5th cycle, 3 embryos reached day 6 but no blastocysts

[IVF_Life]

Has this happened to anyone else?

This is my worse cycle to date.. we were meant to be going for PGT-A testing so we had to let our embryos develop to blastocyst. We reached day 6 today but got the devastating news that none are suitable for anything and therefore have to discard them.

I’m now thinking is it even worth trying again with my own eggs? Should I stop wasting money and move on to donor eggs?

I’m 40, AMH 7.6 and heartbroken yet again..

[Hopecontinues]

Hi,

What stage did they reach? Early blastocyst? Compact?

Every cycle is different and there are things you can try to improve embryo growth. Going to donor is such a hard decision, but no one regrets it.

There is also tandem cycles you can do abroad, so you do a cycle at the same time as a donor and if yours don't work you put the donor ones in.

Good luck.

X

[IVF_Life in reply to Hopecontinues]

hi Hopecontinues thank you. One embryo reached early blastocysts but it was poor quality, the other two had very slowly developed to 10 cells and nothing more.

We are considering looking at options abroad but will first see what the clinic advises next. I’ve paid for 3 cycles again and this was the first of 3, but I’m thinking using the money of the remaining 2 for donor egg cycles. I feel like I’m forcing my body to do something that perhaps it’s not been made to do.

[Hopecontinues in reply to IVF_Life]

We were made to have babies, we're just like an old car that needs the right mechanic, with the right diagnostic tools, who understands what needs to be done to get that particular car to work... and patience and money!

You've got slow growing embryos which happens with age. A different protocol might work, DHEA might work, PRP might improve your chances, although not much evidence of the latter. The question I ask myself is "Do I have the mental capacity to deal with another negative and the financial capability to keep going" If the chance at 40 is 10% that's one in 10 that would work and that gets rapidly less. At my age it's 1%, which is 1 in a 100. The chance with donor is going to be more like 1 in 2.

It's a hard decision. Good luck.

X

[Hidden]

I am so sorry you experienced this.

I think you need to assess this cycle in comparison to other cycles. I also agree with Hopecontinues it depends a little bit on what stage your embryos got to.

My cycles got progressively worse over the years, and the fifth and sixth fresh rounds my embryos only made it to morula and slowed down each time a little bit more.. that's when my clinic suggested DE as there was a marked deterioration in results.. BUT that was on the same drugs every time so a very clear comparison. If your clinic have just mixed things up a bit this cycle I wouldn't necessarily write yourself off quite yet. Have they given you any feedback yet? x

[IVF_Life in reply to Hidden]

thanks Hidden when they told me I had 3 embryos, I thought this would be my best cycle to date, but I was wrong. Previously we’ve been able to produce 2 good quality embryos each cycle but they’ve failed to implant.

This time they put me on different meds- fyremedal, gornal f, and burselin trigger - all of which I have never used before. I’m waiting for the clinic to assess my notes and come back to me with feedback x

[Hoping20]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I know how hard this journey is with loss and failed cycles, as do many of the ladies on here. So please try to be kind to yourself. I hope you have some support from those close to you. Also hopeful your consultant will be able to advise next steps when you have your follow-up. Please don’t despair as perhaps your clinic can use a different drug or protocol. Thinking of you today💗

[IVF_Life in reply to Hoping20]

thank you Hoping20 x will wait to see what the clinic advises, but was thinking of joining the donor egg queue as it may take a while before they can match one to me.

[Jumpppy]

I had a very similar experience and my RE recommended we stop testing (PGT-A). He said the embryos have to be "very good" to test and it's a risk you take with the service. They will discard otherwise "OK" embryos because they aren't at the quality level required. In my case the RE said there were 2 "C" rated embryos that they discarded as they needed to be at least "B" (suitable to freeze but not to test).

But in your case it sounded like your move to testing was to sort out if implantation failures is a sign to move to "donor?" Or is testing just something you were trying out?