using frozen embryos vs. trying naturally- advice?
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Anonymous
| I'd try naturally for a few months to avoid having to go through the FET process. |
Anonymous
I'm glad you have missed me. 
Op - I would try for a few months while at the same time undergoing the testing necessary for Fet. I'm assuming you'll be required to undergo hsg and other tests and as you know this can take a few months with scheduling and your cycle. |
Anonymous
| OP here: my main concern is really whether there's a lot of advantage to the 31 year old embryos (besides the obvious of being CGH normal) vs. a 36 year old embryo conceived naturally. I guess I can ask my RE> |
Anonymous
| Yes, ask the RE. I would guess that the 31 year old PGS tested embryos would give you a better shot at a healthy pregnancy faster if you decide to transfer them. With 36 year old eggs, you may be more likely to miscarry. And it may take longer to get pregnant. That said, I don't consider 36 old and there may be no issue with your eggs. If you were 40, I'd say FET no question. Of course, there is also the question of $$. If $$ is no object, I'd go with the transfer. |
Anonymous
|
How much will your FET cost, OP? I'd do a cost benefit analysis. '
How many months would you and DH be willing to try naturally in order to avoid the FET? Sure, if you get pregnant quickly and naturally that is great. But if not, are the months of trying worth the potential savings? What if you try naturally and don't get pregnant, then go through the all the FET's and they fail, too, and then you have to consider a fresh stim cycle again? Are you willing to put that off for a year or more? I know his probably seems unlikely to you, but IF boards have taught me that the worst case scenario can and will happen to someone. I'm not trying to be mean but just realistic. Maybe consider that this time it could be you. |
Anonymous
|
OP, it's kind of hard to say without knowing why you had to do IVF (and particularly PGS given your ages) the first time around.
From my own experience, I can tell you that we went the FET route for #2 right away. I mean, we were not using protection on the off-chance it might happen naturally, but we started the process rolling as soon as I was ready to consider having a second (we had moved, so this included transferring embryos between clinics and looking for a new clinic). The frozen embryos (no PGS) were from when we were both 35, and I'm now 36w from a transfer that we did when we were both 37 (now I'm 38). My reasoning was 1) I felt that my odds of getting pregnant were better using an embryo from a cycle that had successfully produced a child before...this was more feeling than anything else, and 2) embryos from when I was younger were likely to be higher quality no matter what. As it turned out, it took two transfers to get this one to stick (first FET ended in chemical, possibly due to low progesterone dose)...but I'm pretty glad we went the route that we did. |
Anonymous
| PP again. I should add that we only found success the first time around after our 5th cycle (2 fresh, then 2 FET, then 1 fresh at a different clinic with a different protocol). So I really did consider that last batch of embryos to be pretty special. |
Anonymous
| I would use the PGS tested embryos. god forbid you should go through pregnancy and have your NT testing come back positive. If you decide to terminate or have a miscarriage, it will be so painful and also it will set you back several months. i'm sure you know that over 35, the odds of chromosomal problems increase, especially with your husbands greater age. i had two very early stage miscarriages (at age 36 & 37) before my first pgs normal fet (now 17 weeks.) this was despite having 'phenomenal' fertility numbers. personally it was worth it to me to pay the fee to avoid going through another miscarriage. |
Anonymous
| OP here. the reason I did IVF the first time was anovulation/amenorrhea (basically no cycles, no ovulation). Now I ovulate on my own. No other infertility factors other than that the first go around. the reason I did PGS testing was that I had 10 frozen embryos after baby #1, so I wanted to avoid doing single transfer FET's with abnormal embryos, so we tested the frozen embryos. |
Anonymous
| At your age I would try naturally for six months or so. Then if things don't happen, do the FET. It might save you the 4K you'd have to spend on FET. If money isn't a consideration and you'd like more of a sure thing and want more likelihood of success, then go straight to FET. You're lucky you have tested embryos -- it's like having a saving plan. You can use them if you need them when you're older and perhaps either want a third child, or if things don't work out au naturel. |
Anonymous
| Sorry to clarify, this is for a third child. I did IVF the first time because I was anovulatory, did a FET the second time with a tested embryo, and have embryos left. But now I cycle pretty regularly on my own. Age 36. |
Anonymous
In this case, I would probably do FET again unless finances are an issue or you just really don't want to (this is a totally legitimate reason, BTW). 31 y.o. eggs are likely higher quality than 36 y.o. eggs, and you have the added benefit of knowing that they are genetically typical. Spending 6mos - 1 yr trying at age 36 is really different than at age 32 or 33...even if your cycles are normal other things could have changed in the last 5 years. If you really want to avoid ART, I would still recommend getting a complete work up (hormone levels etc) before spending a long time trying naturally. (And you can always keep trying during the interim.) As an example, when we first started seeing an RE, the only issue was MFI. But after a miscarriage from and IVF cycle, I developed uterine scarring that went undiagnosed for over a year and led to a lot of failures. I know this is a very specific example that's unlikely to apply to you, but 5 years is a long time over which other fertility-related factors might have changed. |
Anonymous
Lucky lady! Since you've already got two, why not just try for awhile and see what happens? If nothing, then go the FET route. |
Anonymous
| This is so interesting. Do they think the pregnancy kick started your body to ovulate on it's own? |
Anonymous
| Yes, that's what my RE had predicted all along. They had no idea why I didnt ovulate originally- did all the hormone tests etc. I had plenty of eggs, and good ones, so it was a relatively lucky infertility predicament to be in (anovulation) |