Any reason not to do PGS

[Anonymous]

I’m only 30 so my RE doesn’t think it’s necessary but I’d like to do a fresh transfer with an unknown and PGS the rest (hopefully - if I can get multiple embryos). I want to do PGS to have peace of mind down the line when I’m older that what I have banked is good and also to have already ruled out abnormalities if it doesn’t work. Am I crazy to do this - aside from the cost?

[Anonymous]

There are a few things to consider.

- If you end up with a lot of embryos, will you have trouble discarding or donating them after you are done having kids?
- There is less of a chance that an untested, abnormal embryo would implant, but it happens - and you'd have to make a decision about what to do if you didn't miscarry (so, if you would terminate for medical reasons)
- If you are a poor responder, you may not have many to test, depending on how many make it to day 5 or make it to blast
- Finally, there was a small study done by my wife's RI, Dr. Braverman, showing that not all "abnormal" embryos that are tested are actually abnormal

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5011996/


I don't think you're crazy to do PGS, but until you see how many embryos you get from your first retrieval, you may want to consider all options (you may end up needing to do more fresh transfers down the line)

[Anonymous]

I think your plan sounds wonderful. I did the same thing - was also 30 when I did my first IVF cycle and I am so glad I did the PGS testing, just to have more information and peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

I think your plan is perfect. Friends of mine did it. They now have a baby from the fresh transfer and frozen PGS-tested embryos for later.

[Anonymous]

I was 32 and my doctor at SG did not recommend PGS. At SG they do ICSI if you’re doing PGS and ICSI doubles your risk for birth defects (though total risk is still VERY small). It goes from about 1% to 2% I think. So we decided not to do PGS because I didn’t want ICSI.

In hindsight I could go either way - I don’t regret not doing it but sort of wish I had sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Your plan sounds good!! I did a fresh cycle two years ago, and was successful. Two years later, I had a miscarriage from one of my frozen embryos. RE thinks it's chromosomal abnormality. We then do PGS testing on the remaining embryos and only one out of the 4 is PGS normal. I am now almost 24 weeks pregnant. I would definitely do PGS from jump instead of waiting. I lost one embryo from the thawing process as well.

[Anonymous]

If you have the money to spend then go for it. I was your age when we did IVF, didn't do PGS per RE's recommendation, and were successful. Just like prenatal testing, PGS is not a silver bullet so it's no guarantee but it does provide additional peace of mind. However at your younger age you are at lower risk for abnormalities. Another thing to consider is that if your embryos survive to day 5 that is already going to weed out many with abnormalities. I felt pretty good about transferring a 5 day blastocyst with good grading. Then you're constantly monitored in early pregnancy which also helps ease anxiety.

[Anonymous]

I could go either way. I had luck without PGS. My friend just had her third miscarriage without PGS. We were both 30 at time of retrieval. Also my first cycle was a bust. Embryo didn’t stick and I had none leftover. Fortunately no miscarriage. Second cycle embryo stuck and we have 3 leftover. I’m tempted to test those 3 based on my friend’s experience.

[Anonymous]

Sucessful twice without PGS wt 36 and 38. I truly believe PGS missed embryos that would self correct.

[Anonymous]

I did not - one fresh transfer failed and two frozen were successful (one is now 2 years old and I am 20 weeks with her sister).

My RE strongly talked me out of it. He felt that my age (32) and our issue (male factor) did not support doing PGS with the risk of embryos getting damaged, etc. in transit. It would have been nice to know, though, so I see where you are coming from. My RE said it only increases your risk of a live birth by 10%.

[Anonymous]

pp who mentioned damage in transport - I was under the understanding that with PGS they didn’t send the whole embryo out but took a few cells from the outer part and sent those out. Is that not right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pp who mentioned damage in transport - I was under the understanding that with PGS they didn’t send the whole embryo out but took a few cells from the outer part and sent those out. Is that not right?

That is correct. They biopsy at your fertility clinic and then send the extracted cells for testing.

[Anonymous]

I went through IVF a total of 10 times to conceive our three kids - twins and a singleton for a translocation which causes a high chance of T13/14 babies. We did PGD on most of those cycles (my kids are elementary/middle school
Age - PGS wasn’t available yet). I continued to miscarry PGD normal embryos- it was devastating. On our last cycle we rolled the dice because my RE thought the biopsy of removing one of the cells was too hard on my embryos and causing the miscarriages. We put back three embryos on Day 3 — none tested - and ended up with twins. I believe in PGD because it gave us a healthy first child but I miscarried many embryos in between having my last kids that were suppposedly normal so I don’t think it’s a magic solution.

[Anonymous]

I am 33. My RE recommended against it because, in the simplest of terms, you want to mess with the embryos as little as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have the money to spend then go for it. I was your age when we did IVF, didn't do PGS per RE's recommendation, and were successful. Just like prenatal testing, PGS is not a silver bullet so it's no guarantee but it does provide additional peace of mind. However at your younger age you are at lower risk for abnormalities. Another thing to consider is that if your embryos survive to day 5 that is already going to weed out many with abnormalities. I felt pretty good about transferring a 5 day blastocyst with good grading. Then you're constantly monitored in early pregnancy which also helps ease anxiety.

Do the PGS. I had two genetically abnormal DE blasts from donors in their 20s (two different ones) that led to very painful miscarriages because my guarantee programs did not allow PGS screening. Failed cycles in-between. . . if you have a lot of blasts, it lets you skip tot he normal ones and avoid failed cycles. I still hate the clinics stopping me from doing testing because it screwed up the affordable financial arrangements I had with them. They were happy to let me miscarry and have failed transfers instead.