Experiences on longevity of ERA and immune test results

[AuroraXen]

Hi everyone. I was keen to have some extra tests before transferring any more embryos. My consultant thinks the failure of our 3 transfers to-date is down to egg quality😢 , and sadly I assume that's probably right and our embies are just never chromosomally normal. But I want to rule out other things we could potentially fix, so am seeking to get a bunch of tests done through one biopsy, namely ERA, uNK testing and some biome testing. These would be with a different clinic to my usual one, but we'd use whatever they recommend in our next FET. However, the consultant emphasised how short-lived the results are... for all of these tests, the recommendations they make (if any) will only be valid for 3 months.

I appreciate their honesty but was wondering then, is that everyone's experience here? Or if you had an ERA and it said you were say 24 hours post-receptive, did your consultant follow that practice beyond a couple of months of the test, or does whatever the tests show truly go out the window after that time has passed and you kept getting repeat ERAs done? I understand the biome results being very changeable, but if uNK results show you've needed prednisolone, say, have you used them for all future treatments as a matter of course? Hope this makes sense! 🤦‍♀️xx

[Millbanks]

Hi lovely, we used our ERA results twice - the last one was 8 months after the initial test and we got our BFP. No one mentioned that it might not still be valid….I’m terms of the NK results - we only used them once and it was within 3 months so not very useful to you I’m afraid.

Much love xxx

[AuroraXen in reply to Millbanks]

Thanks Millbanks. Great to know you used your ERA results later at least! Thank you for sharing xx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi AuroraXen. I think you can use your ERA results for sveral months after taken. NK cells is a one-off check. See what the treatment add-ons sections on the HFEA website advise. hfea.gove.uk Good luck! Diane

[AuroraXen in reply to DianeArnold]

Thanks Diane!

[Bistbee]

Hi, I’ve had both the ERA and uNK cell tests and was informed by the doctors that once the ERA result is known it doesn’t change - so basically the opposite of the advice you received about it being limited to 3 months!

I wasn’t given a time limit on the nk cell test either but I’ve now had 2 biopsies done with a 6 month gap in between and they both showed roughly the same result which indicate it’s a fairly consistent test. Again i’ve not been told that we’d have to keep on doing that test if we had a gap of more than 3 months between cycles and i’m being advised to consider a second cycle with prednislone off the back of a uNk test done in May 2021. How frustrating to have such conflicting advice and just makes you question everything when the doctors can’t even seem to agree!!

I’m so sorry for your losses and can totally understand why you’d want to do the extra tests, we also did a load of tests after our first 3 failed attempts and I am glad we did them to discount a lot of stuff. We also had our embryos pgs tested which maybe something to consider if there is a potential for egg quality to be impacting them, it may give you some assurances. We whittled down a large batch of embryos to just a handful of viable ones after going through PGS so even though we’ve still not been successful so far I think probably it will save us from a load more heartache in the end as we could have ended up doing transfers with embryos that were just totally unviable and we wouldn’t have known at all!

Very best of luck x

[AuroraXen in reply to Bistbee]

It really is annoying that doctors and clinics have such mixed views and give such mixed messages on all of this isn't it! I think I'm going to just assume the same, namely that the ERA results should be used on all future transfers, and push for that accordingly. And if the nk levels suggest steroids or similar are needed, I think my consultant would be willing to use them beyond 3 months if I accept the risks of being immune-compromised. Seems like too much hassle and pain and cost to be useful for only one transfer! xx

[IVFat40]

Hello hun, I did the uNK cell biopsies at a well respected clinic/research project, they recommended Prednisolone and the endometrial scratch and never said anything about the results being time limited. I think I did my 2nd biopsy in August and the FET in November, so I guess technically 3 months, but the transfer was at a different clinic, and the clinic who did the uNK cell testing never even asked when I would be transferring. Similarly when I did the ERA no one mentioned anything about it being time limited. I had wondered myself (and this is based on nothing more than my own musings) whether when I moved towards menopause that could have an impact on process/timings for any future FETs (but even if that happened to be true that would be a much longer timescale than 3 months). Good luck hun.

[AuroraXen in reply to IVFat40]

Thank you for replying. That's good to know! So odd how doctors view all of this so differently isn't it... no wonder we're all out of our minds half the time 🙄😆 I think I'll just push my clinic to use whatever these tests show in all future transfers, as best I can! xx

[Hidden]

We had ERA last year, we had to do the biopsy 3 times in total until the treatment worked. They never told us that results were time limited however, they did tell us that my Husband can be a carrier of the bacteria and therefore can pass it back to me so it kind of makes sense that it’s not a guarantee forever more. We are currently on a FET cycle and they have had me on probiotics since day one to try and ensure my results are maintained till transfer. It is time consuming and the waiting for results is exhausting but I am glad we did it as I feel we have done everything in our power to give us the best chance.

[AuroraXen in reply to Hidden]

Oh wow, 3 goes! Poor you, that's bad luck. I know what you mean though... the consultant I spoke to was very cautious and emphasised that the results might not show anything needs to be done differently, and basically it could just be a waste of money at my age 😆😢 But regardless, we just want to know if there IS something we could be trying to fix that's blocking my poor geriatric embryos 🙄 from working. I do think it's important to feel you've done all you can in this horrible game 💔

[Hidden in reply to AuroraXen]

I was 39 when I had the biopsy done, it’s showed all 3 results were abnormal including needing an extra 11hrs of progesterone so I don’t regret it for one moment. If nothing else for my own mental health, we only have one embryo so just one chance and at least now we know we have done everything we can. Good luck with your journey.

[LLG54321]

I’m about to do the ERA EMMA and ALICE and my clinic have told me the tests would been repeated after 6 months if I’m not successful in that time. Good luck to you

[AuroraXen in reply to LLG54321]

Ah interesting, so they say 6 months. Honestly, everywhere seems to be completely different! 6 months would make more sense - with 3 months, by the time the results are back (takes 5 weeks apparently!!) you've basically lost a cycle and a half so only have time for one FET before the results 'expire'. If any of the tests show something that needs to be corrected/addressed, I think I'll try to beg my own clinic to implement that for both of my remaining frozen transfers... I'm hoping to do the biopsy in a few weeks, how about you? Wishing you lots of luck xx

[LLG54321 in reply to AuroraXen]

Yes, exactly. Where are you having yours done? I’m hoping have my baseline perhaps end of next, early the following so will do the tests early Feb. I have had the NK biopsy already so I’m not looking forward to these tests as it was much worse than I expected!! Have you tested your embryos? X

[AuroraXen in reply to LLG54321]

I had my baseline today. I'm kind of dreading the biopsy, sounds horrible 😢 We haven't tested them, no. I was tempted but we tend to get so few embryos (this cycle was the only one we ever got frosties from) and I couldn't bear the idea of having nothing to even transfer. Plus I've heard a lot of people be quite sceptical about testing and I share some of those doubts. If paying per transfer or we had tons of embryos to choose from, and had lots of £, I would probably have done it though!😂 ) x