3rd Failed FET.... Help

[ApricotPeaches]

Hello, tested this morning. 3rd failed embryo transfer. Absolutely devastating. We had 3 5day embryos from this cycle, my first cycle. Having fertility treatment due to male factor. Did not do fresh transfer because my lining was too thick. No PGT testing. 2 x medicated FET's, 1 x natural FET with blood thinner injections. What to do next? We will be doing another egg collection. What's tests do ask for?

Definitely asking for PGT as I'm in my late 30's now. (36 at time of egg collection). Any other suggestions? Has anyone experience with EMMA/ALICE? My lining has always been 11mm or more for transfer.

My thoughts are all over the place.

Thanks to this community for helping with the loneliness of fertility treatment x

[Lana89]

Hi lovely so sorry it didn’t work out today it’s a really hard journey

You said you was on blood thinners was you on aspirin and steroids if not I would ask about them

My clinic is in Cyprus and they give you Lubion injection aspirin blood thinners and steroids as standard but the only time I had success was when adding all of them to my protocol

Good luck for next time lovely

X

[ApricotPeaches in reply to Lana89]

Thank you for responding. I will ask about the steroids for my next cycle. I was on inhixa (blood thinner), 40mg injection once per day.

[Dietcoke2025]

Hi I'm so sorry that it didn't work. We just had our second fail and are gearing up for our third. My embryos are pgt tested but I put out a similar post recently and people came back with some really helpful testing ideas that might be worth looking at. Wishing you all the best in whatever you decide to do next xx

[ApricotPeaches in reply to Dietcoke2025]

Thank you so much for that suggestion. I had a look and loads of ideas/suggestions for tests etc. I hope you are doing well x

[Tinkertinkerbell]

Hi, I had 4 failed transfers and then did the EMA, Alice and ERA which is what worked for me in the end and I got my daughter from my 5th transfer based on adjustments from the biopsy. It found I had no good bacteria so needed LOADS of probiotics. Not just one course as I had done a course before the biopsy and still had 0%. So to get the good bacteria established I had to use 3 a day probiotics. Also the ERA part of the test found that my lining was pre receptive on day 6 of progesterone and needed an extra 30 hours before transfer. So all my other transfers had been too early. 5th transfer was timed with the additional 30 hours exactly and it worked! Good luck x

[Tinkertinkerbell in reply to Tinkertinkerbell]

I did also take aspirin for that last transfer which I had never done before as it was my last embryo and I wanted to try everything. No idea if it made a difference. Only took 75mg a day and didn’t even agree it with the clinic. Once I saw a midwife they upped it to 150mg a day for my whole pregnancy so obviously they don’t think it’s dangerous- it was to prevent blood clots x

[Bqjsh in reply to Tinkertinkerbell]

Sorry to jump on - did you take baby aspirin the days leading up to FET or start taking it after embryo transfer? I have had 4 FETs now, 2 were BFN and 2 were chemicals. I have had microbiome testing through fertilysis which shows I need antibiotics and probiotics so will be making sure that is gone before my next transfer.

I have had chemicals through natural conception too so unsure whether the ERA test is worth doing in my situation... can I ask if you had chemicals or always BFN? It's very difficult to weigh up taking more time out again as I think I need to go straight in with another transfer when I know infection etc is clear so infection and bad bacteria doesn't have time to come back, whereas an ERA will disrupt the timing? Xx

[Tinkertinkerbell in reply to Bqjsh]

Hi, I took 75mg of aspirin a day from a week before transfer and carried on after.

I had miscarried previously and had chemicals from natural pregnancies but not ivf. 4 ivf transfers were always BFN so the ERA was appropriate for me. I think if you can get pregnant through ivf transfers and it turns into a chemical or miscarriage then the ERA isn’t appropriate as it’s not a timing issue? That’s my understanding anyway - you’d have to ask an expert.

I’m not sure how long the EMA, Alice and ERA results take - I can’t remember. You’d have to check because I’m not sure if you get them back quick enough to carry on with a transfer that cycle if all clear? x

[Bqjsh in reply to Tinkertinkerbell]

Thanks for this! Yeah I've wondered the same - the fact that I've had chemicals with 2 ivf transfers probably indicates its the right timing- I'm wondering whether to try a natural modified cycle with trigger and progesterone as all my FETs have been medicated so far and I have read that the implantation window can be wider with natural modified? Was your successful FET medicated?

The only concerns I have with nautral modified is that I find it hard to monitor my ovulation at home and find my peak but I do know I ovulate as we have had natural conception x3 times ( which ended up being 2 chemicals and ectopic) but my clinic said they will give me a trigger so that would hopefully overcome ovulation timing issues?

I'm glad I had microbiome testing - I think now I know about BV, ureplasma and imbalance of good and bad bacteria - getting that treated with specific antibiotics and probiotics before my next transfer will hopefully make a difference - we have 2 embryos left. What probiotics did you use? Xx

[ApricotPeaches in reply to Tinkertinkerbell]

Thank you for responding. I completed the Daye, vaginal microbiome screen. The only issue flagged is that my Lactobacilli is at 63%, the optimum is above 80%. I know the Emma/Alice tests are much more detailed & specific. What probiotics did you use? I want to start taking them.

[Tinkertinkerbell in reply to ApricotPeaches]

Oh that’s good! I had 0% because I’d had antibiotics for pneumonia. I took canesflor x3 a day because when I only took 1 a day as instructed it didn’t work and I still had 0% good bacteria. But I don’t think you can get it anymore. x

[ApricotPeaches in reply to Tinkertinkerbell]

No, I believe they have stopped producing canesflor, which is unfortunate. I need to find an alternative. Did you have acupuncture for your successful cycle? Lovely to think you a daughter now after all your efforts x