No Receptiva/Era/Alice/Emma

[Anonymous]

Our clinic doesn't believe in receptiva testing or any additional testing outside of a hysteroscopy before FET. I trust my Dr but I'm feeling disheartened that they won't offer these tests. They say the research isn't there to back it making any difference. That it puts unnecessary stress on the body and it's an additional fee that doesn't add much to our cycles.

I've just read so many times that people have had a success after testing. And it can allow you to know if you need an extra day of meds and ideal transfer timing.

[Anonymous]

That’s frustrating!

On the one hand, it’s nice that they aren’t pushing expensive extras without firm research back-up, on the other, it’s really hard to get gold standard research back-up in this field. The science will evolve faster. I’m in the camp that it should be your choice.

Perhaps a solution is doing it at another practice?

[Anonymous]

P.S. Sometimes I look at the "traffic light" system on the UK's HFEA web page for add-ons: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/treatment-add-ons/
ERA is listed as red. That doesn't mean that you can't read more or consider it, but more information and understanding WHY a doctor may recommend against a procedure is always helpful to me in making my own decisions.

I heard about this traffic light system on a British IBF podcast that I ADORE: BFN (Big Fat Negative). You can find it on apple podcasts. I could listen to Emma and Gabby talk all day. I have been listeningt to them since the start! Not many new episodes lately. Start at the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Shady Grove was doing a large study of ERA testing back in 2018 when I was there. My RE was saying that they were planning to make it a standard part of their treatment but then the results didn’t really support that. You could find another clinic that will offer it.

[Anonymous]

I did an ERA/ALICE in 2021 because I was freaked out that my first transfer wouldn’t work after several grueling rounds of getting embryos.
Test showed no inflammation and good receptive timing. Shortly afterward, a huge study came out showing that ERAs don’t improve live birth rates.
I went on to have a baby after my first transfer. Obviously this isn’t always the case but in my situation, in hindsight, the tests were a huge waste of time (two months) and money and were very painful! I don’t think they’re worth it unless you’ve had a history of failed transfers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.S. Sometimes I look at the "traffic light" system on the UK's HFEA web page for add-ons: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/treatment-add-ons/
ERA is listed as red. That doesn't mean that you can't read more or consider it, but more information and understanding WHY a doctor may recommend against a procedure is always helpful to me in making my own decisions.

I heard about this traffic light system on a British IBF podcast that I ADORE: BFN (Big Fat Negative). You can find it on apple podcasts. I could listen to Emma and Gabby talk all day. I have been listeningt to them since the start! Not many new episodes lately. Start at the beginning.

PGT-A is also listed as red. I think this system needs be taken with a big grain of salt that what’s efficacious for MOST patients doesn’t mean it’s not useful for some. Most infertility patients may be standard, easy patients that have success in a cycle or two, but if you have a hard diagnosis, best practices may not be the best for you.