are now transferring two embryos on our upcoming transfer (Feb 2016). This is probably because I asked for it- as it does increase our odds for a baby and that is why we are doing it. We will feel blessed if one or both take. I think the only reason Olive is on the same page as us is because we have tried the single and they haven't worked. Best of luck to you!

[TM81]

I have had 4 pregnancies, only one of which resulted in a healthy baby. My preference was always to do eSET, but after my personal experience I feel even more strongly in favour of eSET. If any of my other embryos had been transferred along with the one that lead to the birth of my son then the loss of each of those embryos would have put my son's embryo in danger. So it's not just about the likelihood of having multiples, which definitely has it's own risks, but also it's own really amazing moments, but also the risk that one embryo puts on another embryo. For example, if the ectopic embryo had been transferred along with my son it almost definitely would have resulted in my son not surviving. It is certainly a difficult and very personal decision, and in the end there are no wrong answers, only right answers for you, but having lived the path that I have there is no question in my mind that eSET always has been and always will be the right path for me.
 
As a side note - a lot of people worry about risks to embryos from being frozen and thawed, and I just like to share that the freezing/thawing technology has improved so dramatically that many clinics have equal success rates from fresh to frozen cycles, some argue frozen is actually better because you are transferring embryos at a time when the mother has not just had an onslaught of egg producing hormones, so some people are considering freezing all of their embryos for this reason. My son was from an embryo that was twice frozen and twice thawed, and I can say with great certainty that he had no ill effects from his adventurous embryonic days.
 
Best of luck on your journey

[TM81]

My son was a twice frozen twice thawed emby too! He's 2 1/2 and amazing.

[nervus optimist]

My son was a twice frozen twice thawed emby too! He's 2 1/2 and amazing.

 

<3 I've never met another twice frozen twice thawed mommy. It's true - we never are alone on this site