I’m 39 and tomorrow is day 5 after my second egg collection. We had 3 fertilised embryos from 7 eggs. Unsure whether to get these tested.
First round we had 4 embryos from 14 eggs, transferred them all, but none stuck.
If I test them and they are all abnormal then that’s it, we don’t get a chance to transfer. If I don’t test them and they don’t work then I’m no further forward in finding out why it’s not working.
Any advice? Thank you
Honestly there’s a lot of new science poking holes in the accuracy of PGD testing. We are considering transferring an abnormal embryo for my wife after reading all about it. That’s just to say it’s a new science and there’s growing doubt in the medical community as to its accuracy. There’s a Facebook group of women who have transferred abnormal embryos and MANY resulted in “normal” babies with no genetic abnormalities. I honestly don’t know that I would test again if I had it to do over.
Yes, this is the issue. If it’s abnormal then I won’t get a chance to transfer, and it might have worked.... so confused
There’s lots of evidence that Mosaic embryos can produce healthy normal babies. Most if not all clinics will transfer mosaic embryos and if they don’t then I would be concerned.
At the beginning of PGS testing, clinics did not transfer Mosaic embryos and 1000’s were destroyed. The stories you hear on forums are usually regarding Mosaics.
But the technology is now so much better. But of course there’s a risk of false positives and false negatives - around 4%.
However, if an embryo comes back as Trisomy 11 or other trisomies or with significant chromosomal abnormalities then this is pretty conclusive. That embryo would never produce a healthy baby - it would likely never implant and if it did, then it would likely miscarry early.
The biggest pros of PGS is that it prevents you wasting precious time and money on transfers that would never have worked.
This is the best article I’ve read fertstert.org/article/S0015...
I think it’s worth doing if you have enough embryos. We had 9 embryos with 4 making it to day 5. Our best embryo was a 5BB but on PGS was Trisomy 11. It was gutting at the time but saved us going through a transfer and 2 week wait. The other 3 were also highly abnormal. If we’d had all 4 frozen and transferred we would have wasted £3000-6000 and around a year of time.
But you should do what feels right. See if you can speak to your chief embryologist
My new clinic suggested this. And as i never had more than 2 embryos per egg collection im nervous abt it. He argues that transferring an abnormal embryo will give me more heartache. But not sure about it all too. It is hard isnt it. Xx
It’s so hard. I’m inpatient which doesn’t help. Mr Dr did say to me that the results don’t make you pregnant, the testing is just a selection tool.... which makes sense. Good luck whatever you decide x
If you don't feel comfortable about it, you shouldn't test. Plus with just 3, it may not be worth it. That said, both of my cousins (age 43) tested all their embryos (5 -7), both got only 1 normal out of the bunch and both have little girls now. It saved them from multiple dead-end transfers. And at 43, they didn't want to go through 5 or 7 transfers to figure out which, if any would work out.
I was always told it wasn't worth testing unless you had a large amount of embryos so I personally wouldn't bother x
In our second round, we had 12 eggs collected, 10 mature and fertilised, by day 5 we were left with 3 day 5 blasts - all top quality according to the embryologist!
We had decided prior to this cycle starting that we would PGTA test what we had left before freezing.
The one that was put back failed before test day and the other two came back with complex chromosomally abnormalities, and either missing or had extra chromosomes (I found the letter yesterday - so I’m upto date with what I’m writing)
So everyone has their opinion on genetic testing, there is lots of literature out there in it, I think the HFEA grade it as an amber on their add on check list - but just double check that as it also tells you why they’ve graded things a certain way.
For us although it was slightly sad, it save us in the region of £3000 in wasted transfer and the heartache that goes with a failure as those embryos were never going to take in a month of Sunday’s
I’m 41 and my husband is 59 - so this enforced our game plan for round 3 which we had decided was our last go. Whereby we decided on donor egg and my sister was the donor. First transfer we are 13 weeks + 3 so for us everything we have done to date has been the right decision
That’s fantastic news, congratulations.
So re your previous cycle, you decided to put back one without testing and test the other 2?
Thanks
That’s right, because at that stage we we had nothing to loose, because the fresh transfer was included in the cycle package
I understand. My frozen transfers are included in my package which is why I’m tempted to try them and see... but then it’s a waste of time and money on drugs if they would never work. I’m in a muddle!
I had a large number of embryos and wish I had tested. I am now pregnant on my 7th transfer. So lots of time and money wasted before I got success. The last 5, including the one I got pregnant with, were included in the package I bought (unlimited FETs) but as you say you still pay for meds which cost a fair bit especially if you do get pregnant but miscarry later as I did twice - so a good few weeks of meds wasted. And wasted time and a lot of heartache. I didn’t test as I was afraid to hear the news I think.
If you anticipated putting in 2 embryos on one attempt then I guess you wouldn’t waste too much time/ money. I have always gone for single transfers though myself.
I wouldn’t to be honest. I tested when I was age 36 and didn’t get any normals. I decided to transfer 2 untested embryos on my next transfer and had twins
Wow that’s really interesting. With a small number the decision is so much harder. Congrats to you 😀
Hi,
I've spoken to a few fertility doctors and all have confirmed the same; that sometimes chromosomal abnormal embryos can result in healthy babies hence we should not completely rule them out.
If I was in a position where I had a lot of blastocyst, say 5 or 6, then I would test them and transfer the 'normal' ones first. If however I don't have that many blastocyst, then I would just transfer and if they are very abnormal, scientifically they wont progress anyway.
Also if I have very few blastocyst, I wouldn't want to subject them to what I see as invasive procedure for very fragile young embryos. Cost wise, it wont be worth it as well.
Hope all the feedback received helps you decide on what works best for you.
Some embryos may not be abnormal as such but may carry a ‘syndrome’ of some description. Yes mine were chromosomally abnormal so that was either here nor there - but one of them had ‘Turners Syndrome’ so I knew that embryo would have been a girl as only girls are affected, turners can cause in some instances birth defects like small fingers etc, problems with reproductive organs and I think from memory need checking for life because of respiratory issues.
So it would be something you’d need to weigh up to whether it is worth the risk to transfer
Yes, I understand your point. Initially when I started my IVF journey, I was adamant about getting genetic testing done... months down the road, I ended up with only 1 blastocyst 🙁. My thought process is that if I am successful in getting pregnant, then I will do the amniocentesis instead but this too has its limitations plus risk, as it doesn't detect all chromosomal abnormalities. All in all, I hope we all make the right choice and end up with healthy babies.
Were you ‘allowed’ to transfer that embryo with Turners syndrome? I’m a bit unsure as to whether my clinic transfer mosaic embryos. I need to check that. I was told that the statistics of destroying an abnormal embryo that would have ‘corrected itself’ is 1 in 200. Which is quite interesting as it’s not that unlikely I don’t think.
Clinic won’t freeze my remaining embryos 
none of my embryos made it 
Only 2 embryos. Need help to make a decision pls!
Embryos to transfer 
Eggs collected... ICSI and unfortunately OHSS
