breastfeeding and embryo transfer

[Gizmo247]

I had a donor egg conception to produce my beautiful little boy after years of trying ivf with my own eggs. It was the right decision for me and I am incredibly thankful to the universe that I am now a mum. We would like to try to conceive again through donor egg conception. We have one embryo to use but the initial advice from our clinic was that I would have to stop breastfeeding in order to start the transfer process. My son would only be a year old around the time of us wanting to try again and I would be so devastated to stop breastfeeding him- it’s been a tough old journey to get here and I don’t want to damage this bond we have, I’m not ready to stop plus the transfer might not work for us anyway in which case I would have stopped breastfeeding for nothing. Does anyone have experience of this scenario? Are there fertility drugs you can take that don’t interfere with breastfeeding? As I said, it’s for embryo transfer only. No eggs being harvested.

[Hidden]

hi , my daughter was 1 year 2 months when i was obliged to stop breastfeeding for embryo transfer.

i was told that the progesterone (or any hormonal pills) will pass by my milk.

unfortunately, the transfer was negative.

PS when I stopped breastfeeding she was crying and me too.

if you choose to stop plz stop it gradually (the last one should be the night feeding)

good luck

[Gizmo247 in reply to Hidden]

thanks for your input, Sarah, and useful tip about weaning gradually. I’m so sorry your transfer was negative. Wishing you all the best xx

[Beechnut1]

I have experience with this please feel free to DM me. Do not make any decision to wean before looking at breastfeeding mums undergoing fertility treatment/ IVF on Facebook. They have drug fact sheets and a cohort of thousands of mums who have undergone fertility treatment and continued to BF. I am also an infant feeding lead specialist midwife and have breastfed through fertility treatment, more than happy to share my experience with you xxx

[Gizmo247 in reply to Beechnut1]

thanks so much- I will DM you

[meme20210 in reply to Beechnut1]

I am still breastfeeding my 2 year and half daughter and we are about to start our embryo donation transfer journey. We reserved an embryo from oother couple that will be transfer on me. Should i stop to breastfeed and if yes how since it will be on 2024 on spring probably....how can i contact u

[Jane8412]

I really recommend you join the Facebook group:

Breastfeeding mums undergoing fertility treatment/IVF

They have lots of info on what drugs are safe to take when breastfeeding and loads of members who undergo IVF while still breastfeeding. Specifically FETs.

My boy is just 1 and I spoke to my clinic who said they wouldn’t do any fertility tests to start any new IVF rounds until I stop breast feeding. Even after reading all the information out there that says breastfeeding will not impact on IVF success it is so hard to go against medical advice so I have started to slowly wean. It’s so hard to make that decision but my chances of success are so low that I need to do every little thing I can. I don’t think I could handle the failure if I thought it could be related to my breastfeeding. It’s so bloody unfair though as if I could just get pregnant naturally I wouldn’t haven to make this decision.

Good luck to you xxx

[Gizmo247 in reply to Jane8412]

thanks for your input, Jane. I have joined the Facebook group now. Wishing you strength and success with your next ivf round- it can be so hard. Xx

[Jane8412 in reply to Gizmo247]

thanks lovely xx

[HollyT7 in reply to Jane8412]

my clinic were more a less the same, recommended stopping before commencing any treatment. we look for all sorts of reasons when things don't work so I didn't want to give myself any before starting x

[Jane8412 in reply to HollyT7]

exactly!! X