Hi everyone, just planning my 3rd cycle and have the option of PGT-A testing...I had 2 cycles, 3 transfers and 1 pregnancy which ended with MMC 2 years ago... 😪
I just turned to 40 the dreadded number...
I am new to PGT-A testing... Anybody could give me some pros and cons with it and if you recommend it or not?
Sounds like a sensible thing to do but heard it can harm the embryo...
Anybody had a better result doing the testing?
And how long after the egg collection did you have the transfer? The embryologist said I have to wait 2-3 months before it can be transferred...
Sorry for asking too many questions just really nervous starting the new cycle, and want to do whats the best...
Thank you!
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MagicTourmaline
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I recall going through this and great to reach out on this platform for experience. We are using a donor egg but thought I’d share our thoughts as i spent hours mulling it over. In the end we decided not to test as they are fragile and most clinics don't have an on-site lab. The pro is, it saves a little heartache transferring as implantation % are a little higher according to data. Just my experience on the topic. Good luck with it all x
hello. I would say pros are given age (I’m also approaching the big 40) it saves time in that you’re not transferring non-viable embryos. For us this was a major plus point after transferring 6 embryos all of which ended in BFN’s which seems in hindsight like a regrettable waste of time. It also gave us the assurance that we could create quality embryos still after so many failures. On the cons side, euploids aren’t silver bullets - we had 3 euploids, 1st was chemical, the 2nd was blighted ovum confirmed at 7 weeks so the chances of success aren’t necessarily higher - although I need to speak to my clinic to understand why this is the case. Hope this helps, obvs not a thorough overview but just speaking from experience. Best of luck. Xx
Thank you for your reply... I guess it's worth doing then as if the tested embryos don't end up in pregnancy then they wouldn't have become a pregnancy anyway... 🤔 but would give me a slightly greater hope if I know the embryo is normal... and would save some more heartahce transfering embryos that not normal...Can I please ask how long did you have to wait from egg collection to transfer after testing?
Exactly that. I think the testing itself took about 6 week from egg collection to results - we then had to book an appointment to discuss the result as they wouldn’t do it over the phone. I had egg collection in December and transferred in March if I remember rightly but I have had programmed transfers which takes a little more time. Also a point to mention, as might be good to check with your clinic. Our clinic only offer PGT testing with embryoscope which was a further cost on top of the testing. I guess fortunately for us this wasn’t explained so we ended up not having to pay for it but good to check in advance.
I don’t know whether it’s helpful to add that whether I would do it again does depend on the number of embryos I got. Our clinic does up to 5 at a set cost. More than 5 comes at an additional cost. If I only had 1 or 2 I might just have transferred them or frozen them and done another egg collection first. however we got 5 so went ahead and 3 came back ‘normal’.
Our clinic charge for them one by one they don't have a set cost if you do more... so in that sense it wouldn't make a difference for me... But today I found out that they test any amount of embryos, up to today I thought they don't do testing under 3... 🤔
No problem, hope it helps. Everything is a constant costs/benefits analysis isn’t it 🤯. I had a miscarriage 3 weeks ago with the 2nd euploid so just waiting for my period then will transfer the 3rd on a programmed transfer again. Who knows after that, I’m getting rather tired tbh.
I am sorry for your loss... 😪I know how you are feeling that's why I decided to have a break, I had a really hard time with my last cycle in many ways and the miscarriage on top just couldn't handle it anymore, I was exhausted in every possible way...
I wish you all the best with your next transfer!!! Please keep me updated! Keeping my fingers crossed for you! 💕
Hello 👋 I remember you from a year or two ago, hope you are doing as well as you can be.
Re PGTA testing. I decided to test all future embryos made from my eggs after we had a chromosomal issue with the baby which was only discovered at 12 weeks pregnant. By that time I thought I'd be telling people hopeful news but instead I was having to consider some very serious and heartbreaking things. After this we decided to test our embryos to try and limit the chances of this happening again. I think PGTA is often used in similar cases where there has been a known chromosomal issue resulting in miscarriage or in my case TFMR. Often it is also worth considering if you have several embryos and some clinics are more in favour in ladies who are perhaps 38 plus years old.
I did the testing on not many embryos and was very disappointed that most were abnormal however I feel perhaps that was a better outcome that putting them back to get BFN or worse still to have miscarriage or harrowing TFMR again - hope that makes sense xx also worth noting that my PGTA normal embryo did not implant despite being normal so as above poster said it does not make any guarantees
Thank you very much! 💕 Yes its been a long time since I was here last but can't imagine going through any of this without you lovely ladies... 💕 I got so mich support here for my previous cycle I can't thank everybody enough...I decided to go ahead with the PGTA cycle, as it seems like there are more advantages then disadvantages to do it... Really nervous getting back into IVF all over again after all the struggle but bit more refreshed so hoping that will have a positive affect on the outcome... 🤞🏼
Thank you very much for coming back to me, I hope you are well! 💕
My advice would be definitely test and pick a good clinic. If done by a good embryologist it’s over 99% safe.
I was 37 when I had my egg collection and 60% of my embryos were abnormal. The numbers only go up as we age sadly… it will save you a heartache and money in transferring abnormal embryos which would eventually miscarry or not implant at all.
You would need to wait at least 1 period in between EC and FET.
Thank you very much! Yes it all makes sense, was so desperate to have a fresh transfer before the end of the year, and really scared the result will be no normal embryos but its better to know and save the extra pain...
I didn’t test, I’m 41 and the reason is that I only get one or 2 embryos per egg collection so just ‘tested’ by putting them back as fresh transfer. I am having a missed miscarriage though and had a few chemicals so perhaps those could have been avoided but I’m still happy with my decision as freezing and testing would take months and then a down reg cycle for FET when time isnt really on my side, combined with the risk to embryo and also that it doesn’t actually increase your chances in anyway it just tipped in the favour of not testing for me . If I was getting say 4 day 5 freezable embryos I might consider it more. It’s also pretty costly but I did consider it for a long time though! No right or wrong answer personal choice xx
It really is- perhaps you could plan for one fresh and if any left for freezing have those tested? Best of both worlds? I decided to do double fresh transfer as we have only ever had one to freeze since our little boy (where we had 6 to freeze on that round at age 37!) so I’ve had a big drop off in embryo numbers (although not eggs) since I turned 40 so it really is just personal choice and the circumstances of each collection for me xx
I was thinking that but I was talking to the embryologist and she advised against it... I am in 2 minds really... But just need to believe I made the right choice otherwise I will just ruin my chances even more by stressing about it...
There really isn’t a wrong choice it doesn’t increase the chances of the embryos you make working as the ones that are gonna work will work 💜 so it’s more just which journey you are comfortable with from a time, money and embryo testing/discarding perspective xx
hi, on my last ivf round- age 43, I had 6 embryos and decided to test these (as my last 2 FETs were unsuccessful). I did 1 fresh transfer and the rest were sent for testing, my fresh transfer did not work. Results from the remaining 5 was that 4 were abnormal and 1 was normal. I did a FET 2 months later and this resulted in my 10 week baby. I was pleased not to have wasted money on the 5 abnormal embryos. I also think there is a benefit with testing to help troubleshoot- if you know the embryos are good and they are not implanting then you know what other tests you need to do to try and work out what else might be going on. Good luck with everything x
I’m am definitely no expert but I have read numerous times that abnormal embryos have the ability to self correct and I remember an article that was posted on here some time ago about a woman who transferred an abnormal embryo and it went on to become a healthy baby.
With this in mind, I wonder if they really know enough about it to be discarding embryos that could become healthy babies ?
Yes I heard that too... But not too sure how often that happens... I went into all of my transfers with this in mind but so far it didn't happen to me... 😔Thank you very much for sharing this, it reminded me that miracle does happen... 💕
I am on my first cycle and didn't have egg collection yet, but I've been reading about PGT-A. Apparently the HFEA considers PGT-A a "red add-on", which means there is no enough scientific evidence that this test increases your chances of a successful pregnancy. Here is the page: hfea.gov.uk/treatments/trea...
However, if gives you peace of mind, this is the most important thing!
I think it is the peace of mind element to it... I think knowing the embryo is normal when doing the transfer would help with a more positive mind which has a good affect on the outcome... Thank you very much for your reply!
Hey lovely, I started IVF at 40 (now 44 😩) and PGT was recommended for us, hubby is same age. The do a biopsy as soon as the embryos get to blastocyst stage but they say there is no damage to embryo
Unfortunately we had 6 retrievals, 12 embryos, and none came back normal- so we never got to transfer stage-I guess we saved ourselves the heartache of failed transfers and money there, and it helped us to move to next stage.
It’s a personal decision and part of me wonders if the embryos might have corrected themselves in the womb, but I know most clinics recommend it for women over 40. The results usually take around 3 weeks to come back as they were sending the samples away.
We are working with donor eggs now. Wishing you all the very best in your journey xx
I had a good experience with PGT-A testing even tho we had about 7 embryos only 3 were normal and we decided to transfer 1. I’m currently 7 seven weeks pregnant I think the test was worth it.
Hello! I’m 40, just had ivf and had pgt-a testing done.
It’s really stressful if you read all the possible things that can go wrong and be aware there is a wait from when they take the sample from the embryo to when you get your results which in my opinion is waaaay worse than a two week wait. I think I waited about 5 weeks. Which made me quite mental and stressed becasue I was worrying about my age and wanted it done asap. All the thoughts about if they’re no good then I’d have nothing to transfer etc etc. It’s a weird limbo you end up in. No clinic contact and nothing to do but wait and worry.
The odds of the embryo being damaged are tiny. They have to tell you because it’s a possibility.
When embryos are stored they get wheeled around the lab as they take things in and out of the cold storage container and there’s just as much chance of them being damaged when they get moved about the lab.
My embryos had to move clinic sites and had a road trip and they were fine. They are amazingly resilient!
I’ve seen lots of people have failed ivf cycles without pgta. And then had pgta and it worked. Take from that what you will.
I think it’s worth checking the embryo has no abnormal cells. For me I’d rather know and be told sorry they’re no good rather than have an iffy one implanted and get the false hope it’s worked and then miscarry. Not sure I could cope with that over and over again.
It’s extra expense having it done so depends on your circumstances but for us it was the best thing. I felt like I had science behind me to ensure I got pregnant. Belt and braces and if it worked it was meant to be and if it didn’t then we had done everything we could.
And it did work, first time. Currently 13 + 2 and all looking ok at the moment. And I have two pgtA embryos in the freezer.
Obviously I don’t know your medical history and maybe there’s other reasons why failures might happen. Our bodies are all different and life is weird. And it also depends how many precious embryos you end up with. I had 5 that got sent off and 3 came back ok. I might have a different opinion if I only had one or two. Overall tho I think it’s worth the risk.
All the best to you too xx it’s such a hard journey. You have come this far and you can do it! I don’t think there’s really any right or wrong ways to do things. It really depends on the info you have at the time and you just have to make your best judgement.
you’ve had lots of responses but I’ll give my experience. We had it done twice.
I was only 36 then 37 on the rounds (they normally suggest after 38) but we had severe male factor infertility which was also a higher risk of abnormal embryos.
Our clinic specialised in it so we knew they would be a good lab- it doesn’t harm the embryos anymore as they wait until they are blastocysts (previously people did the biopsy on 8 cell day 3 embryos and that is what caused the damage sometimes to the embryos but this is not done anymore)
Out of 8 embryos that we made over two cycles we had 2 ‘normal’ 1 ‘abnormal’ and 5 ‘mosaics’. Our mosaic number was really high (normally only 10%) and they couldn’t give a reason. Now it is really important that you pick a clinic that doesn’t discard mosaic embryos - most don’t anymore. A lot of mosaic embryos are almost as successful as ‘normal’ ones and mosaic embryos if they work will always self correct except in 0.01% of times- which is a far lower chance of chromosomal issues than with an untested embryo or a natural pregnancy.
I say this because we did two FETs and both our ‘normal’ embryos failed to implant. So after lots of additional testing we transferred our best mosaic and I’m now almost 20 weeks pregnant with that.
A ‘normal’ tested embryo has a 50% chance of a live birth which is a lot higher than an untested embryo- normally 30%on average but less in 40+ age. (Our mosaic had a 48% chance of live birth.)
And it also helps you to know whether it’s the embryo that’s the issue or something else- for example we would have just assumed that our first two embryos were ‘abnormal’ had they not been tested and we would have done another without having the further testing on me that I needed to get pregnant.
I think if you only make 1 or 2 embryos then it may be worth just transferring them but if you create 3+ I would say it’s worth testing especially at 40+.
The testing results took 2 weeks to get back and I could have done the FET on my next period except Christmas got in the way for us and bad timing of my cycle so my first FET was 2-3 months after egg collection but I think it can be less normally.
If you do the testing and they come back as normal or mostly normal then it may be worth doing further testing on you before transferring given your previous ones not working.
Also the reason it has HFEA red light is because yes it doesn’t increase your chance of pregnancy- it can’t make you have normal embryos. But what it can do is reduce the time, money and heartache of transferring an abnormal embryo first and so if you had 3 embryos and two were abnormal and one was normal- you could skip straight to the normal one rather than risk going through transferring both abnormal embryos first. Because the grading of the embryo is often not related to whether it’s normal or abnormal.
Thank you very much for sharing all this! I didnt even hear about mosaic embryos up until today... so I will definately ask my clinic if they keep them or not! Thank you for the tip! 💕
Agreed here! I've read about mosaic embryos being as likely to implant as normal ones. So do check that out. However, overall I'm going to give a different perspective. My issues wasn't making good embryos, it was implantation. So I didn't really need the testing. In the beginning I didn't know enough and wanted to do everything I could. So we tested my embryos following a collection aged 34. (Id already tried two untested embryos which didnt implant). Thrn tested.... Five out of six were normal and the other was mosaic. However, we then tried 4 of the normal PGTA tested embryos and still none implanted.
(I still have one normal and one mosaic left) but changed clinics and wanted to try a fresh transfer. This time I didn't want to test (even though I was 37 by now), but I had a good yield of normal before, so just went for it. (Put two in, and at least one implanted... but I MC at 6 weeks). I don't know it was because it wasn't normal or an implantation issue.... hut the clinic then said 'shall we test them?' I explained my reluctance and previous testing and they then changed their minds and thought there was no point... and then even said 'good, because it's not proven anyway, research is sketchy and it might damage them!!!!' (After they'd just suggested it??????)
Anyway..... I did not test, embryos were created when I was 37 (nearly 38). So I again out two untested embryos and now I'm pregnant with twins!
I think it's a different scenario to you. My embryos were younger and I knew it was an implantation issue because of my previous pgta testing.
So in some ways I was glad to have done the testing for the information. But I didn't really need it looking back. And you need to know normal embryos can fail too.
It really depends how many you have to test and how many you get each time.
As you mentioned you feel 40 is a dreaded number, it might be much more worth it, but only if you have lots of embryos? Otherwise I'd pop two untested in?
Thank you very much for sharing this! 💕Our problem so far seem to be the sperm, thats why testing is something probably needs to be done, eventho I am not a 100%, but I havent tried it yet so maybe worth a try...
Yes I understand that it won't give me insurance that it will be all successful but as far as I understand it will save me from unneccesary heartache... still might ending up unsuccessful but at least if the embryo is normal would give me a bit more hope...
Congratulation on your pregnancy!! Wishing you all the best with it!!! 💕
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