Talk to me about numbers of fertilized eggs

[Anonymous]

Keep us updated OP. Fingers crossed that those 4 keep doing their thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is in fact a strong correlation between the number of eggs retrieved and pregnancy.

Does this poster mean that the higher number of eggs retrieved indicates a better chance of pregnancy? If so, thanks for the oh-so-uplifting note to my original desperate posting...

Sorry OP, I didn't want to be negative but felt that the poster needed to be corrected.

Please keep us updated on how things develop. Fingers crossed!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. Please keep the good thoughts rolling in - I promise to do the same for all of you on your journeys. On day two (today), we have 2 embryos at the 4-cell stage, 1 at the 3-cell stage, and 1 at the 8-cell stage. Awaiting word on whether it'll be a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Please keep the good thoughts rolling in - I promise to do the same for all of you on your journeys. On day two (today), we have 2 embryos at the 4-cell stage, 1 at the 3-cell stage, and 1 at the 8-cell stage. Awaiting word on whether it'll be a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

With a low number of embryos (I was in the same situation, posted above), I would not risk waiting for day 5, and my guess is your RE won't want to do that either. Too much of a chance that they won't survive in the petri dish, while they might well survive inside you.

The reason the other poster said higher number of embryos equals better chance of pregnancy is that you usually have more embryos to choose from, and a greater chance that some will be top notch. But I've been told that ovarian response is not directly linked to egg quality, so even if you have few, they may be good. The only indicator they have for egg quality is age, although of course someone of a younger age could have worse eggs than someone who's older. It's simply that they can't test for quality, so they have to guess by age. FWIW, I'm 39 and while my response was comparatively low, my eggs seem to have been fine, as I got pregnant with twins on the first try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is in fact a strong correlation between the number of eggs retrieved and pregnancy.

Actually that is true and not true --- the highest correlation between eggs and pregnancy is retrieving between 14-20 eggs - this is the "sweet spot" of egg retrieval where generally it means exceptional quality for the quantity produced. Over 20 eggs the quality of the eggs actually diminishing and the risks increase of hyperstimulation etc.

9-13 eggs slightly lower probability and it continues from there.

I would rather see 7-8 eggs produced than see 40 eggs produced. The odds are going to be better on those 7-8 eggs actually working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is in fact a strong correlation between the number of eggs retrieved and pregnancy.

Actually that is true and not true --- the highest correlation between eggs and pregnancy is retrieving between 14-20 eggs - this is the "sweet spot" of egg retrieval where generally it means exceptional quality for the quantity produced. Over 20 eggs the quality of the eggs actually diminishing and the risks increase of hyperstimulation etc.

9-13 eggs slightly lower probability and it continues from there.

I would rather see 7-8 eggs produced than see 40 eggs produced. The odds are going to be better on those 7-8 eggs actually working.

Right. So even you are confirming that it is true within the range (less than 20 eggs) that a vast majority of people here is in (and that OP is definitively in).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Please keep the good thoughts rolling in - I promise to do the same for all of you on your journeys. On day two (today), we have 2 embryos at the 4-cell stage, 1 at the 3-cell stage, and 1 at the 8-cell stage. Awaiting word on whether it'll be a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

With a low number of embryos (I was in the same situation, posted above), I would not risk waiting for day 5, and my guess is your RE won't want to do that either. Too much of a chance that they won't survive in the petri dish, while they might well survive inside you.

The reason the other poster said higher number of embryos equals better chance of pregnancy is that you usually have more embryos to choose from, and a greater chance that some will be top notch. But I've been told that ovarian response is not directly linked to egg quality, so even if you have few, they may be good. The only indicator they have for egg quality is age, although of course someone of a younger age could have worse eggs than someone who's older. It's simply that they can't test for quality, so they have to guess by age. FWIW, I'm 39 and while my response was comparatively low, my eggs seem to have been fine, as I got pregnant with twins on the first try.

No, the reason why I posted it is because the data, for all age groups, show clear correlation between number of eggs retrieved and proportion of pregnancies achieved. Why is that, I don't claim to know.

http://www.advancedfertility.com/eggspregnancyrates.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Please keep the good thoughts rolling in - I promise to do the same for all of you on your journeys. On day two (today), we have 2 embryos at the 4-cell stage, 1 at the 3-cell stage, and 1 at the 8-cell stage. Awaiting word on whether it'll be a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

With a low number of embryos (I was in the same situation, posted above), I would not risk waiting for day 5, and my guess is your RE won't want to do that either. Too much of a chance that they won't survive in the petri dish, while they might well survive inside you.

The reason the other poster said higher number of embryos equals better chance of pregnancy is that you usually have more embryos to choose from, and a greater chance that some will be top notch. But I've been told that ovarian response is not directly linked to egg quality, so even if you have few, they may be good. The only indicator they have for egg quality is age, although of course someone of a younger age could have worse eggs than someone who's older. It's simply that they can't test for quality, so they have to guess by age. FWIW, I'm 39 and while my response was comparatively low, my eggs seem to have been fine, as I got pregnant with twins on the first try.

No, the reason why I posted it is because the data, for all age groups, show clear correlation between number of eggs retrieved and proportion of pregnancies achieved. Why is that, I don't claim to know.

http://www.advancedfertility.com/eggspregnancyrates.htm

Fair enough, I shouldn't have said that's why you said it, but that those are the facts behind your statement. The link you posted confirms exactly what I said. They do hypothesize that there is a relation between egg quantity and egg quality, but when you read their page on that topic, it ultimately comes down to the fact that a woman with more eggs has a greater percentage of good ones - so again, it's a selection issue rather than an intrinsic link between quantity and quality.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Probably looking at a 5-day transfer, according to my RE. He likes the looks of at least 3 of the embryos right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Probably looking at a 5-day transfer, according to my RE. He likes the looks of at least 3 of the embryos right now.

That's interesting. I always thought they only do a day 5 transfer if you have at least five great looking embryos. In my understanding, the main reason to do a day 5 transfer is to avoid multiples, because it allows you to observe outside the body which embryos are the strongest (so you need to transfer less to have the same odds). Downside is that some embryos who may have made it in the uterus might not make it in the lab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Please keep the good thoughts rolling in - I promise to do the same for all of you on your journeys. On day two (today), we have 2 embryos at the 4-cell stage, 1 at the 3-cell stage, and 1 at the 8-cell stage. Awaiting word on whether it'll be a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

With a low number of embryos (I was in the same situation, posted above), I would not risk waiting for day 5, and my guess is your RE won't want to do that either. Too much of a chance that they won't survive in the petri dish, while they might well survive inside you.

The reason the other poster said higher number of embryos equals better chance of pregnancy is that you usually have more embryos to choose from, and a greater chance that some will be top notch. But I've been told that ovarian response is not directly linked to egg quality, so even if you have few, they may be good. The only indicator they have for egg quality is age, although of course someone of a younger age could have worse eggs than someone who's older. It's simply that they can't test for quality, so they have to guess by age. FWIW, I'm 39 and while my response was comparatively low, my eggs seem to have been fine, as I got pregnant with twins on the first try.

No, the reason why I posted it is because the data, for all age groups, show clear correlation between number of eggs retrieved and proportion of pregnancies achieved. Why is that, I don't claim to know.

http://www.advancedfertility.com/eggspregnancyrates.htm

Fair enough, I shouldn't have said that's why you said it, but that those are the facts behind your statement. The link you posted confirms exactly what I said. They do hypothesize that there is a relation between egg quantity and egg quality, but when you read their page on that topic, it ultimately comes down to the fact that a woman with more eggs has a greater percentage of good ones - so again, it's a selection issue rather than an intrinsic link between quantity and quality.

They hypothesize because they don't know - and nobody really knows. I am not sure why it is important what causes the correlation, though. The fact of the matter is - more eggs, greater likelihood of pregnancy (at least up to a point). You don't need to know why that is the case in order to gauge your own chances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Please keep the good thoughts rolling in - I promise to do the same for all of you on your journeys. On day two (today), we have 2 embryos at the 4-cell stage, 1 at the 3-cell stage, and 1 at the 8-cell stage. Awaiting word on whether it'll be a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

With a low number of embryos (I was in the same situation, posted above), I would not risk waiting for day 5, and my guess is your RE won't want to do that either. Too much of a chance that they won't survive in the petri dish, while they might well survive inside you.

The reason the other poster said higher number of embryos equals better chance of pregnancy is that you usually have more embryos to choose from, and a greater chance that some will be top notch. But I've been told that ovarian response is not directly linked to egg quality, so even if you have few, they may be good. The only indicator they have for egg quality is age, although of course someone of a younger age could have worse eggs than someone who's older. It's simply that they can't test for quality, so they have to guess by age. FWIW, I'm 39 and while my response was comparatively low, my eggs seem to have been fine, as I got pregnant with twins on the first try.

No, the reason why I posted it is because the data, for all age groups, show clear correlation between number of eggs retrieved and proportion of pregnancies achieved. Why is that, I don't claim to know.

http://www.advancedfertility.com/eggspregnancyrates.htm

Fair enough, I shouldn't have said that's why you said it, but that those are the facts behind your statement. The link you posted confirms exactly what I said. They do hypothesize that there is a relation between egg quantity and egg quality, but when you read their page on that topic, it ultimately comes down to the fact that a woman with more eggs has a greater percentage of good ones - so again, it's a selection issue rather than an intrinsic link between quantity and quality.

This doesn't disagree with the premise that over 20 eggs your odds actually go down. They are simply saying that over 10 eggs you are at the highest likelihood of getting pregnant.

Ideally you want between 10-20 eggs for success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Probably looking at a 5-day transfer, according to my RE. He likes the looks of at least 3 of the embryos right now.

That's wonderful news! Keep us updated! Grow embies grow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Probably looking at a 5-day transfer, according to my RE. He likes the looks of at least 3 of the embryos right now.

That's wonderful news! Keep us updated! Grow embies grow!

Thanks, PP. I'm glad I logged back in at the end of the day & skipped ahead from the other banter about studies to hear your words of encouragement. I do find this forum to be *mostly* supportive and helpful. Your post certainly was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Probably looking at a 5-day transfer, according to my RE. He likes the looks of at least 3 of the embryos right now.

That's wonderful news! Keep us updated! Grow embies grow!

Thanks, PP. I'm glad I logged back in at the end of the day & skipped ahead from the other banter about studies to hear your words of encouragement. I do find this forum to be *mostly* supportive and helpful. Your post certainly was.

I'm one of the posters who both offered an encouraging story and information about the science behind your question. I think the great thing about this forum in contrast to others is that people actually discuss issues, instead of just exchanging hugs and kisses and pep talk. I could do without the frequent snark (of which I haven't seen much on this thread), but the intellectual level here is (overall, not always) a lot higher than on the nationwide fertility and pregnancy forums, which mostly bore me. If you are bothered by people discussing the issue you brought up and don't find it helpful, you might be better off at FertilityCommunity.com etc.