Day 3 transfer successes?

[Anonymous]

I am about to thaw out eggs frozen when I was 36 for TTC #2. My RE has suggested a Day 3 transfer of 2-3 embryos and then freezing whatever is left (I have 20 eggs). Her reasoning is that because frozen eggs are more delicate, they prefer to get them back in the body ASAP to hopefully grow and implant. I am nervous about this because it seems like day 5 embryos are more successful (setting aside PGS). Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

My wife switched from SG to Cornell specifically because they did co-culture (https://ivf.org/treatments-and-services/advanced-ivf-techniques/endometrial-coculture) and day 3 fresh transfers. She had a lot of trouble getting her embryos to blast/day 5 or 6, and SG refused to do anything to her protocol to remedy that. She got pregnant twice at Cornell using day 3 fresh transfer, but miscarried both. We ended up working with Dr. Braverman back in 2016 and continued the IVF part with Cornell. First transfer on the immune protocol was fresh and a BFN. Second transfer was converted from fresh to FET because of her lining. Embryos were frozen on day 1 at 2pn (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20101847) and she transferred two for the FET. One worked, and he's now 18 months old.

Many people have success with day 3 transfers, and the thinking that they do better in the body is why we went the path we did (co culture followed by freezing early and not testing them). Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

There is a big debate about day 3/day 5. Many REs use day 5 as a proxy for selecting a good embryo. They think that if the embryo doesn't do well in the lab, then it won't do well in the body. They also want to do a blast transfer so you can transfer less and not end up with multiples. Some REs think that the embryo will do better in the body. Some women have embryos that just don't grow in the lab and those REs believe in transfering d3 embryos for that reason.

Day 5 embryos are generally more successful as they have been selected for more. You would also put in less embryos if you transfer a blast.

You have a right to question your RE. You also can get a second opinion and transfer your eggs somewhere else if you want to do a day 5 transfer. SGF is a big proponent of day 5 transfers, so you could go there if you want pgs testing etc.

My ds is a day 3 transfer. I haven't had luck transferring day 5 embryos. Many women do. If you ask the REs that promote day 5 transfer, they will say I have bad embryo quality and if it doesn't grow in the lab, it won't grow inside you. If you ask a day 3 proponent, they will say that the embryos grow better inside of me.
I don't think there is any way to resolve the debate. SGF claims that they analyzed their data and it showed that only doing day 5 transfers had a better sucess rate. That didn't work for me, so I left.

If you are concerned about day 3 transfers, why don't you go to SGF and get a second opinion? You wont know how your embryos do until you attempt to grow them in a lab.

[Anonymous]

Both of my kids are 3 day transfers. Day 3 was selected for the reason your dr indicates - get them where they belong for better odds.

[Anonymous]

It was a fresh transfer and I was supposed to transfer ONE on day 5, but they were doing poorly so transferred the only 2 remaining on day 3 in hopes that maybe one would take. Twins are now 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a big debate about day 3/day 5. Many REs use day 5 as a proxy for selecting a good embryo. They think that if the embryo doesn't do well in the lab, then it won't do well in the body. They also want to do a blast transfer so you can transfer less and not end up with multiples. Some REs think that the embryo will do better in the body. Some women have embryos that just don't grow in the lab and those REs believe in transfering d3 embryos for that reason.

Day 5 embryos are generally more successful as they have been selected for more. You would also put in less embryos if you transfer a blast.

You have a right to question your RE. You also can get a second opinion and transfer your eggs somewhere else if you want to do a day 5 transfer. SGF is a big proponent of day 5 transfers, so you could go there if you want pgs testing etc.

My ds is a day 3 transfer. I haven't had luck transferring day 5 embryos. Many women do. If you ask the REs that promote day 5 transfer, they will say I have bad embryo quality and if it doesn't grow in the lab, it won't grow inside you. If you ask a day 3 proponent, they will say that the embryos grow better inside of me.
I don't think there is any way to resolve the debate. SGF claims that they analyzed their data and it showed that only doing day 5 transfers had a better sucess rate. That didn't work for me, so I left.

If you are concerned about day 3 transfers, why don't you go to SGF and get a second opinion? You wont know how your embryos do until you attempt to grow them in a lab.

Thanks, unfortunately I am not in the DC area so SGF is not an option for me. I have considered moving my eggs but spoke with several embryologists who advised me it was safer to keep the eggs put if at all possible because protocols for thawing eggs are not standardized and they are obviously not as hardy as embryos. I did get a second opinion Friday from a doc who said a Day 3 transfer was not out of the realm of possibility. That said, in my fresh cycle at 39 that resulted in my son, I had 4 eggs, 3 blasts that all made it to day five, and I transferred the one PGS normal. I have no idea how my 36 year old eggs will perform but I'm hoping they will do just as well, if not better given how they were substantially younger. I think I am going to push for a Day 5 transfer (assuming embryos look good at day 2-3) and freeze the rest.

[Anonymous]

I did a fresh transfer, but at the time,my RE had just switched to 3d because he said they weren’t seeing much difference from 3d and 5d bfp rates.

[Anonymous]

I did two cycles and could never get anything to blast. On my third cycle we transferred on day 3. I got pregnant but miscarried. So, it felt better at first, like it finally worked , but in the end the miscarriage was even worse.

[Anonymous]

My baby started as a day 3 embryo.

[Anonymous]

My now 2 yr old was a day 3. When it was transferred, the embryo was only a newly divided (like literally 2 hours before) 4-7 cell embryo that my RE didn’t think had a very good chance of of survival. We all agreed best chance would not be in a lab.

[Anonymous]

With 20 eggs, I'd want to PGS to select the best embryo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With 20 eggs, I'd want to PGS to select the best embryo.

But that depends on how many embryos I get. I am going to most likely transfer the highest quality untested one, and if I have more than five embryos at day 5, send to PGS. Otherwise just a freeze all.

[Anonymous]

^ I think this is a good plan. I only ever transferred day 3 embryos as I didn’t have many to work with each time despite every one fertilizing (23 retrieved eggs yielding 6 embryos and then 6 eggs yielding 6 embryos) and as my doctor thought day 3 has better chances back in the womb than day 5. At any rate, I’m holding my untested day 3 baby right now. Wishing you luck!

[Anonymous]

We didn't do frozen transfers, but with my first pregnancy, I had a much better cycle and we transferred two on Day 5, and wound up with one healthy son. Second time around had only a few embryos, transferred two on Day 3 (which I was worried about) and wound up with healthy twins. You never know. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I did a fresh transfer of four Day 3 embryos when I was 40. My son just turned three.