As you may know. We have opted for PGS testing for both of our previous rounds of egg collection. I’m in the middle of our third and wondering whether we should not do the testing and just hope for the best. Today I have even been thinking of doing a fresh transfer (although last cycle I was borderline OHSS so wouldn’t work if that happens again).
I know the benefits of it but would like to hear stories of successful PGS transfers please. For the money it costs, I don’t seem to hear nearly as many success stories as I would like!!
Thank you all
X
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hifer
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Out of three egg collections with about 11 blastocyst embryos (all tested) I only got one normal PGS. I went ahead with a frozen transfer on that only one and it implanted and ended up in a pregnancy. I am in the seventh month now.
However, I am aware that PGS does not always equal implantation and pregnancy every time as there could be a number of other factors at play.
For me, it was the right decision given my age and time.
Also good to speak with consultant about pros and cons too.
Thanks so much for the response. This is wonderful news that you are now 7 months. Wishing you all the very best with your pregnancy. Did you ever doubt that PGS was the right thing to do? x
Hi Hifer, When I spoke with the embryologist I understood better why PGS was for me. I would also recommend speaking with your embryologist and asking for their stats. Sometimes clinics give you the success rates too X
Hi, I did PGS testing and am 6 months pregnant with the one and only egg that came back okay from testing. I had 5 tested over 3 cycles. It is a tough choice indeed. At one point I was on the way for a fresh transfer, but dreading another miscarriage. I ended up with a random doctor on the phone who understood my decision and said ‘do you want a baby or a pregnancy’ ( I kind of don’t think he was supposed to say that) Anyway it sealed the deal for me. We turned around and I sobbed all the way home. A few months later we transferred my one and only and he stuck and is happy and bouncing around in there. Btw my transfer was at age 44, I’m now 45. It’s s bumpy ride isn’t it! I’m the end all we can do is listen to doctors and try to follow our instincts 💕
Oh god. I totally understand. I’m going through a similar thing. So heartbreaking to read how you sobbed all the way home. That could be me! My issue is that I’ve already transferred a PGS embryo and it didn’t work so looking at all the options right now and checking we’re doing the right thing. So so happy to hear your 6 months pregnant and wishing you all the best for the rest of the pregnancy. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Xx
Really interested to read this post, as a 43 year old multiple miscarrier (if thats a word)... I asked my consultant about PGS testing and he said that he hasn't seen any evidence of higher live birth rates per embryo for PGS tested versus non PGS tested and so told me it wasn't worth the investment. So we have never bothered... not to say thats the right or wrong answer but you wanted peoples experiences xx
That’s really interesting that he said that. Makes sense that that’s why you have never done it though. Every clinic and consultant seems to say different things which makes it even more confusing. Thanks a lot for your feedback. Xx
As a fellow multiple miscarrrier too! (All natural conception for us and unexplained) Just starting our first cycle of IVF aged 42 we also chose not to do any testing and were supported by our clinic. Our research showed worse rates of pregnancy outcomes in PGS than without.
It might be different depending on why u have ended up doing IVF?
Thanks so much for the message. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of your research please? I would be so interested to read it. We are also unexplained infertility and have had 2 natural pregnancies and 2 mmc. It’s such a tough decision to make!! Xx
Hi ya. We started with a good old google search, checked the clinic stats but really we made our mind up when speaking to one of the obstetric consultants at work, we r lucky to have resources at our fingers working in the NHS!
Who knows though if our IVF fails, which is very highly likely we may consider it if we decided on another cycle.
You just need to make the decision that is right for u guys. X
I too am really interested in reading this. My clinic have never offered or mentioned PGS testing. I doubt it’s something they do, maybe as they are NHS as well as private !?!
I do feel it sounds worthwhile although I have never had it and my very first transfer worked. Sadly no joy in the next 6 goes so hoping 7th time lucky 🍀. In my case would’ve loved opportunity to try it but only heard of recently on here x
I PGS tested on my second IVF cycle age 36 and didn’t get any normals (I got one low level mosaic I was allowed to transfer but it was a BFN)
I decided not to test again but changed my protocol To focus on much fewer follicles (2 instead of 14!) had 2 blastocysts frozen From that next cycle and transferred in June and am now nearly 12 weeks with twins.
My doctor and I discussed it when i had my viability scan and was discharged and he asked my thoughts on PGS and whether my opinion had changed - I said yes. I find it difficult to believe I went from zero normals to 100% normals given my history
Hi, So my story was with DE embryos - he first clinic i used suggested pgs because of my multiple miscarriages and said to reduce MC’s for future transfers would be better to reduce risk and know embryos are ok - and if they don’t implant it could be something else that’s the problem. Anyway we didn’t get any viable embryos - I was devastated - I had my flight book for the transfer! I couldn’t believe it esp with DE! Anyway I didn’t get a good feeling about that so I decided to change clinic - one I got very good recommendations about. They didn’t believe in PSG or in the immune protocol- ( for nk cells) which I had previously been tested for with an own egg cycle and they were high.
However my instinct with this clinic was to go with their experience and they have high success rates. Anyway , I got pregnant with the first transfer and have now had my baby.
The dr said that sometimes the embryo can be damaged during the testing or sometimes they take a sample from one area where there are abnormal cells but if they are taken from a different area it could have a different result.
If I was going to go again - I wouldn’t opt for Pgs testing. Also if you only get a few embryos and you are up for multiples I’d just transfer the 2 at a time and see what happens. Funnily enough my clinic actually were pro transferring only one - and my own actually worked!!
There are so many decisions on the journey - hope my experience helps in some way. X
That really does help. Thanks so much for sharing that. It was so interesting to read. Yes the decisions/ variables etc are all just such a nightmare as there are so many of them. You’re really given me something to think about. Thanks so much xx
Such amazing news and thanks so much for the message. It’s such an interesting topic isn’t it?! We’ll never know what would have happened if you’d tested on that next cycle. So pleased that it all worked out so well for you and wishing you all the best for the rest of your pregnancy xx
I decided to test on my fourth round after one mc and two bfns. We moved to a new clinic and after talking to the doctor at length about it and really feeling like I wanted to know if there was something fundamentally wrong with our embryos, we decided to do it. For me it was the best decision I could have made, I was at the point I would rather know sooner rather than later if it wasn’t going to work, then go through the heartache of more transfers, mcs and negatives. My first pgs transfer was a success and I’m 33 weeks now.
I think it’s a really personal decision and one that you have to figure out if it’s right for you xxx
That is really interesting, thank you. The link was great too. That’s exactly the reason why I ask the question on this fabulous forum. People are so well informed! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Xx
I meant to respond to you about this the other day. I’m guessing now you’ve decided to go with fresh transfer, and for this I wish you lots of luck.
However, for you and others in this chain, incase it’s helpful I thought I’d share my experience:
- I’ve had 3 transfers of 2 embryos each which all resulted in BFPs and I have a 2-year old from this (so 2 MMC). 1 was fresh, 2 were frozen. None of the embryos were PGS tested, all came from the same IVF cycle (age 39) and one MMC was genetically tested and the fetal matter was Chromosomally normal. Interestingly the MMCs were both twin whereas my pregnancy with my son only showed him at the early scan.
- I’ve had 3 other IVF cycles TTC number 2. First cycle 7 blasts were tested and all but 1 (a mosaic) were abnormal. Second cycle I got 1 decent blast and we simply froze it as the economics for testing didn’t make sense. Third cycle I got 6 blasts tested and 3 were normal (age 41). Put one back and now 7.5 months pregnant.
What this says about the merits of PGS I don’t really know, other than to say for me:
- given the number of blasts we got, it felt like a sensible choice for weeding out the bad ones after our first IVF cycle resulted in 3 pregnancies and 1 live birth.
- history suggested my body may reject twin pregnancies even when there is nothing genetically wrong;
- it helped avoid another MMC, given getting pregnant with IVF didn’t seem to be the issue.
I believe that broadly speaking only PGS normal embryos have a significant chance of creating a baby, but that whether to test or simply transfer and see what happens has to be driven by a multitude of other factors. I have one child from not testing and another one on the way from testing. Neither is the right or wrong approach.
All I do know is that for anyone going through it, it’s brutal both emotionally and financially.
Thank you very much for your very comprehensive message with all the stats, it made for very interesting reading. I’m so happy that it worked out for you in the last round. It’s certainly a very complicated issue and it’s good to see how it’s worked out for you with your history etc.
Actually we may still be doing PGS testing too this round even though we’re doing a fresh transfer. There are loads of factors at play with our decision. First off my lining is 7.5 which it’s never been in any egg collection, FET, monitoring cycle or anything else so it makes sense to make the most of it! Secondly we’ve never done a fresh transfer so thought we’d give it a go (why not, we’ve tried everything else?!) We have done a transfer before with a PGS embryo and it didn’t work. Also our clinic have offered us extenuating circumstances and we’ve agreed that we will transfer one and if we get more than 3, we will test the rest so we get the best of both Worlds theoretically.
Every decision seems to take forever!! Anyway we’ll see what the results are like after egg collection and go from there.
Thanks again for your very interesting and thoughtful message.
I just wanted to thank you for posting your initial question. I currently have 9 embryos being PGS tested and I have started to wonder what to do with the results when they arrive, providing any are euploid/mosaic. Im 42 and it seemed like the obvious choice after 2 MC. My first one from this fresh cycle wasnt tested and didnt implant.
I dont regret the testing but wonder if my eggs were the reason for my previous MCs. Hoping I can find out by having a euploid to transfer.
Keeping everything crossed for your results from the PGS testing. It’s a difficult one to know. I’ve had 2 mmc and we know that the last one was due to a chromosome abnormality but we don’t know about the first one. Keep us posted about the results xx
Thanks hifer. Do you mind if I ask how did you know your last MMC was chromosomes related? I would have liked to have been able to ascertain this with my MCs. Sorry if this is too sensitive...PM me if necessary. X
No I don’t mind you asking at all. We had the tissue tested at the hospital. We had to pay for it as I’ve ‘only’ had 2 miscarriages and the NHS will only investigate after 3. For us, it was worth doing as we wanted some answers. Just be aware that you can pay quite a bit of money and not get any conclusive results back though. X
Thanks. I enquired about testing the tissue for causes of MC (my sis says there is a history of auto immune disorder in my family) but they told me the pregnancy would have needed to be more advanced. (I was 8wks but preg stopped around 6wks). It was my first and only natural pregnancy and I was really in the dark. My 2nd MC was at 6 weeks, same hospital, after IVF. I asked the hospital to confirm that the spongey sticky opaque ball the size of a large pea that appeared on my tissue while bleeding was the pregnancy. Months later the lab said yes. I wish I has known I could ask for chromosomal testing too...
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. I don’t know if there is a limit on weeks before you can get the tissue tested. I was about 7 1/2 weeks. My consultant wasn’t super enthusiastic about doing it and kept telling us we might not get any results back. Given we were paying for it, I insisted and went for it! Sorry you weren’t able to get any answers. X
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