Hi ladies,
I wanted to share to information that I learnt today from my new clinic, following the question I put in my last post earlier: if you put 2 embryos in one transfer, the chance of pregnancy is lower than if you do 2 cycles with 1 embryo each.
So depending on finances and number of embryos, it can make sense to do single embryo transfer.
My specialist told me this. Why put 2 in he said baby won’t want to share if they can help it xxxx
I think the problem is sometimes the embryos aren't strong enough to freeze, so it's either put two back or discard the second one.
This was the case with me, we transferred 2 and neither would have been good enough to freeze. We now have twins. To think we could have ended up discarding one is quite scary x
I am not suggesting to discard one embryo if you have 2. all I am saying is that if you freeze it and transfer it separately your cumulative chance of being pregnant is higher than with just one transfer of 2 embryo.
It’s particularly relevant for ladies who produce very fee embryos like me because if you want to avoid donor eggs, you have to give the maximum chance to each embryo.
I think it depends on embryo quality. If you have good quality embryos and they can be frozen, it’s better to transfer one at a time. If not, it is better to transfer them together x
I have the feeling that clinic say „not good enough to freeze“ when the embryo is not good quality, and they feel like it’s not worth it. But if you froze it, it would most likely survive (80-99% according to my clinic) and then you could transfer it. It’s a matter of insisting on having all your excess embryos frozen as opposed to the clinic picking and choosing. Because at the end, that low quality embryo could improve/self correct and result in a pregnancy. If you have few embryos and your priority is to avoid donor eggs, maximising the chance of each embryo can make sense. Off course that might lead to more miscarriage and more costs. It all depends on number of embryos, finances and priorities.
Mine said "not suitable" to freeze. The reason the successful thaw rates are so high is because they do insist on certain criteria to be able to freeze them.
You can insist on them freezing them all but then you might not get them surviving the thaw.
My clinic said only 3 out of every 10 couples have anything to freeze from a cycle.
Did they tell you what grades they don’t freeze? Or what criteria they use to freeze? I suspect that during the selection process, clinics discard embryos that could have resulted in a pregnancy. Because at the end, you cannot say for sure whether or not it would have worked unless you transfer it
Something to do with size. The ice crystals that form can break the embryo if it's not big enough.
I feel the same about each one being a chance though. My clinic now allows proper conversations with the embryologist so could ask but we won't be having another cycle and no chance of anything freezing if we did
If you have the chance to get info, that would be great as sharing it will help others.
If you don’t mind asking, it would be great if you could share the info as it will help others. Many clinics are not so transparent and open to sharing info.
Im not with the clinic anymore so can't assist, but ive sen them have open evenings where you can ask questions of the embryologist. Maybe others have that aswell
They will only freeze an embryo if they think it can be frozen and thawed succesfully, so an embryo that might result in a pregnancy in a fresh transfer is not always viable to freeze. They have such high thaw rates because they are selective about which embryos can be frozen in the first place.
My clinic had told me this too , i had 1 put back each cycle both ended in unfortunate mmc and this cycle we put the 2 back and im 20 wks pregnant with twins, i do think it does come down to luck of the draw , good luck on your journey ❤ xx
My clinic told me that it can actually increase your chances but only very, very marginally so as a result my clinic will categorically not transfer more than one at a time. Furthermore double embryo transfer can result in the two competing against one another and hindering chances of implantation especially if one embryo is a better grade than the other x
The first time I put back three on took. The second time they put back threes and 2 took.
My clinic says that transferring 2 increases your chance of a successful pregnancy (so long as they are the same or very similar grades). Funny how they all seem to give different advice!
If you have 2 significantly different graded embryos put back, this can decrease your chances of one taking.
I think this issue is very much still debated. Some clinics advise that 2 embryos increase your chances and others say that it can impact on the ability of the better quality embryo to implant. It’s difficult to know one way or another.
Yeah, this is what my clinic think too, plus the risk of multiple births on ladies with older ages ( like me 38+) /have higher risks etc .
Any help with feedback on embryos ladies?
What to do with spare embryos
If I transfer 2 embyo’s
New cycle after 2nd trimester pregnancy loss
