PGT-A testing frozen embryos

[Emsk14]

Hello! We have had 5 failed transfers and have 4 embryos still frozen (not tested). I am debating whether we pay to get our frozen embryos tested or not. My biggest worry I suppose is those embryos being thawed, tested, frozen again and then not surviving another thaw for transfer. But at the same time, I’m nearing the end of putting us through this and want to throw everything at it, but I do have my concerns. Has anyone been in a similar situation in testing frozen embryos? Thanks so much, appreciate any insights to what others have done x

[Bluecheeseplz]

I know this is not the same, but I had all of mine tested before being frozen and one came back as 'no result', so I had that one retested (so it went through being biopsied-frozen-thawed-biopsied-frozen). According to the embryologists, it survived that well! Although we haven't tried to use it, so can't say for sure how it would do being thawed for use. I'm not sure how helpful that is! I know it's a very personal decision and there is no right answer, but for what it's worth, I personally wouldn't transfer without testing and would take the risk that came with that. That's based on my own circumstances of losses, so not advice really, but just to say that I completely understand where you're at. Wishing you all the best with the decision 🩷

[Emsk14 in reply to Bluecheeseplz]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It’s so hard to know what to do isn’t it? After 5 failed rounds now, I’ve reached the point where I don’t want to be transferring embryos that aren’t genetically normal. But at the same time, it feels like a big risk. Appreciate your thoughts on it though and for taking the time to reply x

[Bluecheeseplz in reply to Emsk14]

It is so so hard. And you must be completely exhausted and wrung out emotionally and physically after five rounds, which isn't going to make your decision making easier. I'm sorry you are having to go through so much. One of the (many) crap things in all of this is that there often really isn't a right or wrong answer. Which I hate! I am learning that for me, I feel better going for the more data / less unknowns options, and that I can accept the associated risks more easily than I can accept the unknown. I'm not sure why that is, but it seems to be the less scary route for me. I absolutely understand how the opposite would be the case for others! All so hard. Sending a big hug 🩷

[Emsk14 in reply to Bluecheeseplz]

Thank you. And that makes complete sense. My husband isn’t keen to spend the money on it, and it is a lot. But I honestly don’t have many rounds left in me so I want to know that I’ve done all I can on our last go. (If we’re lucky to have an embryo to transfer if we test). Otherwise I know that if we don’t test and it doesn’t work, next time, I’ll either want to go again or I’ll regret not testing x

[Anonimatoz]

I am in a similar situation. We had 3 egg collections and because on the first 2 we only had 1 and then 2 embryos, we never thought testing the embryos made sense for us.Then, on the 3rd egg collection we got 4 embryos, but had already told the clinic we didn't want to test, so they transferred 1 and froze the other 3.

Well, in total we had 3 embryos failing to implant, 1 from each egg collection and we talked to the Dr about testing the frozen embryos.

His logic may not apply to your case, but made sense for us. He told us to go for another egg collection and have all embryos tested this time. Our cause is likely to be the genetics of the embryos and we will probably need more embryos, specially if we want a chance to have a second child. And depending on the result of the next cycle, we can evaluate if it is worth messing with the frozen ones.

If we wanted just 1 child for sure, transferring the 3 frozen ones would probably make more sense than testing except for the mental toll of a failed transfer.

Now if you had a miscarriage, it could be even worse for you to have repeated transfers, so it is a personal decision, try to have a chat with your doctor about your individual situation.

[Emsk14 in reply to Anonimatoz]

Hello, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I’m sorry to hear you’re in a similar situation. It’s so hard to know what to do isn’t it? We are trying for our second child too. Unfortunately we can’t afford to go for another egg collection and then test those embryos and we’d then have to do a FET from that. Our only option really is to test the 4 frozen embryos we have or take a risk and hope on the next FET. Wishing you all the best and thank you again for the reply x

[Millbanks]

Hello lovely,

We had 9 frozen and opted to PGT-A test them as I'd already had 5 failed transfers and didn't want to transfer any that didn't have a chance.

My embryologist said that it is actually good to thaw / refreeze / thaw as they grow a little in between - so when they are put back they are in a better place to implant.

Personally after so much heartache I would go for it xx

Also, have you looked at immunology at all? I had success on number 6 after PGT-A and steroids xx

[Emsk14 in reply to Millbanks]

Hey, thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. That’s so reassuring to hear. I have had immunology tested, I had a few levels slightly raised by haven’t opted to have the immune protocol yet. My levels didn’t feel high enough for me to want to do that on our previous round. But definitely something I’ll relook at again for a final transfer. My husband isn’t keen to test as it’s very expensive, and we’ve already put so much money into trying to have another baby. I get his concerns, but for me, I want to know I’ve done all I can, even if we still have to walk away without our second baby x

[Millbanks in reply to Emsk14]

One thing I would say is that post-pregnancy your immune levels can go up - it's your body's natural response - so I would defo think about opting for steroids - even if you don't want to do the test again...

xx

[Emsk14 in reply to Millbanks]

Thank you, I didn’t know that. I did ideally want to avoid steroids as I have one kidney and need to be careful as steroids aren’t recommend I don’t think. I was recommended intralipids and tacrolimis. Did you have either of these or just the steroids? It feels like an endless pit of things you can try to help doesn’t it! Xx

[Millbanks in reply to Emsk14]

Ah I'm sorry to hear that - I also had intralipids - I'm not sure how potent they are on their own but if your immune levels aren't too high then that might be enough!

Mine were excessively high so I really had to hammer it with all I could!

Yep, you could try every single thing and still not really know what worked - could just be the lucky one..... xx

[Emsk14 in reply to Millbanks]

Ahh ok, probably worth me having a chat with the Dr then and understanding a bit more about it all. I’m sure, like me, after 5 unsuccessful rounds by the 6th you were ready to throw absolutely everything at it, all in the hope that something would work! Xx

[Millbanks in reply to Emsk14]

Exactly that! Wishing you lots of luck xx

[Emsk14 in reply to Millbanks]

Thank you so much 🩷 xx

[Lookingforadvise]

I'm sorry about your 5 failed transfers, Im in a similar situation, I had 4 failed transfers and 6 frozen embryos left, I didn't want to go through another 6 transfers so I asked for pgta testing, I was advised to not do it from the start because I was 'young' but after 4 failed transfers ,I asked for pgta testing, out of 6 blasts I had one euploid, I'm so happy I did the testing. It really depends on how you feel, I felt I have to try everything so I have no regrets, everything looked great but I was getting bfns, I needed some sort of an answer.

[Isy6151]

hello! I have recently tested mine after debating for a long time. We had to thaw and refreeze.

I’d like to say that I got reassured regarding the process given the embryos were AA so high chance to survive. I agree that having more info help understand better if there are issues post transfer even if it’s never a perfect science but at least you rule out chromosomal issues.