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"What would you do?" FET question
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Anonymous
| Here's one of those "What would you do?" questions. I had IVF at 37. No pregnancy. I had a FET 3 months later and transferred 4 embryos because one was of marginal quality after thawing; we had planned to transfer 3. I got pregnant with twins, one failed to progress, and I had a singleton at 38. Now, at 42, I am planning on another FET with embryos from that initial IVF when I was 37. My doctor suggests transferring 3 embryos again. BUT. . . I don't want twins. I'm considering telling her that I only want to aim for transferring 2. The difficulty, as you know, is that you lose some cells in the thawing process; that's how I ended up transferring 4 embies at age 37. So if you were 42 and in my shoes, what would you do? Thanks. |
Anonymous
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I would make sure you can answer the question for yourself before making a final decision - would you consider down-selecting? What if you tranfer 2 and one splits and you end up with triples (that happened to a co-worker last year).
If you transfer 2 and you don't get pregnant, would you try again with the last frozen one? Would it be better to just transfer one and then know you have two more to try with? Do you really want twins? Can you afford all those procedures and twins? I know this is very difficult....take your time. Its better to have these conversations when you aren't rushed and hormon crazed. Good luck Mom of twins |
Anonymous
| Thanks, PP. No, I don't want twins. I really don't. We have one healthy and happy child, and part of me thinks I'm selfish to ask for another. But the realistic, self-aware part of me KNOWS that I can't handle twins on top of a preschooler. Thanks again. Any other perspectives out there? |
Anonymous
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I have IVF twins and 3 frozen embryos. We want ONE more child, so we plan to transfer only one embryo at a time until it works. I won't transfer even two embryos, since both of the two we transfered on our first IVF stuck- hence our twins! I do love having them, but I want to see just how easy only one baby at a time is! So even though it may mean multiple cycles, with the attendant extra expense and wear and tear on my body, we're only doing one at a time until it works.
If you can afford it and you are really intent on reducing the risk of multiples as far as you can, transfer one embryo at a time until it works. Or, transfer two or three and make peace with selective reduction if need be. |
Anonymous
| Best of luck, OP. My friend is 46, four frozen embroys from earlier, twice transferred one each time, each failed. Third try decided to try two (the last two). She is having twins -- not how we all think. One didn't make it, the other split = identical twins. After lots of angst about why had they transferred two, she and her husband learned the truth; identical twins just happen. So, you know from earlier and with a preschooler, you can't predict everything. Do the best you can, realize that's all you can do, and know you're the reasonable, thoughtful mom we all want to see pregnant. |
Anonymous
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You should ask your doctor for a 5 day transfer, with a 5 day transfer, the embryos are thawed and it's a survival of the fittest, meaning the best survive and thrive on their own outside of the thaw for 5 days. Your RE can place back the best looking embryo increasing your success chances with just 1.
You can also explore thawing all embryos you have and refrezzing what you don't use. This is a new method, I am not as familar with it, but some clinics are now trying it. |
Anonymous
I'm a single mom who had an IVF at the age ot 37. I transferred 2 fresh blasts and got pregnant with one. I just had an FET 1.5 yrs later) and transferred 2 frozen blasts hoping to get pregnant with one but NO....I am now 18 weeks pregnant with twins! SO yea.... if you want one I would transfer one at a time. As a single mom with a 2 yr old and twins it is gonna be a hell of a ride. LOL I really think you are making a wise move with being extra cautious! 
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Anonymous
If your embryos were originally frozen using the vitrification technique they can usually be frozen and thawed multiple times. Some area clinics are using vitrification but SG (for instance) does not and their embryos can only be thawed once (not refrozen). We also have twins from cycle #1---we put back two "perfect" blasts and both took. We had 2 frozen blasts from that cycle (frozen together) and we put them both back in the fall. They were also graded "perfect" and were identical in quality to the first two. That cycle didn't work to our surprise. We just did a new fresh cycle (as we were out of frozens) and put back one really crummy single blast and got pregnant with a singleton. My experience with IVF is that ultimately success is pretty random. My perfect frozens didn't take but a REALLY crummy fresh one did. In general (and at SG which was our clinic) frozen embryos have about half the live birth rate as comparable fresh embryos. So that is something to take into account when planning your cycles. I didn't realize internalize this when I did ours---I just assumed the FET would work since we had such success (twins) with our first IVF cycle. Dealing with the negative test was surprisingly hard. But then you have women like the above poster who have great success with frozens. So of course as with anything IVF related, results can be entirely random and surprising! good luck! |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
OP here. I'm not sure if we can do a 5-day transfer, as the embies were frozen at 3 days (I think). I know it sounds like I'm overthinking this. I just know myself and my family, and I know my limitations. Complicating things is the fact that we'll have to fly to the west coast for transfers, since that's where we did the original IVF and that's where the embies are. Thanks much to all of you for your input! |
Anonymous
| With our fresh cycle we put back three and got three. Unfortunately, we lost one early on, but did go on to have healthy twins. We still want another baby, but can not handle twins again. As a result, we are doing elective single embryo transfers. The cost of going one by one really sucks, but I am a firm believer that you should only put back what you can handle. This is by no means a judgement on women who choose to reduce. I just would want to avoid having to make such a hard emotional decision. |
Anonymous
| OP again. I'm there with you, 15:33. I don't think I handle selective reduction (and again, absolutely no judgment on women who do; just too much infertility history for me to cope well with that decision). The cost of FETs is covered in the package plan we bought at the time of the initial IVF (except for embryo glue and assisted hatching). However, there are travel costs to and from the west coast to consider. But I'm leaning toward transferring only one embie. Wonder what my doctor will think about that? |
Anonymous
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I would transfer only one. The statistics are just that - averages - while helpdul in many decisions they don't predict what will happen to you. Good luck.
Mom of toddler and twins and while loving it...it is not easy! |
Anonymous
| To the OP (new poster here); would you consider moving your remaining frozen embryos from your West Coast clinic to one in this area? I know you have a package that includes the FETs, but this would make the single transfers more feasible. We'll actually be moving our remaining frozen blastos from an overseas clinic to Dominion Fertility over the next months and hope to use them next year. We had a consult with Dr Gordon a few months ago re this, and they have some experience of doing this, both within the US and with overseas clinics. This might be an option worth exploring for you. Let me know if you need more info & good luck! |