Assisted Hatching

[Sea_and_Sun]

hi everyone

I hope you’re all keeping strong and positive on your journeys!

My clinic has offered me assisted hatching with my 2 fertilised embryos and I’m not sure what to do. I know the HFEA has it listed as red, but am wondering if anyone has experience with it at all?

Thanks so much.

[Hidden]

I am not sure if it's any help but I didn't realise until my transfer day that my (new) clinic did it as standard, so I wasn't even given the choice. It worked for us and we got our BFP but I am not educated enough on the risks to tell you pro's and cons I am afraid x

[Sea_and_Sun in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Daisy1245 - the embryologist also seemed to be quite relaxed about it and said it’s quite normal. Do you know if yours was mechanical or chemical?

[Marisa32]

I had it done on my transfer and it did nothing for me....BFN.

[Sea_and_Sun in reply to Marisa32]

hi Marisa32 - thanks for letting me know and so sorry about the BFN. This process is absolute torture. Sending lots of hugs your way.

[Skittles11]

I was recommended to have assisted hatching due to the zona pellucida (the outer layer of the embryo) being thicker than average. It was thought the assisted hatching in my case would be helpful. You could ask about the zona pellucida to see if it is thicker than average or as they would like to see xx

[Sea_and_Sun in reply to Skittles11]

thanks so much Skittles11 - I have asked for a consult tomorrow so will grill my doctor on the risks involved.

[l_nop]

Hi, sorry if this is a bit late. We too were skeptical. I read everything from the NHS then found some studies on Cochrane and pubMed. We have never had a frozen embryo take (4 transfers of frozen) and always had more luck with fresh (1 birth and 2 mc). We decided to opt for it with our last chance frozen embryo as I convinced myself it just wasn't getting out of that zona pellucida.

Good news is that it started coming out before the transfer, you could see it on the screen and the Embryologists all 'oooohed'. We are now 31 weeks pregnant.

I'm not telling you to do it, rather, ask questions, look at past cycles and look at the research. Best of luck on this crazy journey. X

[Icsi_Wincy_Spider]

Hi Sea_and_Sun ours was a tested embryo so it was fully hatched out of its shell (the whole created from the needle extracting cells moves the hatching process along quickly) so it went in fully hatched and i got my bfp a few weeks ago. i was very skeptical as ive heard if theyre fully hatched the cells are more susceptible to damage the catheter etc but seemed to work regardless xx