More chances of success with assisted hatching?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had an IVF experience with assisted hatching? Did it result in pregnancy?

[Anonymous]

Yes and yes.

Note that there is an increased prevalence of monozygotic (identical) twinning with assisted hatching. Even though we read that on the consent form, we were still surprised when after we only had one embroyo make it to transfer, the doctor at the first ultrasound said, "there's the other baby."

[Anonymous]

We also did assisted hatching and it resulted in a pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

yes and yes (on the 4th attempt) - just a singleton though...

[Anonymous]

Yes, and yes...and I had frat twins, so nothing to do with AH

I know that my clinic did assisted hatching as a matter of routine for every one of their patients.

[Anonymous]

REs prefer to do AH with women 38 and older to help the sperm fertilize the egg which has a hardened shell due to age-related issues. It's fairly common.

[Anonymous]

PP, I thought they did assisted hatching to help with implantation. ICSI is the procedure used to help the sperm penentrate the egg.

[Anonymous]

and so is AH. you "assist" the egg to "hatch."

[Anonymous]

Who should be treated with assisted hatching?
The most commonly used indications for assisted hatching with an in vitro fertilization case are:

•Age factor - Couples having IVF with the female partner's age over 37
•Egg quantity and quality factor - Couples in which the female's day 3 follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level is elevated
•Embryo quality factor - Couples having IVF with poor quality embryos (excessive fragmentation or slow rates of cell division)
•Zona factor - Couples having IVF with embryos that have a thick outer shell (zona pellucida)
•Previous failures - Couples having IVF that have had one or more previous IVF cycles that failed
In our IVF clinic, we use assisted hatching on just about all cases - because we think it increases the pregnancy and delivery rates.

How is assisted hatching performed?
1.The embryo is held with a specialized holding pipette.
2.A very delicate, hollow needle is used to expel an acidic solution against the outer "shell" (zona pellucida) of the embryo.
3.A small hole is made in the shell by digesting it with the acidic solution.
4.The embryo is then washed and put back in culture in the incubator.
5.The embryo transfer procedure is done shortly after the hatching procedure. Embryo transfer places the embryos in the woman's uterus where they will hopefully implant and develop to result in a live birth.

[Anonymous]

AH is only done on embryos right before transfer and is not done on eggs, as eggs don't need to "hatch" with IVF but rather need to be inseminated. ICSI is the procedure used to fertilize or inseminate eggs.

That said, I have had AH done on all seven of my IVF cycles. I got pregnant on three cycles (though none resulted in live births for various reasons) and had no success with the other four. It is supposed to help with the hardened zona (or outer shell of the embryo) that is typically found in women over 38 (as PP mentioned). Interestingly enough, I had a blastocyst transfer done with 2 of my cycles that resulted in pregnancies and a couple of the blasts were hatching on their own at transfer, so no AH was needed on those embryos.

[Anonymous]

OP here. So now I am reading that assited hatching, if not done properly, can actually damage the embryo. That's another concern that I have.

[Anonymous]

The risk of damage is why AH is usually only recommended for people where there is more benefit than risk. There should be minimal risk at a clinic that does AH very regularly. Also, some clinics will only perform AH if the embryologist thinks there is a need and not as a norm for pre-determined factors like age.

[Anonymous]

yes and yes. Age 39 at the time. Many failed IUIs and miscarraiges. We have B/G twins now. If you are over 37 I'd do it.