PGS testing

[londonrc]

What are people’s views on PGS testing of embryos, I have had 4 miscarriages naturally and we are now going for donor egg / partners sperm cycle abroad, we have been advised to do PGS testing incase there are any genetic issues on my husbands side. Apparently the tests have to be done as embryos not just on the sperm. Have any of you gone through this? I have also read there are some downsides too- so just wanted to know about anyone’s experiences of this. Many thanks.

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

Have you had karyotyping done? This blood test should pick up any inheritable chromosome issues on your husband’s side. In the uk it is usually offered as part of recurrent miscarriage testing after three miscarriages. I would look into getting this done before spending money on PGS, and I believe some clinics abroad require it to be done before moving forward with donor eggs.

[Cinderella5]

We didnt have to consider PGS testing however we had my husbands karyotyping results (blood test) to rule out any genetic issues when we had our NHS treatment due to the fact that he had an extremely low count. The egg donors at our clinic all have this done prior to donation so if both clear then there should be no problem and its a lot cheaper than PGS. Check if you clinic do screening on their donors....might be a way around it!xx

[londonrc]

I have been told that the can’t test for all chromosomal abnormalities when it’s just sperm but only when an embryo/ just want this to work - but I know it may not first time so need to be realistic!

[Billywhizz10]

This seems like odd advice. PGS looks for abnormal chromosomes , which tends to be found from older eggs or abnormal sperm.

A donor egg by its nature is from a young woman where abnormal chromosomes are much less likely.

I had my sperm tested because I had a low count and got my blood checked for FSH, LH and testosterone,

The sperm sample was tested for Y microdeletions, CTFR gene and Karyotype testing.

It all passed and my same sperm worked (so far thanks god, just had our 36 week scan and all looks perfect) on our first round with a donor egg with ICSI.

If you were using your own eggs, (and are over 37) it may be worth doing PGS with your unfortunate history, but it would work out cheaper to get a detailed urologist check on your partner if your're going to use a young healthy donor egg.

I got tested through a private Urologist in Harley Street, whose apparently well regarded, and I was told any further testing on my side was pointless, except the low numbers due to trauma on my testes as a kid.

My wife got immunity testing when we had multiple IVF failures and found she had some issues, but she could never get to grips with the Clexane injections. But for our donor round she was on regular baby aspirin as an alternative to Clexane, who knows if it was a factor in getting us this far.

Best of luck xx

[Hidden]

Hi, I'd highly recomend pgs testing. No matter how perfect a 5 or 6 day blast can look, it could still have a problem and cause another miscarriage. No matter how young a donor is, there's still a risk. Like you I've had too many miscarriages and have had a lot of tests to try to find out whats causing them. We are now using donor eggs and got 5 perfect 5 day blasts. 3 passed pgs testing, 2 are perfect & 1 passed the tests but has some risk so we may not use it. I couldn't go thru another miscarriage so trying to do everything possible to reduce the risk. The only downside of pgs testing is that you may not have any embryos left to transfer but personally i think thats a preferable outcome to losing another baby. All my v best to you, X.

[londonrc in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Molly for your reply. Yes my worry is not having any to transfer but I suppose better than going through he transfer etc and not being successful. Waste of more time and money and emotional stress. When / where are you going for your FET? I’m so sorry for your losses too, it’s lovely to have this forum to talk to people who understand. Best of luck to you too. X

[Hidden in reply to londonrc]

Hi, going to Spain, 🤞, X

[Gem1982]

Hi, we have just done the pgs testing. Out of 6 embryos only 1 was considered ok. I guess we could have spent time transferring the not ok embryo which would have resulted in a loss and take time to go through each transfer. I’m not sure if this is considered normal for my age(36yrs). If anyone has any experience/comments please let me know your thoughts? I think if you have the resources to pay for it then do it ad it will save time and heartache x

[Gem1982 in reply to Gem1982]

Ps my normal embryo is s grade c and I had graded a which weren’t normal after testing

[londonrc in reply to Gem1982]

Hi Gem1982, thanks for your messages, did the clinic suggest PGS because of failed ivf before? The abnormalities could come from your partners side too, they can’t detect them in just doing a sperm test. Had he had any other tests on his sperm also? I’m not sure how they grade the embryos to be honest - when I used my own eggs I had two grade A ( not tested) and they didn’t implant. I have heard of others with lower grade embryos having success- so hopefully your one will be the one! Are you having a transfer soon? The hard thing is you can’t really test for the quality of eggs but I would have thought with you being quite young still you would be ok. X

[Gem1982]

The clinic mentioned to us about the pgs and we decided to do it as I didn’t want to waste potentially another year trandfering embryos that are no good and potentially having to go through miscarriages. I’ve had afew chemical pregnancies and a missed miscarriage. We have not have any other tests! What are the sperm tests you have had cartied out?

[londonrc in reply to Gem1982]

Hi, yes I agree with you about not wanting to waste time. My husband hasn’t had any other tests except the normal sperm tests, but we have one son already. Other people have suggested karyotyping tests but I was told all genetic disorders can’t be discovered until the egg and sperm fertilise so better to do it then. But it’s an expensive way to find out and I’m just hoping we get some good ones otherwise I will be pretty upset!

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to londonrc]

It’s not true that all genetic disorders can be discovered by the egg and sperm mixing though- you would only discover something if an embryo happened to be carrying it, and results from pgs can be misleading. I really would recommend karyotyping first.