Day 3 embryo transfers

[Chalkers81]

Experiences of day 3 transfer versus day 5 transfer please. I am getting a low number of eggs and had a day 3 transfer for my first cycle which was negative. I had a day 5 transfer for my second (all embryos were doing great at day 3) but the embryos had only made it to morula and early blastocyst - this was negative too. All embryos that were not transferred arrested and none made it to a stage where they could be frozen. I'm anticipating the same for next round and assuming a day 3 transfer would be best and wanted to hear people's experiences. Thanks

[FingersXssed83]

Embryo 6&7 worked for us as a 3 day FET. Fresh 5 day blasts hadn’t worked before. Good luck!

[Chalkers81 in reply to FingersXssed83]

Thank you - so you had a day 3 frozen transfer, is that right? I think my clinic will not freeze anything other than day 6 blastocysts, but I am going to check that. xxx

[FingersXssed83 in reply to Chalkers81]

Yes that’s right. Fresh or 5 day didn’t work for us. Tbh I think it all comes down to whether the embryo is genetically viable or not. I believe frozen transfers are slightly more successful than fresh. We are going to try again for another baby soon, so I’ll be interested whether the doc recommends doing another 3 day freeze all. X

[Chalkers81 in reply to FingersXssed83]

Thanks and yes would be interested to see what they suggest for you, I have a son from frozen transfer so all of my experience of fresh have been negative so far, staying positive for next round and will definitely speak to the clinic about freezing options xx

[LuxFleur]

Deciding to transfer is usually more about how many eggs are retrieved and how many fertilize. My lab argued that the issue is mostly psychological for the patient, in terms of when to transfer or freeze—that any embryo that does not make it to a strong blastocyst was going to arrest anyway, in the lab or after transfer. I guess there are some who think there's a chance an embryo will do better in the environment of the uterus, BUT, this isn't proven at all. The success rate for a 5 day blast is higher than for a 3 day embryo, of course. We had two eggs that fertilized normally. Since we only had two, we wanted to freeze both at day 3 (had to be freeze all for a few reasons.) That is what our doctor wanted. But the lab wanted us to wait until day 5, to see if they became blastocysts. It was agonizing to have our lab and doctor disagree! We decided to freeze them at day 3, but the lab said only one looked strong enough to freeze, and we would have to wait to see if the other corrected itself and made it to day 5. It did! Well, fast forward a few months. We transferred the day 3 and it did not work. Then we transferred the day 5, which had been struggling at day 3, and now I am pregnant. Long story short, we don't know if an embryo will continue in the womb that stops in the lab, or vice versa. Best of luck xo

[Chalkers81 in reply to LuxFleur]

Thank you for your reply, and congratulations I am actually doing ok on the fertilisation side. We had 5 eggs on last round and 4 made it to really good day 3 embryos. It is just that they didn't progress much from that point - but you are right we just don't know if they would have made it any further inside or not. Holding out hope for the next round Thanks again

xx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Chalkers. Cycles can vary so much, but should you have to go for a 3 Day transfer, just remember that years ago, that's all we did as we didn't have the expertise to grow to Day 5. We still had many successes. Good luck! Diane

[Chalkers81 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thank you Diana

[Chalkers81 in reply to Chalkers81]

oops sorry Diane xx

[BBHH1]

Yes you are correct, in your situation fresh transfer of day gives you better chances!

[Emmaxxx]

Hi. I had 2 day 5 fresh transfers - negative 1 day 3 fresh transfer - negative they egg quail was crap. Then another 3 day fresh transfer and have a beautiful 10 months old baby boy!!! I was always under the impression that 3 day transfer was rubbish. It’s not!!!! They work xxx