Hi all 👋
So at our appointment the other day the nurse offered us some add on treatments embryo glue £160 or Endometrial scratch £240 but she said there is no evidence to say that these procedures give you a better chance of it working so do you think there's any point doing them?
I honestly don't know & cant make a decision.
Xx
I was offered embryo glue & time lapse photography my thoughts were that as there is no evidence to suggest they are detrimental and they must think they may help vs how reasonably priced they are we just added it all on (we didn't have scratch option) and see how it fairs ️xx
No we didn't have any after watching the panorama documentary about them. After I'd seen it I asked our clinic too and they said they are more recommended to couples who need them due to multiple failed treatments. They told us there is not enough evidence to show they give you more chance of a pregnancy so we didn't have any. My friend at the same clinic as us had the glue and her treatment didn't work
Thank you 😊 your comments help a lot! It's really hard to decide stuff like this when you don't really know much about it xx
I would advise watching the panorama programme - I'm sure it'll be on iplayer or YouTube x
Hi. At my clinic I was never offered any add ons and would have questioned them into the ground if they had as I'm always concerned (and a bit angry) that these are ways to maximise profit and take advantage. But then im always suspicious and an engineer so have that kind of "need to pull this apart and understand" type brain.
However during treatment if they had told me something would improve our chances by 5% I would have done it no matter the cost. But then I'm 38 with only one ovary and two nhs funded cycles so the odds were on the lower end.
We had embryo glue and the scratch with all of ours and the two times we did get to transfer I had implantation both times. We paid for time lapse imaging as well on cycle two but only because we had a failed fertilisation on the first go and wanted to do everything we could. Good luck with whatever you decide xxx
hi, despite not much evidence add ons do work the same can be said of evidence they don't work. My feeling was that our first cycle of icsi was going to be our one and only chance so I didn't hesitate opting for time lapse and embryo glue to give us the best possible chance. If we didn't and it didn't work we would always be thinking what if. Good luck with whatever you decide xx
Hi
Two of my friends had the scratch and it worked, I will be having the scratch this time round. Like everything there is no hard proof that either of these work but you never know, and it all depends on what you can afford,
Good luck lovely xxx
Hi, my clinic uses embryo glue as standard in all nhs treatment and it's a very good clinic. I didn't make it to transfer so can't comment further, but I guess for them to use it as standard they must believe in it x
Hmmm putting it like that I might just have both done as it is my only cycle on the nhs.
I will call the clinic and discuss it with a nurse xx
After watching Panorama skeptical about add ins.my clinic in Greece don't promote anything like that & I asked for endo scratch but they said no.that said some people are convinced these things have helped x
I just watched the panorama episode on YouTube and I am also skeptical but then again it might help! Oh I really don't know now 😩 Xx
Hi I had a review with our hospital last week and asked about add-on treatments, I was surprised to hear that they use embryo glue as standard but they don't advertise it (our first cycle failed even with the glue) we did discuss time lapse but said they didn't want it to come across as a sales pitch, they don't have enough evidence of their own to say whether they believe it works or not but it can be easier on the embryo as they stay in one incubator. I think it down to personal choice and there is the cost to consider, if we do another fresh cycle and have the funds for extras I will try them all so I'm not thinking what if I'd done that it might have worked.
I have seen the panorama documentary and there may be some clinics who give false hope with the extras but I think if you try and use your own judgement to make your decision and do what you're comfortable with xx
Hi, my clinic uses embryo glue for everyone at no cost but I did decide to go for the embryo scratch on both of my cycles. I didnt get to transfer one 1st one so that was a bit of a waste and I didnt have any success on 2nd. I am however planning to have it done for my next one. Someone else suggested the Panorama programme with Alex Jones from the one show. I thought this was a good watch and helped me with my decision! Good luck with whatever you decide!xx
Hi Hope. I had all three extras and did quite a lot of research before I went for it. The Panorama program didn't cover the scratch or glue from what I remember, just the time lapse photography option (which is the only one I'm still unconvinced about).
The scratch I was particularly interested in and read quite a few science papers about the subject (rather than info promoted by fertility clinics themselves). I decided it was definitely worth it, but have a look on the internet and see what science papers or reports on those papers you can find (the more recent the better, as the research/evidence is still pretty new).
For example:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/0...
I was incredibly lucky and became pregnant on my first go with a poor quality blastocyst. I know that's statistically completely insignificant and I'll never know if those treatments made the slightest bit of difference in my case; I'm just thanking my lucky stars.
Wishing you luck and baby dust xxx
Some research about embryo glue (scroll to the top of the article and read the aim/results/conclusion):
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
In a nutshell, there isn't enough evidence to state that it definitely works, but I think the results are promising enough to give it a shot.
Xx
I know the investigative journalist who did the panorama documentary and as I am currently going through my 2nd cycle of IVF I spoke to her last week. There isn't enough research to support any of the add-ons yet and I trust her investigation (I'm 41 this week and desperate so ordinarily I would try anything). I had assisted hatching the first time around and I definitely won't be doing that again. I'm taking part in a research study with the NHS to see if the scratch works - hopefully it will but also hopefully we can start to get some evidence based research so that we can all make more informed decisions. Good luck with whatever you decide to do xx
When you & your OH differ on treatments
SPA TREATMENTS
Treatments are cancelled 😔 my embryo quality 😃 
Not 'allowed' to pay for add-ons!
Add-ons - Please read
