Need help taking this decision :(

[suzans]

Hi Dears,

5 years back I had 6 consecutive chemical pregnancies, then did IVF with PGS tested embryos, took (intralipids + Plaquenil + prednisolone + clexcane) the first round we transferred 2 and I had my sweet baby girl who is 2 years now.

I had the second FET last month with another PGS tested embryo but it didn't work.

Now I have 11 frozen embryos left, all are grade A, but they are not PGS tested, and I am confused what should I do, should I test them and freeze them again and transfer later? (which will cost me a lot), is it ok if I transferred without testing? (when we tested the first time we had 50% normal embryos and 50% upnormal, and the dr. said it is the normal ratio, they were all grade A).... please help me in deciding what to do, im so confused!

[Solly-44]

Hi,

We asked about this recently as we also had a batch of 11 frozen and 2 failed FETs from that round. Our dr said he really wouldn’t recommend it as they don’t tend to thaw and refreeze well. Also you’re right about the costing a lot, I was mind blown when we found out the cost to test all remaining 😬

Good luck whatever you decide x

[Gueritarubia]

Oh what a difficult one! We had our first from a lot of eight grade A embryos. She was a fresh transfer from my second cycle. Now on 2WW of my third FET. First BFN, second a chemical. My hospital don’t believe in testing and say there are many reasons why some embryos make it and others don’t. So we’re just doing the numbers - should hit the jackpot at some point?! At least we both know we can carry a pregnancy. Not sure I’d spend the money on testing even if it was an option... good luck whatever you decide!

[Fingerscrossed38]

I.just had a chemical with my pgs embryo so they are not fool proof and they can't test them for everything but in saying that I would never transfer anything but pgs. Why would you risk possibly transferring an abnormal that may implant and force an awful decision down the line or an inevitable miscarriage...cost you more in the end (transfers + medication costs plus time and emotional agony)...if they are strong enough to survive the testing then they'll be strong enough to grip on

[Lynnr54]

Is there any specific reason you had your previous ones PGS tested? I.e. is there something you’re specifically at risk of or something that’s happened on a previous cycle to make you think you have a specific issue? It’s true that even in couples with no fertility problems not all embryos will be normal and survive so if your previous tests showed 50% normal then it sounds to me like you have normal embryos and your issue getting pregnant lies elsewhere. The combination of drugs you had to make your previous one work suggests that it was that combination of drugs that made your last one work.

So back to the question about this time. I’d speak to your clinic but my understanding is that there is a risk when thawing and refreezing embryos and there is also a small risk subjecting them to PGS testing (plus PGS testing is stupidly expensive).

If you have grade A embryos then I think for you it is probably a numbers game and if you use the same combination of drugs as previously you will get your second baby eventually. I do get that the combination of drugs you’re on will make it particularly expensive and I understand not pleasant treatment either which would probably make a failed round more painful for you which is why I don’t think it is just as straight forward a decision for you as it would be if it were just a normal round. Having said that, even if you do have PGS testing and it’s a normal embryo, there’s no guarantee it will work as there are many factors in getting them to stick.

I think if it were me I would weigh up the cost and risk of PGS testing vs the cost of say 2 or 3 rounds without PGS testing and if the cost doesn’t make the decision obvious then I would try a couple of rounds without doing the PGS testing and if they don’t work then consider PGS testing on the remaining embryos.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[suzans]

Thanks for the detailed reply! It really helped... We did PGS the first time because I had 6 consecutive chemical pregnancies and we didn’t get to know the reason, I did all the needed tests but found nothing, so I wanted to make sure that my embryos are ok.

I’m just worrying about “does an abnormal embryo stick?