The past week has been pretty rough and just hoping to get some advice...
After our second failed transfer (I know that isn’t lots but we are in a same sex relationship so it really is now or never), we had our review appointment on Tuesday which didn’t go how I thought! The doctor said evidence to say NK cell testing and ERA actually help are sketchy and backed up by the HFEA’s traffic light system. She did say I can have a endo scratch before the next transfer.
I also asked about the pessaries as I was worried about the progesterone not being absorbed and she said I could use injections next time if I wanted. Any thoughts on this?
We have two embryos left, B and C and they have advised we considered a double transfer. We are self funded and can’t afford to start from scratch again and I’m just worried we aren’t barking up the right tree to gamble with our last two. Would you use the last two embryos or one at a time?
Really want to throw everything at this last try so eating like a saint, acupuncture, going to take 2 weeks off work etc.
Had a meltdown in work on Friday after accidentally setting the fire alarm off (one lovely gentleman was even on the loo for it going off🤦🏻♀️) so definitely need to go back in a better head space next week!
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Ok so my clinics views sound rather similar. They said the same to me about the further tests and said in their opinion I would be wasting my money but I can do it if I wanted. With regards to the pessaries, they added the injection to my protocol and it was then enough for me. ( I did pessaries every 6 hours and injection every 24).
My cycle then worked without the further tests and just the added injections. (although I miscarried at 10weeks).
I can’t comment on how many to transfer sorry as I’ve done 1 on my two transfers and I now only have 1 embryo left.
It’s so hard to know what to do but go with your gut because you will only be wondering if you should have done something different if It doesn’t go as planned.
My clinic is the same and doesn’t feel those added tests are worth the spend. I’m a private patient, so if they’re telling me not to spend that extra money, I have to trust thats for good reason. But I also know how frustrating it is without any answers or not doing further tests!
Taking time off sounds good, I’ve taken 4 weeks off with my current transfer and it’s been nice. I also enjoy acupuncture as it makes me feel like I’m doing something to help! This time round I had my progesterone checked prior to transfer and it came back as 40, which my clinic was happy with so they didn’t increase my progesterone levels. I now also have heparin and aspirin due to a raised anti-cardiolipin blood results so I’m hoping this helps the embabies stick!
I’ve also transferred two, but I also have two frozen left so took the gamble because I liked the sound of the increased chance of at least one of the embabies sticking!
I’m only 6dp5dt so I can’t say if it’s worked or not. If this doesn’t work, I will have genetic testing and try again.
It’s so hard to know what to do, but the above small changes for me have helped me feel like I’m doing something slightly different than last to see if it helps!
I’m going to look into anti-cardiolipin blood tests. Feel like I’d try absolutely anything at this stage- even if it’s just for reassurance. Totally agree, in order to feel remotely ok about each transfer I need to keep making changes!
We also didn’t have genetic testing, maybe naively thought the sperm clinic done a lot of testing, my wife was 28 at the time of egg collection and if we were a straight couple it wouldn’t have mattered.
Sending you massive good luck vibes! Hope all goes perfectly well!! Xxx
I would say nothing try nothing done. I never did anything special with my first transfer other than embryo testing and it did not work ,also only transfer one boy tested embryo. My second transfer i change my doctor and i did intralipids (nk) the day of transfer and i was put on steriods before transfer. Right now i am 6 week pregnant with twins. I also transfer two embryos( boy and girl ) this time the embryos where from my last tested batch. So i would say if you feel like you want to do Nk testing do it and add it to your procedure before you transfer. I never did the testing , I came on board with history of an autoimmune disease and my first doctor didnot take it into account but i change doctor and told him he need to give me medication to lower my immune and that is how the steriods and intralipids where introduced. If you want to try it with one embryo do that. I had 8 frozen embryos two that was tested and 6 untested so I gamble with the two tested embryos.
I would be wary of consultants who tell you not to do nk cell testing. I struggled to get pregnant for 2 and a half years before having care from doctor shehata, a specialist in the field. He prescribed steroids, Hydroxychloroquine, Intralipids, aspirin. The first and only time I took all the drugs, I got pregnant and am now 26 weeks in. Baby is really healthy, all the scans have been perfect🤞I would also say possibly the reason for the cynicism is that a lot of clinics do the tests and prescribe the steroids, because it's known steroids are a huge part of the treatment plan, but most ivf clinics do not have specialists in this area. They have immunologists, but this is very different to someone who has literally dedicated their life to testing women with nk cells. Nk cell testing is expensive, so if you do go ahead with it, go with one of the top people in the field, shehata, gorgy or quenby- all easily found online. Don't throw your money at ivf clinic tests because even with the right diagnosis, you might not get the right treatment, and the treatment may not work. At ivf clinics it is just another 'add on' - but it shouldn't be. As for the embryos, I'd put one back in if I were you. It's not an easy decision, good luck x
Thanks for replying, this has been super interesting.
Massive congrats on the baby!
I live in Northern Ireland and there’s a private hospital (not the fertility clinic) where you can be referred to if you have had repeated embryos failing to implant so maybe that’s our best option and will hopefully put some pressure on the fertility clinic.
Me and my wife are currently going through RIVF. After 2 failed transfers.. the doctors recommend the scratch. I had that and my third transfer after my scratch also failed..
I also had my progesterone levels checked before my 3rd transfer and my body wasn't absorbing the pessaries so added in lubion injections which did help increase my progesterone levels but my third transfer still failed with the scratch and the correct amount of progesterone
My wife was only 29 at the time of egg collection so I very much doubt it was down to embryo quality, she also had all the chromosone testing before her egg collection last year ..
Me and my wife currently have no embryos left so having to start again from scratch.
I had an ERA Test and NK Cells testing a few weeks ago. I have the results from that on the 23rd of April (I'm hoping I get some answers from that) 🤞
My wife's scheduled in for her second egg collection at the end of this month.
I would definitely suggest having the ERA and NK cells testing before transferring your last 2 embryos. It may seem like it costs a lot but having to start again from scratch is so much more ☹️ we have just had to pay out around another 10k to start our second cycle 😭x
It’s so frustrating when the clinics don’t even test for progesterone until a few transfers in. And almost a miracle for them to suggest rather than us doing the research and constantly pushing! Hope you get the answers you need on the 23rd and it’s good news!
The cost financially and emotionally is shocking...so I always thought the clinics would monitor people more closely/ be more forthcoming with ideas. Never say never but if it doesn’t work out for us next time, maybe adoption is the next step for us.
Really hope this works out for yous this time ❤️ Xxx
Hi! We are in a same sex couple too, and naively thought this would just work for us! I didn't realise our hope was about 30% too! I just thought it would be easier. We had a very similar review after the 2nd failure. The consultant said all of the evidence is patchy and she wouldn't recommend any further tests yet! She thought it was just unlucky and to keep trying. We mentioned doing PGT-A (or PGS) as the consultant after the first failure asked us if we wanted it!! We hadn't hadn't heard of it then. But we had a high number of embryos left (7) so she 'just wanted to mention it'! Anyway, thr new consultant wouldn't even recommend that really - but said we could if we wanted. (They are my eggs and I was 34 when they were collected so the evidence shows it is unlikely to be helpful for that age). She said ERA/Emma was possible but she just wouldn't do it yet. Try another time and see.
However in the end we went for PGTA. By then we had 6 embryos left. 5 came back normal, 1 mosaic. So it probably was a bit pointless but at least we have the knowledge.
We didn't do any other tests and are currently 6dp5dt.
If this one doesn't work I think we will go for the era/Emma maybe NK cells too! We just want it to work so would prefer to try everything next we think! Staying positive for this one though. Not sure if to test from tomorrow. Official test date for me isn't until day 13!!!
Our clinic said no to 2embryos (and that was before they were tested!) So I seriously don't think they'd let us now!
It's so frustrating isn't it.
Sorry I don't really have any answers or advice just wanted to say it sounded very similar to us and I've come to realise that even without any infertility history we have the same (low) chances with IvF! It will work, just takes longer than we thought. Fingers 🤞
I'm so sorry to hear of all you have been through. This IVF journey can be a bloody nightmare to say the least! I'm also in a same-sex relationship and went into IVF rather ignorantly. Unfortunately I know other gay couples (and straight couples) who went into IVF and had it work first time...so, to me, first time was the norm. How wrong was I?!
We're gearing up for our fourth transfer this week. I've had two egg collections to date and each of my three transfers has resulted in a chemical pregnancy. I, too, was keen to find out more about NK cell testing and ERA but the three consultants I have spoken with have advised against it. They said that NK cells are necessary and that one should not seek to tamper with this. The test they did advise me to have was the 'sticky blood' test which tests for many things (the main focus is on blood clotting). If you haven't had this test done, I would recommend it. My blood test didn't find any clotting issues but I was diagnosed with the MTHFR gene mutation which means I need to be on a much higher dose of folic acid. I just made a video about this which you are welcome to watch if it is of any help:
There really does need to be more support for people in our situation. We get no funding and are thrown into IVF with no testing; the emotional (and financial) toll this takes can sometimes feel unbearable.
We also have two embryos left (both grade C) and our clinic are allowing us to transfer both. From what I've read, if both embryos are of the same quality then a double transfer can increase the chance of it working. However, if one is of a lower quality, it can decrease the chance of success.
I wish you the very best of luck. We've also been going down the adoption route (and want to adopt even if the IVF works). Attend some virtual information events - they are fantastic and remind you that there are wonderful options outside of this IVF world! xxx
I’m in total awe of how brave are you documenting your journey, especially after everything you’ve been through. The best advice is from other couples who have been through this.
Couldn’t agree more! We are all spending money faster than we could possibly make it, everything is on hold and our hearts broken. And fertility counselling wasn’t really for us, it still doesn’t solve the issue.
Good luck with your transfer this week, I have everything crossed for yous🤞🏻!! It’s hard to believe at the minute, but some day IVF won’t be the most demanding thought / long term hobby no one wants!
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