Hi all - just heard that all four of our day 6 blastocysts have come back abnormal. I'm 40, so didn't expect the 50% rate, but was expecting 1 to be normal.
Feels like so much hard work put into it for nothing So much so that I'm second guessing PGT-A testing and whether I should be giving the embies a chance to correct themselves.
Am on all the supplements and produce a good number of eggs - seems that they are of poor quality, plus my partner has high DNA fragmentation which is also contributing (and we're working on).
Any advice welcome!
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cass1063
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I am so sorry that you are going through this tough time.
I'm a big advocate of PGT-A testing. My history includes an IVF cycle, where PGT-A testing did not happen. I got a positive pregnancy test and was so excited that all my dreams were coming true... then heartbreak happened. I reached the 3 month pregnancy scan and blood test only to discover my baby had the wrong number of chromosones and failed the screening for Down's syndrome, Edwards' syndrome and Patau's syndrome. We had to make the heartbreaking decision to terminate. It was one of the darkest moments of my life. It also meant that I lost a good 4-5 months in my late 30s, when I could have done further IVF rounds to produce further eggs that might have passed the PGT-A test.
My husband also has ridiculously high DNA fragmentation. My IVF clinic told my husband that he needed to take Impryl (a vitamin supplement), must give up caffeine for 3 months, only wear boxer shorts (to reduce the temperature in that area), stop cycling, follow a rigorously healthy diet and exercise, etc. They also suggested that they operate to take the sperm directly from the testicle, so it is not damaged in the ejection process.
I suspect you may be aware, but my IVF clinic suggest the 'It starts with an egg' book, to improve one's diet to hopefully improve egg quality.
It did work for me, with a positive healthy pregnancy at 41 years old.
The tough news is that, at our age, only 10% of so of our eggs are expected to be normal apparently (this is what I was told by the IVF clinic last week). It may mean that you need to do a few cycles just trying to get enough embryos produced to then PGT-A test them before implanating them.
Whatever you decide, I wish you the very best of luck.
I am in agreement with the above poster. I was 35 when I got 3 embryos from one round. None of them were PGTA tested and at the week 12 scan an issue was identified which we later found out was Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome). The grief of terminating a wanted pregnancy is utterly indescribable. After this experience I PGTA tested all embryos even when I was only getting 2 a round. At age 37 I had a round where I tested two embryos but were both abnormal after testing. However I felt this was the better outcome, I wanted to optimise the chances and not risk going through the same experience I had in 2021. Obviously it's only you that can make the call for the future and this is a divisive issue with many different opinions but mine is based on lived experience of TFMR following transfer of a non- genetically tested embryo x x
I can only add to what other before me has said. I had 4 natural miscarriages due to chromosomal abnormalities in my late 30s. Although it has taken us 3 rounds of egg collections to have one normal and one mosaic embryo I feel like it was worth it. I wouldn’t want to go through anymore heartbreaking miscarriages.
I am now 22 weeks pregnant with our only normal embryo and was told by the NHS that the PGT-A testing is far more superior to the screening test they do for Edward’s, Patau and Downs. I would highly recommend it to save you the heartache even if it takes a few more rounds to get one. Good luck x
After 5 transfers of 7 embryos and still no baby (2 negatives, 2 chemicals and 1 miscarriage at 9 weeks) we had run out of embryos from our first cycle. Our clinic recommended doing PGTA testing following the next collection. We were uncertain but I trust my clinic and I did a lot of research ourselves.
Firstly, the risk of disposing of a good embryo or the embryo correcting itself is extremely slim. Remember that most of the stuff you read online is American testing, which is far less regulated than uk testing and there are hundreds of clinics doing it, without much in the way of monitoring or standards. In UK there are only about 5 clinics that offer the testing as the standards and regulations are so strict. Also I was told that it's a 98% accuracy rate in the UK. We decided to go ahead as we have had male factors issues and have been trying for years.
I am 39 (40 in January) my egg collection was the beginning of October 2024. 12 eggs were collected, 10 mature, 9 fertilised and we got 4 embryos - 1 day 5 and 3 days 6. None were damaged with testing and all were successfully frozen. Our PGTA results came back a few weeks ago and from the 4 sent for testing, 2 were normal. After all the time, money and emotion invested in this process over the years, I am very happy with that result.
Basically, you have to do what you feel is best for you, but ask a lot of questions, and do your own research, and look at UK specific information not American as the standards are completely different. But after the seven years trying, two failed vasectomy reversals (the reason for IVF), chemicals, a devastating miscarriage, and thousands of pounds spent, I highly recommend it and wish we had done it sooner. It means that you are not wasting time, money and heartache on embryos that could never be successful.
I will keep this short, my feelings echo everyone elses that have replied so far but I doubted my results for ages. In August we sent off 3 embryos for PGT-A and all 3 were abnormal - our consultant said 1 or 2 should have been euploid.
Just a couple of weeks ago we sent off another 4 after I did not want to and 2 came back normal! It is just a matter of numbers unfortunately.
I know it's awful, the heartache is unbearable and the what if they're fine thoughts you have but reality is most abnormal embryos will miscarry. Keep going if you can and you will get your normal embryos i'm sure! x
I thought it may help, I really needed someone to say it to me about 2 weeks ago!! I honestly didn't think we were going to ever get any normal ones... xx
My thoughts are similar to the other posters, but just to add to what Sharbertn posted- last year I got zero euploids out of 4 blastocysts and it was devastating.
This year I did three back to back cycles and we managed a euploid from each round, the last round giving us 2 just a few wks ago. For reference I just turned 44 today.
If you’ve got it in you, keep going as things can vary greatly from one cycle to the next.
Hi Elmo13 So you have 4 overall? That's great news. May I ask how many embryos you had tested overall with the back to back cycles? I can't decide on whether to do another collection before the next steps for us... x
Whether to do another collection or not is a tricky one. If you have it in you physically and financially I would say to consider it especially since you got 2 recently. We weren’t sure whether to go for the final round but we did as I knew if the euploid transfers didn’t work I’d regret not having done another collection.
Of the back to back cycles, 1st cycle I had 5 tested and 1 came back normal. 2nd cycle I just had the 1 and shockingly it was normal. 3rd cycle we had 4 tested.
Overall I’ve done 7 collections (first 3 without PGTA), but I had 2 miscarriages in 2022 & 2023 and because of my age I didn’t want to waste more time and wanted to try to avoid more heartache as much possible.
We didn’t batch the embryos and then test them all together as we didn’t think we’d get any normals so wanted to try one cycle first and use that to guide our next steps. Had we not got any euploids on the first of the back to back, we were ready to move to donor. Hopefully that all makes sense! X
hi, I don’t think your eggs are poor quality, it can just unfortunately be a numbers game. Which I know is not a helpful thing to say but I was also 40 when I had IVF with my own eggs, had 4 egg collections, 18 eggs collected, 7 embryos to get 1 baby.
I used donor sperm and had no known fertility issues apart from my age. I didn’t test any embryos because I didn’t get enough each time but it is reassuring that you are making embryos, might just take another try. It’s a tough time and I remember my consultant saying ‘it’s a lottery when the right egg comes up’ but for me, she was right.
I think you are doing all the right things, just try and keep going and if I had multiple embryos like you do, I would probably test, although I know it gets expensive. Good luck xx keep going xx
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So much so that I'm second guessing PGT-A testing and whether I should be giving the embies a chance to correct themselves. 
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