20 replies to this topic

[WantToBeMe567]

I had 17 eggs of which 6 made it to Day 5. My fresh transfer of 1 embryo ended up in a miscarriage and my FET ended up being a blighted ovum which was discovered at 7 week ultrasound. So I have 4 frozen embryos left. I am torn between feeling like maybe the whole batch of eggs is bad and just doing another fresh cycle or continue doing FETs. I am going to be 35 tomorrow and have PCOS. What would you do?

[tjluvbug]

Becki - If you have 4 good quality embryos on ice then they're good enough to potentially become your take-home baby. I'm sorry you've had a rough ride so far, its really disheartening when good embryos result in miscarriage. At the end of the day it really is a crap shoot sometimes. If it were me, I'd go ahead and use my frosties before moving onto another cycle or other options.  I always felt like I had to give my embryos a chance.

[abundant love]

I'm sorry you've had a hard time with your cycles. If it were me I'd definitely go ahead with the frosties. 4 is amazing! I never even had 1 to freeze, so to me it would seem like 4 really good chances without all of the invasive procedures. Best of luck to you!!

[mrsfinxy]

My last fresh cycle, I had one to tranfer and 2 to freeze.  The fresh transfer was a chemical pregnancy, one was a miscarriage and one is my daughter.  You never know, and I think it would be tough to leave the frozen embryos behind without knowing what they could become.

[gibasgirl]

It sounds like you have come to a decision in your heart. Go with that.

It can be so hard to decide when doing ART because there are so many variables, so many what ifs and a lot of second guessing.

All is not lost at 35, but a lot of pressure is put on us as we pass through life's milestones when doing IVF (25, 30, 35, 37, 40, 42...) and we are made to feel unsettled -- and maybe a little guilty -- for the privilege of getting older. The only failing is that the medical community does not have all of the answers to this complex journey yet. Research is ongoing. There are different schools of thought, and not everyone shares the same opinion about the most effective route to take.

Sometimes a new set of eyes helps. Sometimes it comes down to the timing of one's leap of faith.

I want to wish you the very best as you take the next steps and I want to wish you peace on this journey.

[GraceM]

How many children do you want?  What are your finances like?  How long will it take you to FET four embryos? You may be better off to do another cycle and then transfer to bank the youngest embryos possible.  You can also consider PGS.  I would discuss with your RE.

[Tess]

There is about a 25% risk of miscarriage for every pregnancy.  

 

It's probably just very bad luck, and I am so sorry you are having to go through this.  If there is a systemic problem, I would think it more likely to be a uterine, immune or blood clotting issue. 

 

There's a good chance it was bad luck.  The natural miscarriage rate is very high.  I'm so sorry.   

[pcanoe]

I know hope seems lost, I have been there too, maybe discuss CCS testing with your RE to demolish any chromosonal abnormalities. If that has already been done and it was me I would continue with the FET's and maybe ask about transferring two at a time instead of one. That in itself has its own risks and rewards but maybe it is something that might work for you. Best of luck to you on your journey. 

[mirka]

Becki - I would definitely use the frosties, there is a good chance at least one of them is good.

 

You might want to think about if you want more children. Almost everyone wants a sibling for their baby. If you get pregnant now and have a baby at 36, you won't be able to try again before you're at least 37 or 38, if you want to breastfeed your baby longer. If you are having difficulties getting pregnant now, it would be even harder at 38. So, from this point of view, you might want to preserve your frozen embryos and do another fresh cycle, to make some more blasts. As others have mentioned, you might do PGS testing on the new embryos and if any of them is good, save it for a sibling, then give your 4 untested embryos a chance.

[Melissa182]

I had 17 eggs of which 6 made it to Day 5. My fresh transfer of 1 embryo ended up in a miscarriage and my FET ended up being a blighted ovum which was discovered at 7 week ultrasound. So I have 4 frozen embryos left. I am torn between feeling like maybe the whole batch of eggs is bad and just doing another fresh cycle or continue doing FETs. I am going to be 35 tomorrow and have PCOS. What would you do?

Hi Becki567 - I am exactly where you are. We should PM. I turned 40 on March 2nd. I had 11 embryos from the same batch. I have transferred 6 frozen embryos. 4 were unsuccessful and two ended in the miscarriage of twins at 12 weeks. I have five frozen embryos left and I am doubting that any of the five will be successful.    If I was younger, had better AMH and could afford it, I would take the next six months to do 2-3 rounds of IVF to stockpile as many embryos as possible.  PM if you want to chat further. 

[Melissa182]

Becki - I would definitely use the frosties, there is a good chance at least one of them is good.

 

You might want to think about if you want more children. Almost everyone wants a sibling for their baby. If you get pregnant now and have a baby at 36, you won't be able to try again before you're at least 37 or 38, if you want to breastfeed your baby longer. If you are having difficulties getting pregnant now, it would be even harder at 38. So, from this point of view, you might want to preserve your frozen embryos and do another fresh cycle, to make some more blasts. As others have mentioned, you might do PGS testing on the new embryos and if any of them is good, save it for a sibling, then give your 4 untested embryos a chance.

I agree with what mirka is saying

[WantToBeMe567]

I really appreciate all replies. I do not know what we are
Going to do yet. My doctor wants me to lose weight before trying again. We can really only afford to do the FETs or one more fresh transfer not both. Because we have to travel to the clinic it makes an already expensive process much more expensive

[Polish]

Hello,
I need some opinions, my DH and I have been trying to conceive for 6 years, which during this time we had 6 miscarriages. We had 8 frozen embryos remaining and before beginning the process for another FET our dr. Recommended to do PGS testing in the states (we live in Canada). So we had our 8 remaining frozen embryos tested these are the results;

2 embryos did not survive the frozen/thaw procedure

6 x remained
out of 6 x blastocysts:

2 x are normal
4 x are abnormal and not good for transfer.

My DH would like me to try once more but am concerned that it's by body that cannot hold the embryo....and of course my fear that I'll miscaried. Our next option would be surrogacy which I am for, what are your opinions?

[dsomerv]

Hi Becki567,

 

I'm 39 and started the IVF journey when i was 36.  We retrieved 5 eggs, 4 mature one nearly mature.  We sacrificed 2 eggs for an invocell study which did not work for us. The remainder 3 eggs all made it to blast.  We did a fresh transfer that unfortunately ended in a miscarriage at 8 weeks.  We then did a frozen transfer that ended in a chemical at 5 weeks 2 days.  This left us with our last frozen egg which we recently transferred and am now pregnant with. When we lost our second one my thoughts were the same, why bother with the 3rd transfer when it's from the same batch and likely bad as well. However, our doctor encouraged us to go ahead and use our last embryo even though it was not tested and the outcome was unknown.  In the end, i'm glad we did because i wouldn't want to live with any regrets.   Although i'm still very early in my pregnancy (6 weeks 4 days) and fully understand things can go south at any moment I choose to remain hopeful.  I have no regrets about transferring our last embryo and wouldn't want to discard it because I made the assumption it was "bad".

 

The other option to consider is, that if you do decide to do another new cycle, you may not be fortunate and blessed to get as many eggs this last time.  I never take this for granted, thinking because all of our eggs made it to blast, this will be the case should we have to start all over.  I am now 3 years older and this certainly plays a factor in many things.  As difficult as it is to go through a miscarriage or a blighted ovum, I would really encourage you to continue the fight and use what you have.  I would hate for you to live with regret and the unknowns.  I know this journey is hard and there have been so many times where I have wanted to give up, but I chose to fight and not let infertility win.  In fact, I am determined to kick infertility's ass!!!!  Hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck!!!!

[WantToBeMe567]

Dsomerv,

You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. I truly hope for you a long healthy pregnancy. Can you please keep me posted?

[Melissa182]

You can always use the frozen embryos you have, but you may not be able to make as many more in the future. If it was me, I would do another fresh IVF asap. All the best to you

[dsomerv]

Will do

[Dori77]

Hi polish - if all your recurrent miscarriage testing is negative I would transfer.

I had 5 losses and now pregnant with my second child. It took us 5 years to have our son. I too thought that there was something wrong with my body. I think for most women with unexplained recurrent losses it just takes a healthy strong embryo to implant and it will stick.

Wishing you best of luck!

Hello,
I need some opinions, my DH and I have been trying to conceive for 6 years, which during this time we had 6 miscarriages. We had 8 frozen embryos remaining and before beginning the process for another FET our dr. Recommended to do PGS testing in the states (we live in Canada). So we had our 8 remaining frozen embryos tested these are the results;

2 embryos did not survive the frozen/thaw procedure

6 x remained
out of 6 x blastocysts:

2 x are normal
4 x are abnormal and not good for transfer.

My DH would like me to try once more but am concerned that it's by body that cannot hold the embryo....and of course my fear that I'll miscaried. Our next option would be surrogacy which I am for, what are your opinions?

[cherry123]

Hi polish - if all your recurrent miscarriage testing is negative I would transfer.

I had 5 losses and now pregnant with my second child. It took us 5 years to have our son. I too thought that there was something wrong with my body. I think for most women with unexplained recurrent losses it just takes a healthy strong embryo to implant and it will stick.

Wishing you best of luck!

 

Hello,
I need some opinions, my DH and I have been trying to conceive for 6 years, which during this time we had 6 miscarriages. We had 8 frozen embryos remaining and before beginning the process for another FET our dr. Recommended to do PGS testing in the states (we live in Canada). So we had our 8 remaining frozen embryos tested these are the results;

2 embryos did not survive the frozen/thaw procedure

6 x remained
out of 6 x blastocysts:

2 x are normal
4 x are abnormal and not good for transfer.

My DH would like me to try once more but am concerned that it's by body that cannot hold the embryo....and of course my fear that I'll miscaried. Our next option would be surrogacy which I am for, what are your opinions?

 

HI Dori, just wondering if you did any immune treatments prior to your successful pregnancies? Congrats! 

[Dori77]

Cherry - I did immune treatments the year prior to my successful pregnancy. This included ivig, blood thinners and LIT. The IVF cycle after the treatments did not work for me. The whole immunity thing is controversial and I ultimately don't think was my issue. Not to say it can't help others. Pm me if you want more info.

Sending many prayers to everyone Ttc right now and hope u all get ur dreams fulfilled soon. It's a rough road.

[breezyboo]

Is PGS an option?