Should I get frozen embryos PGA tested?

[Kt8e21]

I’m going through IVF using donor sperm.. my first round I had one embryo transferred which was apparently the best quality which resulted in miscarriage at 12 weeks.

I now have 5 frozen embryos to transfer.. which the clinic have graded differently to what I see others graded on this forum..

FB23+/FB22/EB12/EB22/EXB32+

As I had a chemical last year from IUI with the sperm donor I’m not sure if I should get the embryos PGA tested so I don’t transfer any that are chromosominally abnormal which will stop implantation or cause another miscarriage.

Can they be good grades but still not be viable once tested?

Anyone gone through this and think that testing helped them?

The sperm donor does already have children of his own.. so don’t think his sperm would be the issue.. but I am 39 so don’t know if my eggs would not be the best quality?

[Rainbowretrieval]

Hiya. I got some of mine PGTA tested just to give me peace of mind really and the best fighting chance (even though there are no guarantees) as I’m the same age as you and didn’t want to go through the worst case scenario of getting pregnant and then months down the down the line be faced with an agonising decision on a TFMR when it could be avoidable. There are risks to it though and could cause the embryo to fail. I sent 4 away for testing, 3 were fine and one was ‘inconclusive’. They can retest the inconclusive one but I’d have to pay again. There is a chance any can come back like this and then you’re stuck forking out again. Currently pregnant with one but bleeding badly so think going through a miscarriage, having an early scan tomorrow at EPU. At least I know the higher likelihood is that it’s something to do with my uterus and not the embryo given we’ve done the test so we can try to investigate the cause if the pregnancy does fail with a bit more of a focus on me and not the embryos, so trying to be positive..good luck with your decision x

[Kt8e21 in reply to Rainbowretrieval]

Hope everything is going ok for you.

I’m leaning more towards testing as like you don’t want to put myself through anything more than I have to especially after having 2 miscarriages already.

I’ve got the pricing from the clinic for the remaining 5 embryos and it’s a lot but I have time before my next review meeting to figure out finances.

Thank you for sharing your story.

[Rainbowretrieval in reply to Kt8e21]

I really hope it works out for you. You’re taking a very sensible approach so you can never say you’re not giving it your best shot. Couldn’t find the pregnancy on my scan so not looking good for me, got ti go back for bloods Thursday x

[Kt8e21 in reply to Rainbowretrieval]

So sorry you’re going through this. This process is so much tougher than I ever thought it would be.

[Rainbowretrieval in reply to Kt8e21]

It sucks doesn’t it. Got angry today when I was in a shop after the hospital appointment and saw a little child walking around on her own, mother didn’t seem to care a jot. Wouldn’t have even noticed that before all this started. Does offer some comfort having people to chat to on here though. Good luck with your decision on your testing x

[Bexarama83]

morning. I’ve had 6 embryos tested (1 normal, 2 mosaic and 3 abnormal) after 2 miscarriages. Male factor, I’ve just turned 40 so presume my miscarriages are due to age and egg quality. Just started fet with my one normal, so yet to see how it turns out but we did pgta to reduce risk of miscarriage. The 3 embryos we have frozen, are highly rated - my clinic does 1-3 to rate and they’re all 1’s. So, I personally would recommend testing to reduce the risk of miscarriage. Best of luck! x

[Kt8e21 in reply to Bexarama83]

Thank you more I read about it the more I think I want to pay it.. but just need to figure out finances now as it’s quite expensive.

Did they give you any different medication this time after your 2 miscarriages?

Good luck with this transfer!

[Bexarama83 in reply to Kt8e21]

yeah it’s not cheap, we paid £300 per embryo to have them tested. But if it works…no they’ve not given me any different meds, not really anything they can do. Once it’s implanted it’s all down to nature isn’t it? Best of luck whatever you decide. X

[Bookbroad]

Hello. I had 6 failed FETs from my last cycle and wasted nearly a year transferring them. I opted for PGT testing for 5 very good graded embryos and 3 have come back normal. It’s offered me some much needed peace of mind that we’re not just wasting our time and will save time if we end up having to go for a third round. It’s expensive and I’m obviously bias due to our good outcome but I’m so glad we did it. Hope this helps

[Kt8e21 in reply to Bookbroad]

That’s great that you’ve got 3 that have come back normal. Least it you now know the other 2 wouldn’t have worked and have saved money on drugs etc. All my FETa for these 5 would be included in the package I bought but the drugs aren’t.. so I’d be potentially wasting money on drugs when they could be classed as abnormal? I’m definitely swaying more towards testing now. Thanks for sharing your journey!

[Boo718]

hello hope you are good. Personally I would get them tested.it will save the heart ache of transfers that don’t work. I had 3 donor embryos all fantastic quality … all abnormal. It was gutting at the time but saved us a lot of heart ache time and money xxx

[Kt8e21 in reply to Boo718]

Thanks for sharing your experience.. just shows that what they think are great quality.. they are really not.

I’m not entirely sure of quality of mine as they describe them so much differently than others clinics and when she did explain them it was the day after a transfer so I didn’t really take it in.. but like you’ve shown.. If they are good quality gradings.. it doesn’t really mean they are normal!

[Boo718 in reply to Kt8e21]

yeh it doesn’t mean they are normal at all. Mine were all 5AA which is the best at the clinic I was at, it went from 1-5 and AA down to DD although most D and C were discarded. We had a 4 AB and it was normal but all the 5AA weren’t xxx but it saved us 3 transfers.

[Kt8e21]

Yeah that’s the grading I understand from this site but they’ve graded mine.. FB23+/FB22/EB12/EB22/EXB32+

Which makes no sense to me.. but I’ll be asking about it at the review meeting and questions about PGA testing and progesterone.

Yeah think the transferring of abnormal embryos that would never make it is making me more inclined to do the testing.