Another fresh or use frozen embryos we already have?

[Peanutchips]

Hey everyone,

I’m just wondering your thoughts on this...We have 4 embryos on ice, we had 5 but have done one FET that ended in BFN. Freeze all cycle as I have PCOS and risk of OHSS.

As there’s been a lot of waiting time since my original egg collection last year and now, plus all the waiting with Covid19, I’ve suddenly started wondering whether we should go in for another fresh cycle? Keep the frozen embies for a sibling or in case this doesn’t work.

Not getting any younger and very anxious about never fulfilling our dream of having family at the mo.

Have any of you done this?

Thanks in advance x

[Chel91]

Personally I'm going to use all of my frozen embryos before doing another fresh cycle. For me it's the best decision because I don't have any age / low ovarian reserve concerns. Totally personal decision, perhaps consult with your clinic which they would let you start first? Best of luck xx

[Hidden in reply to Chel91]

I was thinking of doing this. How old are you?

[Chel91 in reply to Hidden]

I'm 29 xx

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Just wondering what’s making you think of doing this? Can’t decide ourselves so be great to hear others thoughts. How old are you (if you don’t mind me asking?)

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

We have 4 frozens in the freezer and I'm 37 will be 38 in September so want to bank more embryo's just incase... My body done so well when coming to egg collection we had 15 collected and transferred 1 froze 4. Thinking if we can do same protocol again before I reach mid 38... Just increase chance and peace of mind. How old are you?

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Yes I can totally see that. Especially if you want a sibling down the line. I’m 35, my partner is older though. Are you doing any testing of the embryos? Best of luck x

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

I'm trying to get pregnant to give my daughter a sibling.. so need 1 more baby.. we need to think about it more because egg collection might be a waste of money if I do get pregnant with the frozens... I will only test if I do fresh cycle... Have you had karyotyping done? Xx

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Yes I see what you mean, it’s so hard to know what’s best, isn’t it? Was your daughter through IVF (if you don’t mind me asking)? I haven’t, what is that? X

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

No I don't mind.. she was conceived natrually bless her she is 4 now 5 in july and desperately want to give her a sibling. X

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Aww, wishing you all the best with your next cycle 💕

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

Karyotyping is away for testing for abnormalities in sperm x

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, will look into it!

[Peanutchips in reply to Chel91]

Thank you and good luck! 😘

[suenoyang2020]

Hi, our situation was a bit similar like yours. We had a few failed cycles and had 4 frozen embryos left (We had 8 embryos from a fresh cycle). We were debating if we should do a fresh cycle or continue our FET. In the end, we decided to transfer 2 frozen embryos. If it is not successful, we will do a fresh cycle and do PGS of all the embryos including the ones from the previous cycle. Our view is that our embryos may have some genetic issues after so many failed cycles (Both my husband and I have no health issues).

Luckily, our last FET worked and I am 8 weeks' pregnant although only 1 embryo survived.

Good luck

x

[Peanutchips in reply to suenoyang2020]

Thanks for replying and massive congratulations on such wonderful news! It’s so hard to make these decisions, balancing head and heart! 💕

[suenoyang2020 in reply to Peanutchips]

On a separate note, have you had your follow up consultation with the clinic? When we had a failed cycle, we tend to sit down with our doctor and ask very detailed questions on what happened to the last cycle and what could go wrong. It helps you push the clinic and the doctor to do something different for the next cycle. There is no point of repeating the same approach if it is not successful.

When we did our second FET, the lights went off in the theatre during the process of transferring two top grade embryos. The doctor struggled a bit to get things sorted quickly. The cycle failed as we expected! We always wondered if our embryos were ever transferred. During our follow up consultation (we requested this with the clinic director), we realised that the doctor never put notes down about the technical issue they had. We challenged the clinic that it is not professional and not right to not include all the details and requested we never want to use this doctor again. What I am trying to say is that you can challenge your clinic and your doctor by going through all the details. It could be our body that the cycle doesn't work but it could be the clinic / doctor as well. After the second failed cycle, we were very particular about which doctor we use.

For our last two cycles, the new doctor used ultrasound during transfer and you can see that our embryos are definitely transferred. I think we all need to have a doctor we can trust to get pregnant quickly.

x

[Peanutchips in reply to suenoyang2020]

Thank you for that. I’m so sorry you were through some difficult rounds before getting your happy news. The problem is we’re with an NHS hospital. We get a different consultant every time and I don’t think we get to pick. We didn’t have a good transfer, first person couldn’t get catheter in so they had to go and get another consultant to do it. Took a while and I got the shakes quite badly, I don’t know why.

Thanks again x

[suenoyang2020 in reply to Peanutchips]

Oh, that wasn't good for the first transfer. Did they give you feedback why was this? You can definitely ask for feedback on this even it is a NHS hospital. It is their responsibility. You could ask for a mock transfer for the next cycle. We were on NHS funding for the first three cycles and we still asked to change doctors. If you message me your hospital, I can help you have a look at the doctors' profiles.

[Peanutchips in reply to suenoyang2020]

Thanks for this. They have a 6 week wait between failed transfers and consultations to discuss and unfortunately we went into lockdown a few days before our consultation date, so we haven’t been able to speak to anyone For a mock transfer - do you know if you have to do a whole separate cycle? That’s interesting about asking to change docs with NHS.

[suenoyang2020 in reply to Peanutchips]

For private clinics, you can do a mock transfer at any time, for example, it can be part of your assessment to check if everything is fine. You can ask your doctor if they can offer this as you had a difficult transfer. When our second cycle failed (as mentioned earlier there were issues with lights), the doctor put a note that she had difficulty to put the catheter in. When we used a new doctor, we mentioned this and he did a mock transfer just before the real transfer and he didn't have any issues with it. He didn't understand why the previous doctor had issues. Having said this, this doctor is very experienced, one of the best in the UK.

If your doctor thinks it is worth a mock transfer but can't offer it due to NHS funding, you can try to get it done with a private clinic. It shouldn't cost too much.

[Peanutchips in reply to suenoyang2020]

Thank you so much for this. I’ve noticed some of the privates do this as standard as part of initial consultation. I think that would be really helpful for us as it does worry me that this might be why our transfer failed xx

[C_C_H]

Hi! I have been in the same situation but after 3 failed FETs I am going to leave my 3 embryos and do a fresh round but with additional ERA/ALICE/EMMA tests. I too had a freeze all due to OHSS because of PCOS 🙄 as you have only had 1 round, I would consider trying again with the embryos you have. Hope that helps x

[Peanutchips in reply to C_C_H]

Thank you so much for your advice. It’s really hard to decide, largely because our frozen embryos are with NHS hospital so don’t know how long it’ll be before we can get to them. Don’t know if just going for another fresh round privately is better. Although with high risk of OHSS there might be more waiting with that anyway. Can you add an ERA to a to a fresh round? Don’t know why but thought it had to be in a mock FET?

What is ALICE/EMMA, if you don’t mind me asking? Thanks so much again and best of luck with your next fresh cycle 💕

[C_C_H in reply to Peanutchips]

Hello! I totally get that, you just want the quickest option. I am the same. I am leaving my 3 embryos at the NHS clinic and moving to a private one for a fresh round although I had decided on this before Covid. I really hope they monitor extra closely to avoid OHSS again.

You are right, ERA testing for transfer timing would be done before an FET so for the fresh, I will just do ALICE and EMMA. From my understanding, a biopsy is taken to test the PH levels of your endometrium in addition to any hidden infections being tested/treated. If this round fails, I will look into ERA before the next FET.

I am still on the fence about embryo screening due to the cost.

Hope that helps x

[Peanutchips in reply to C_C_H]

That’s really helpful, thank you. Were you given any explanations as to why your transfers might have failed from your clinic? I’m really sorry you’ve had to go through that. I know what you mean about PGS testing, its so expensive and I’ve read that aneuploid embryos can correct themselves anyway 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sounds like you have a good plan for next steps, all the very best to you 💕

[C_C_H in reply to Peanutchips]

I do have borderline high NK cells so am now having immune treatment for that. Our embryos are good quality in terms of grading so we’re not too sure why it’s not happening for us. In addition to the Emma/Alice test, we are also going to do sperm DNA fragmentation and I guess PGS will be the next steps after that. It’s all such a long journey. Good luck with yours 🙏

[Peanutchips in reply to C_C_H]

All the luck to you as well 💕

[Tigr]

Same boat here. We have 3 average quality ones in the freezer after a fresh cycle early this year and failed fresh transfer and originally wanted to do another FET. We thought even if the FET fails, we don't loose too much time and can do a fresh cycle afterwards. Fast forward to now - FET beginning of April got cancelled, no FETs in near future but just freeze-all cycles to start in our clinic. Time is running for my egg quality (37), so we went on the fresh cycle waiting list and I am trying to be super healthy again for happy eggs.

[Peanutchips in reply to Tigr]

Yes, such similar position to us (except I couldn’t have fresh transfer due to my PCOS and risk of OHSS). Our first FET failed. Second got cancelled. No idea when next FET can be as we’re with NHS hospital so embryos are there. We wondering if a fresh cycle is the most productive use of time, hate just waiting like this. Best of luck getting those eggs healthy 💕💕

[Tigr in reply to Peanutchips]

Thank you! Yeah, the best use of time plus not knowing when FETs will go ahead decided this for us. If we had high quality frozen embryos, I would maybe hesitate more since we might not "need" more in that case and I am horrified of maybe having to destroy some after I have 2 kids. I also have pcos and was really surprised that they agreed to put one back directly after my first round. They scanned me early and often, checked hormone levels and I was on the short protocol and it seemed to have gone fine (apart from the bfn). I had a sluggish left ovary this round though, so that might have made the fresh transfer possible at all 😂

[Peanutchips in reply to Tigr]

I know what you mean about the surplus embryos, that’s one of the things making me think we should just go with the frozen ones. But then I don’t know how long it’ll be until we get to do a FET, and will I regret not doing another fresh cycle now, in a few years down the line when my egg quality is worse? That’s great that you were able to transfer on a fresh cycle with PCOS. Do you mind me asking how many eggs were collected?

[Tigr in reply to Peanutchips]

They got 12 eggs out. We all feared I'd overshoot but was alright. Was just very fast, just stimulated 7 days and was on Fyremadel from day 5 😬

[Peanutchips in reply to Tigr]

Interesting. Good to know it can be controlled. I was stimming for 14 days (I think) and had 25 eggs.

[Tigr in reply to Peanutchips]

Oh wow, that is loads! I felt like I'm gonna burst already with my half of that! Yeah, I was surprised and really my left ovary being sluggish that round helped quite a bit. Hope you can start soon with FET or a fresh cycle and everything goes well!

[Peanutchips in reply to Tigr]

Yes, I was quite uncomfortable but it wasn’t too bad actually. Best of luck to you 💕

[Pebbles345]

Hello,

Just to say I was in a similar position last year. We had 6 on ice but decided to use our NHS free round for a fresh cycle this year. Unfortunately the second round was a disaster and we only got 1 blastocysts. If I had my chance again knowing what I know now then I would not have wasted the time and I would have just carried on with the FET's.

The doctor was clear that each round is so different but I naively thought that we would have 12 blastocysts after the end of the second round!

Good luck with whatever decision you make xxx

[Peanutchips in reply to Pebbles345]

Thanks sooo much for offering a different perspective. I’m so sorry that your second round was a disaster compared to the first. Were you on the same drug protocol? Was anything different? Yes, I’ve been hoping it would be similar outcome to the first time. So hard to know! I just don’t know how quickly we can get a FET with NHS hospital at the mo. Are you planning a FET anytime soon? Best of luck to you 💕

[Hidden]

I thought about this due to covid i started to panic. 34 years old and one average embryo on ice. I was thinking to ‘get a few embryo’s’ because i dont have very high hopes for the upcoming FEt. I have the feeling i didnt do everything i could to prepare for better quality eggs so dont want to risk spending alot of money if we again just get 2 average embryos. So i think will wait for my FEt and resume fresh acter that. If money isnt a issue i would go for it as your eggs are better now then down the line. X

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much for your reply. Is your clinic going to be going ahead with FET cycles soon? I hope so! Best of luck with it 💕

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

Just posted their update after i wrote to you!! Looks like i wont be hearing from them any time soon as the canceled cycles go first and they can only treat that many people. 😢😢😢 might take moths so not happy at all. Maybe look in to finance options now for us and what our options are x

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. Are you NHS or private?

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

Nhs x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Can't you ask for the embryos to be transferred to a private clinic for transfer?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I asked one private clinic and they said we dont do that x

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

Oh no. Do you know why not? Surely some will be able to do this? 💕

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

I’m going to look into this. Just don’t know how easy this is if the NHS hospital I used is slow to reopen. Have you moved embryos yourself? X

[Peanutchips in reply to Hidden]

I’m also NHS, great financially but tough otherwise with lots more waiting. I hope it happens soon for you 💕

[Hidden in reply to Peanutchips]

Same for you hun. No i dont kniw why they dont offer it. I didnt really pushed further to be honest x