No day 5 blastocysts, what percentage will make it to day 6?

[Up2theuniverse]

I’m 41 years old, this is our second cycle. We never seem to get any day 5 blastocysts. Does this mean that we have poor quality embryos? We still have 7 embryos but only one is close to the blastocyst stage. This is our last attempt to have a baby, I’m trying to not stress too much

[Hidden]

Hi there! Im not an expert but just wanted to say I hope with all my heart you get what u want from this round. I dont know why this happens. My own research (3 years) basically found that there is not much we can do about it and age seem to be our worse enemy. I found that some doctors say to follow certain diets and others say nothing will make our eggs beter no matter what we do because we are born with them.

Then there are so many rainbow babies born which makes me think we all deserve it. Sorry not much of help but just wanted to say we are all on this journey and we all perhaps choose a slight different way but we all feel how hard it is. All the best of luck to you and your 7 x

[Up2theuniverse in reply to Hidden]

Thanks mimisami for your reply. Last round we had 2 day 6 blastocysts, I think the lab made some errors with them as when they went for pgd testing they both came back with ‘no result’. Apparantly this is so rare that they’ve never seen 2 embryos come back with with no result. They then retested the strongest one which returned as ‘normal’. It ended in a chemical pregnancy. It seems they tampered with it too much. It’s so difficult to stay optimistic when the odds are so low

[KiboXX]

Hi Up2theuniverse,

Hopefully some ladies on here can give you success stories with day 6 embryos and put your mind at ease!

I haven’t used a day 6 embryo yet but we have one in the freezer which our embryologist told us has every chance a 5 day one did of being successful. She said the only time day 6 blasts can be an issue is on a fresh cycle as it can mean they are out of sync with your body but on a FET, there is no issue.

Out of 3 embryos that developed, we had one blast by day 5 morning, another by day 5 evening and the third was on day 6. All good grades, all tested PGS normal.

Xx

[Up2theuniverse in reply to KiboXX]

Thanks kibo,

Our lab only checks the embryos once a day.

We’ve had bad luck both rounds where the egg collection was brought forward 2 days so day 5 (blastocyst day) is a Sunday). They tell us that it is only possible to check them once a day in the morning. They never tell us the truth, they said the weekends won’t effect how often they check them but you’ve just given me proof that they do! One embryo was very close to a blastocyst today but they went home! This is so disappointing!

[KiboXX in reply to Up2theuniverse]

Oh that’s really frustrating. Do you know if they are using an embryoscope? It’s a time lapse incubator x

[Up2theuniverse in reply to KiboXX]

I just googled this, no I don’t think they are using a time lapse incubator, but I just discovered that their sister clinic one hour away is! Oh I wish they would

just be honest to give everyone the best chances!

[KiboXX in reply to Up2theuniverse]

We really struggled with our embryo development on our first two rounds. Both times I had a day 2 transfer as we were down to only a couple of embryos. Our 3rd and 4th cycles we used embryoscope incubators and got 5 day blasts so I do really believe they can make a big difference! Worth talking about with your clinic if you end up doing any further cycles x

[Up2theuniverse in reply to KiboXX]

Oh wow lucky you! Have you transferred any of them yet?

My partner will never agree on another round, he didn’t even want to do this round unfortunately but I finally convinced him after a year.

[KiboXX in reply to Up2theuniverse]

Oh I’m sorry to hear that. My third round didn’t work but we changed clinics for our fourth and I’m 10 weeks pregnant for our first transfer there.

Really hope you get good news tomorrow xx

[Up2theuniverse in reply to KiboXX]

Wow congratulations that’s the best news I’ve heard all day!!

Hopefully we get some good news tomorrow and I can stop being so negative Nancy lol

[ttcemmie]

Hi lovely. I have seen lots of people on here transfer day 3 embryos and it's all luck whether these embryos implant or not (at any day). I have seen so much about day 3 embryos that I'm going to ask my clinic if they have been discarding mine as I would probably actually also like to try these instead of only looking for day 5 blastocysts. They're all potential babies to me. The chance element seems so high in all of these (especially when looking at when there are day 5 pgs tested blastocysts that sadly don't implant) and I have hope for all grades etc. x

[Up2theuniverse in reply to ttcemmie]

Yes I wonder the same myself. We had 11 embryos at day 3 and by tomorrow we’ll be lucky if we have one! Then it’s only 1 in 4 chance if they are genetically normal! I feel that maybe we should have taken the chance and implanted 2 day 3 embryos on both cycles!

[Hidden]

Not sure if it’s any help but I am 43 this week and my clinic have only ever taken me to day 5 in one round. I have had two 3 day and one 2 day transfer, part of this was things like days of the week and lots of it was down to embryo numbers, however in my last round my consultant basically said no matter how many embryos I had we would put the best two or three back on day three and not risk taking them any further as they were best off where they belonged naturally x

[Up2theuniverse]

Oh wow Thankyou for sharing your experience.

Did you have any success with your transfers?

We had a miscarriage and found out that bubs had Down syndrome, so I think they are pushing PGS testing with us.

[Hidden in reply to Up2theuniverse]

Sorry for your loss.

Ive had two natural pregnancies - both MMC and my second IVF round they transferred 3 on day 5 and I got a singleton BFP but sadly MMC at 9 1/2 weeks. I also had a chemical round 3 which was a 3 embryo day 3 transfer. I have been found to have sticky blood and various other issues that might cause repeat MC but despite being on preventative medicine my last (natural) MC I lost at 5 1/2 weeks. Am in my 2ww of my fourth round with 2 embryos on board but not feeling particularly optimistic!

I do think we are all a bit obsessed with getting to day 5 blasto particularly on this forum. My consultant continuously reminds me that originally IVF was only ever day 3 and still had great success rates. I am always a little cynical that these clinics that only offer day 5 transfers can see ££ signs a bit too much xx

[Up2theuniverse in reply to Hidden]

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been through so much, it is a very tough journey this IVF! The reason I’m pursuing day 5 blasts is I can’t bear to have another miscarriage.

Are you taking aspirin for the sticky blood?

Isn’t it crazy how different each ivf doctor is? It makes it difficult to know what I’d the right path when they all gave their own opinions

[Hidden]

Hi Up2the universe, I know how you are feeling. It is great you have six embryos.

I am 42. In my first round, I had an embryo that became a blastocyst on day 6. Best of luck to you!

[Up2theuniverse in reply to Hidden]

Have you implanted your day 6 blast? We found out today that we have 3 surviving day 6 blasts, one B grade & 2 C grades. Now I think it’s 1 in 4 chance that they are genetically normal

[Hidden]

Hi, no, mine didn't implant during my first cycle though it was pgs testing. It is great you have three blastocysts. Wishing you lots of luck this cycle!

[Up2theuniverse in reply to Hidden]

I also had 2 day 6 blasts on my first round, one was tested twice and genetically normal, the other no result. Didn’t implant.

Was your blast tested with the new pgs method of just testing the culture medium and not having to touch the embryo?

Last round we believed they tampered with our embryo too much with the retesting, this time they don’t have to touch them