What would you do?

[Anonymous]

Note up front that we are talking to our doctor next week but I suspect he’ll tell us either option is reasonable so looking for others input.

I am 41 and have completed one round of egg retrieval. Got five eggs, and only one embryo but it ended up being graded highly and euploid. We are trying to decide if we should just transfer this one now, or do another round or two of egg retrieval to see if we can bank a few more embryos. This would obviously increase our odds of a live birth, but we only want one child so we aren’t playing a huge numbers game here. I also know my age is a factor here, so wondering if we should try to transfer a solid embryo asap. Anyways, what would you do?!

[Anonymous]

Transfer a solid one asap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Transfer a solid one asap.

agreed. If you definitely don’t want more than one, transfer it and go from there. Fingers crossed you won’t ever need a second retrieval.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Transfer a solid one asap.

This is my dr’s recommendation as well. I’m in pretty much the same position as you.

[Anonymous]

Nope, another egg retrieval. That said, you may have to do multiple retrievals to even get 1 more.

I'm younger than you (38) and I choose to transfer. At your age often clinics won't continue past 42. So I wouldn't risk a miscarriage getting you too close to that.

[Anonymous]

I would transfer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would transfer

Same.

[Anonymous]

I would do another so you have more to bank. If you have a healthy embryo, waiting to implant is not diminishing your chances of conceiving. There are 75 year old women who can carry a viable embryo. You don’t want your opportunity to get viable embryos to pass you by, which I think is the bigger concern. I did IVF at 42 with 2 healthy embryos and had one that didn’t blast until later on ice. I absolutely would have tried another round before implanting if I only had one.

[Anonymous]

I was in this exact situation. One good embryo and I chose to go immediately into the next round bc I was in a slow period at work and I really didn’t believe the first one would stick. Got 2 more in the next round. Told Dr I didn’t want to know the gender, just to transfer the best one out of the three.

Turns out he transferred the first one, it stuck and now I am left with 2 embryos that I won’t use but can’t seem to let go off.

Long story short if you only want one, transfer now and then do another retrieval if it doesn’t take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would do another so you have more to bank. If you have a healthy embryo, waiting to implant is not diminishing your chances of conceiving. There are 75 year old women who can carry a viable embryo. You don’t want your opportunity to get viable embryos to pass you by, which I think is the bigger concern. I did IVF at 42 with 2 healthy embryos and had one that didn’t blast until later on ice. I absolutely would have tried another round before implanting if I only had one.

For some people, that isn't true at all. I lost the ability to carry pregnancies to term at 35. It's age and immune related.

[Anonymous]

Are you paying out of pocket or going through insurance? With my insurance, they didn't allow embryo banking so when I was in your situation I was forced to transfer. I (AMA, DOR) had 3 egg retrievals in which I was left with 1 euploid after each retrieval so did 3 FETs - 1 live birth, 1 CP, 1 BFN.

I would consider the cost of ER if you're paying out of pocket and think if it's worth it. If I was paying out of pocket, for me mentally I would feel more at ease going into my FET if I knew I had another one waiting for me if this didn't work. It was a lot of pressure each time going into the FET thinking if this didn't work, I have to start over from the beginning (which might not be as successful as previous as I am now older).

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely do another egg retrieval first. I was in the same situation as you at 36 and transferred right away, and it failed. The probability of success is something like 33%, so ideally you would want three embryos, but definitely at least two. My second transfer was also unsuccessful. Third time was the charm.

If you do decide to transfer asap, get an ERA done first in case your window is displaced. If it is, you’ll have wasted that embryo for nothing.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on getting a highly graded euploid! As a 39 yo with DOR recovering from a miscarriage after my first cycle of IVF, I say go again—if you can financially swing it. You can rest assured you’ll have a strong chance with the one you have on hand but will be working toward increasing your odds. And the set back from a miscarriage cannot be understated, both from a timeline and emotional perspective. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Something to consider is the risk of miscarriage and how long it takes before you can do another round of meds and egg retrieval. I had a miscarriage that my body was slow to realize and it took 3 months for my HCG (pregnancy hormone) to drop down to 0.

I also only had 1 embryo from my first ER at 38. I figured if I needed to do another ER, it would be better to do it back to back rather than wait another 3-6 months when my eggs are deteriorating. Unfortunately, at our age, time is not on our side for egg quality.

[Anonymous]

Statistically you want to give yourself 3 chances with a euploid embryo. At 41 with no known uterine issues I would still probably try to bank one more than the one you have before transferring. It took me 3 transfers with euploid embryos to have success at 39.