When to consider embryo testing?

[Purple_Sloth]

Myself and DH have been trying to conceive for over 4 years now (I'm 34) and went down the IVF route last year following my endometriosis diagnosis (kissing ovaries, endometrioma etc.).

We've had a BFN, missed miscarriage (anembryonic) and a few weeks ago another BFN. After chatting to our consultant in the week she said everything was textbook (blastocysts have all been of good quality, lining good etc.) but obviously that they just weren't going to term. She seemed reluctant but said we could go for further tests if we wanted to but that she didn't see a need to do so at this stage and basically to try another round (1 embryo transferred each time, last 2 rounds have been natural FET).

So my question is, at what stage did you look into further testing and would you consider testing the remaining frosties? Obviously I'm mildly paranoid there's a genetic / chromosomal issue going on.

Thanks xx

[Hidden]

hi purple_sloth, hope you’re ok and sorry you’re going through this. I also have endometriosis (stuck left ovary and Endometrioma) and I am 36 - been ttc 5 years.

We did 3 egg collections, and after 2 x failed transfers with perfect lining and good quality blasts (both 5AA) we decided to PGTA 4 of our 5 remaining Frosties (5AA, 5AB, 5BB). And although our consultant said it was just a numbers game and to not bother as they were all good quality and I am young, they all came back with complex abnormalities. 😒

We then did further testing to see if the abnormalities were maternal or paternal. 1 was paternal, 2 were maternal and 1 maternal and paternal. So embryologist has now put it down to ‘bad luck’ as opposed to genetic issue.

I know it is a numbers game, and there’s still a small chance our remaining untested 5BC is normal, but I’m glad we tested before transferring them all. I’m not saying this will be the case for you at all, just sharing my journey. Wishing you lots of luck xxx

[Purple_Sloth in reply to Hidden]

Hi Elsidee11, thanks for your response it's been really helpful.

[Megrumpy]

One thing to remeber though is that you are testing very small cell collections at a very early stage. So the cell tested could be abnormal, but if the tested cell is the only abnormal one, the blastocyst as a whole could develop into a normal baby.

I am not saying anything against testing, but I would personally do a lot more research into it before jumping in. Like a lot of things in IVF, there is no black and white answers, just what makes most sense to you.

We decided against testing for that very reason. We had a set of 3 perfect blastocysts transferred all BFN one at a time, then two sets of double tranfers with very imperfect embryos, one ending in a chemical and one in BFN. And now have a set of twins after transfer 6 with 2 blastocysts.

[Purple_Sloth in reply to Megrumpy]

Thanks Megrumpy, your response has been really helpful. I'll admit we are unlikely at this stage to test and just continue to take each round at a time. I think I'm just getting frustrated!

I'm so pleased to hear you now have twins 🙂

[Megrumpy in reply to Purple_Sloth]

Thank you. We were just constanty told we were really unlucky, which kind of didnt help.