embryo freezing day 1

[Emjem84]

hi all,

First time posting and needing to hear from others with similar experience. Please help

My partner and I have just completed our 3rd round of icsi. The first round we got one embryo make it to transfer but it failed. Second round we got a poor response and none of the 4 eggs were suitable for transfer. This is our last cycle and we were told any resulting embryos from the 6 eggs retrieved would be frozen as my uterine lining was too thin for fresh transfer.

They called today, day 1, and said 3 had fertilised and they would be freezing them today.

I’m a little confused as to why they wouldn’t wait until blastocyst before freezing and when I asked I was told it was so I had something to freeze.

I’m now really anxious that we are freezing embryos that may not even make it to day 5 and transfer which seems like false hope.

I have really struggled with all the medications and we have had 3 cycles in 3 months due to my age and funding. The thought of having to go through loads of drugs again to get ready for transfer and then the frozen embryos not making it to blastocyst is really daunting and I don’t know if I can do it.

I would in theory have all the drugs and scans to then be told last minute that there is nothing to transfer as they didn’t make it to day 5.

Most of the things I read said they freeze at blastocyst.

Does anyone else have any experience of this? I’m so anxious and don’t know what to think

[Skittles11]

I've seen other clinics doing this but like you I think it's more common to take embryos to blastocyst stage to get them into their most viable state. If you are unhappy with their response maybe you can call them back and tell them you don't want them to freeze the embryos, you wish them to keep them in the lab until Day 5.

Before your treatment began did they indicate what would be done in this scenario? Some clinics do this and then stimulate again and build a bunch of embryos then thaw them all at the same time and that point let them go to Day 5.

Sorry, I'm not sure how much help that is xx

[Football61]

Hi, sorry that you’re going through such a stressful time. Can you ring your clinic back and say that you want a discussion with the head embryologist? At the end of the day, they are your eggs - and you should have a say as to when they are frozen. Personally, I can see your point of view - I would maybe want to give them a few more days before freezing. Good luck xx

[Tamaa]

I agree to the above opinions.. This is something that should have been discussed with you beforehand, and freezing stage decided. Sorry but I have not cone across freezing on day 1 ever. It's either day 3 or onwards.Wish you best of luck!

[Rol81]

Hi,

I don’t want to add to you stress but I’ve been in this situation.

I had 2 eggs, and they froze them on day 1. Reason was because my progesterone was too high .

Then when it came to the FET, they let them grow to day 2 and then transferred.

They didn’t implant , and in my follow up with my consultant , she said they were average to low quality. I was annoyed the extra money I had to pay for freezing , the FET meds and the time wasted. And not to mention , going into another 2WW mental torture.

I wish I at least pushed for them to get them to day 3 or 5 , so at least then I’d have a better idea going into the 2WW .

[Emjem84 in reply to Rol81]

Hi Rol81, can I ask why they froze yours at day 1? When I asked why they were wanting to freeze mine at day 1 they said “otherwise you might not have anything to freeze” that doesn’t make any sense to me but at the time I was so taken back I didn’t ask anymore

[Rol81 in reply to Emjem84]

Literally said the same to me. I’d just had egg collection so , same as you, just a bit shocked and went along with it.

It’s horrible the thoughts of not having anything , but rather know now than later.

[Emjem84 in reply to Rol81]

I completely agree, I’d rather know now that put myself through all the drugs again to get nothing.

It just doesn’t make sense if the outcome will be the same either way.

[Rol81 in reply to Emjem84]

I never really commit on here about what decisions people should take, everyone’s circumstances are different. But I feel so strongly about this, and my consultant in my follow up agreed with me.

If you get nothing to freeze it’s really upsetting, but if you do get to at least day 3 and know the quality, you can manage you expectations better xx

Good luck xx

[Football61 in reply to Emjem84]

I agree with you re it doesn’t make sense if the outcome will be the same either way. And I’m not sure that “otherwise you might not have anything to freeze” is an adequate response. I think you should call them now, before they freeze them! Good luck ❤️❤️

[Emjem84 in reply to Football61]

Thank you, I’ve called them and am waiting for them to call me back.

I’ve never been given a straight answer all the way through and I’m getting really frustrated.

From my own research (given that they barely tell me anything) they tend to freeze at day 1 for freeze all cycles as they are more robust at that stage. Makes sense but it’s the waiting months to see if they are viable that I can’t handle

[Londonlady2024 in reply to Emjem84]

Some clinics have a policy of it's freeze-all due to ohss for example is to freeze at day one following fertilisation ie 2pn stage if you have less than 3 embryos.2pn have good rate of thawing: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/201...

[Emjem84 in reply to Londonlady2024]

Thank you so much, that link is really helpful. I have more understanding now, just wish they had explained it all but it’s like getting blood out of a stone!

We only had 3 that fertilised so haven’t got great odds of getting one to put back and have to wait about 6-8 weeks for my lining to thicken. The not knowing and waiting is awful