Anonymous
Post 07/23/2019 04:13     Subject: Re:What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
fhk202 wrote:Hello everyone.
Original poster here.

First and foremost this was my first post ever and I am so thankful and appreciative of every one of your responses.
It has given me so much hope and encouragement to move forward. You guys have no idea Thank you again.

It's been really hard.
Yesterday husband and I had a follow up appointment with our doctor at SGF (Dr. Doyle) and he (very gently and empathetically) recommended that we go to CCRM since they do use different culture media in their labs than SGF does.
He is really rooting for our success, whether it be SGF or elsewhere. I appreciated his recommendation although hubby did not (thinks he wants to sorta get rid of us since we will screw up SGF's success rates).

A lot of people responded that they recommend Cornell. I'm originally a New Yorker who had lived in Manhattan for 15 years and of course back then I wasn't seeking serious fertility treatment.
I was a patient at NYU Fertility for a little bit before husband and I moved here. I guess that's how life goes. Maybe I should go to Cornell for an initial consult as well...

I've made an appt with Dr. Owen at CCRM for now.
According to google reviews, Dr. Payson is rated really highly there. But I look at Dr. Owen's credentials and I'm leaning towards her.

Anyone who is/was a current or past patient at CCRM- Please let me know your thoughts on doctor choice.

Thank you so so much.


I was with SGF a few years back and your husband is not completely off track. After no success there (multiple rounds of TI, IUI and IVF), they told me that they can't help me and to seek a second opinion elsewhere which is a polite way of saying "you are messing up our success rates" (which they clearly care about as #1 or #2 clinic in the country). I am now at CCRM which has more personalized, individualized approach but their are big into loving their lab and advocating day 5-6 transfers after PGS testing. Dr. Owen is a young RE career-wise (she just got Board certified) but is eager and earnest and (my perception) trying hard to be liked. Not sure if she gets clinical advice from the two more senior CCRM doctors but when she did my cycle monitoring, she was very thorough.
fhk202
Post 06/28/2019 10:35     Subject: Re:What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
Hello everyone.
Original poster here.

First and foremost this was my first post ever and I am so thankful and appreciative of every one of your responses.
It has given me so much hope and encouragement to move forward. You guys have no idea Thank you again.

It's been really hard.
Yesterday husband and I had a follow up appointment with our doctor at SGF (Dr. Doyle) and he (very gently and empathetically) recommended that we go to CCRM since they do use different culture media in their labs than SGF does.
He is really rooting for our success, whether it be SGF or elsewhere. I appreciated his recommendation although hubby did not (thinks he wants to sorta get rid of us since we will screw up SGF's success rates).

A lot of people responded that they recommend Cornell. I'm originally a New Yorker who had lived in Manhattan for 15 years and of course back then I wasn't seeking serious fertility treatment.
I was a patient at NYU Fertility for a little bit before husband and I moved here. I guess that's how life goes. Maybe I should go to Cornell for an initial consult as well...

I've made an appt with Dr. Owen at CCRM for now.
According to google reviews, Dr. Payson is rated really highly there. But I look at Dr. Owen's credentials and I'm leaning towards her.

Anyone who is/was a current or past patient at CCRM- Please let me know your thoughts on doctor choice.

Thank you so so much.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2019 23:33     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:well - i just transferred 4 4-cell embryos at Cornell. Even though they call them day 3s they are really day 2s. I froze them on day 1, banked 14 day 1s and now throwing them back in 4 or 5 at a time after they defrost and make it to day 2. You may want to talk to Dr. Davis or someone else at Cornell - this is a standard thing they do there and it works for many women.


My wife did this same thing - froze 8 on day 1 at the 2pn stage and transferred two. We now have an 18 month old as a result and plan to go back for an FET using embryos from the same batch.

So yes, you can absolutely have a baby from an embryo that isn’t a blast. Dr. Davis also does co-culture and day 3 fresh transfers.


First PP, how old are you? I am the wife from the 2nd PP going back for an FET and am wondering how many I should thaw/transfer...


I'm 42 but embryos were frozen at 41 - the recommendation for how many to transfer is based on age at freeze, not age at transfer - good luck - those first four didn't end up working - hopefully of the 10 remaining something will stick
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2019 03:26     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
Anonymous wrote:I’m confused.
How can you have a BFP without a blastocyst?


Have you heard of a day 3 transfer? Those are not blastocysts. The blastocyst stage is typically reached at day five or six. Many fertility doctors transfer embryos before they are blastocysts, and they continue to grow into blastocysts and beyond in the womb.

OP, my DD was implanted as a day 3 5-cell embryo. Wishing you luck.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2019 11:55     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:well - i just transferred 4 4-cell embryos at Cornell. Even though they call them day 3s they are really day 2s. I froze them on day 1, banked 14 day 1s and now throwing them back in 4 or 5 at a time after they defrost and make it to day 2. You may want to talk to Dr. Davis or someone else at Cornell - this is a standard thing they do there and it works for many women.


My wife did this same thing - froze 8 on day 1 at the 2pn stage and transferred two. We now have an 18 month old as a result and plan to go back for an FET using embryos from the same batch.

So yes, you can absolutely have a baby from an embryo that isn’t a blast. Dr. Davis also does co-culture and day 3 fresh transfers.


First PP, how old are you? I am the wife from the 2nd PP going back for an FET and am wondering how many I should thaw/transfer...
Anonymous
Post 06/21/2019 19:34     Subject: Re:What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
12 years ago we did 3 fresh cycles at SGF. In total, we had 17 mature eggs fertilized. Not a single one made it to blastocyst stage. Every transfer was a Day 3 transfer because the mediocre quality of our embryos indicated we weren’t likely to have blasts on Day 5. The first cycle was a bust and the second cycle resulted in a chemical pregnancy. On the third cycle, they suggested that we transfer 3 embryos: one 8 cell, one 7 cell and one 6 cell. Two embryos implanted and we ended up with fraternal twins from the only viable embryos we ever had. I’m sure the embryology lab and drug protocols have improved in the last 12 years.

I wish you good luck.
Anonymous
Post 06/21/2019 18:31     Subject: Re:What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
SGF does do Day 3 transfers. Dr. Kate Devine recommended it to me when I was having trouble getting blasts. I transferred 5 with 6-8 cells on Day 3, twice, and neither transfer worked (10 embryos total).
Anonymous
Post 06/20/2019 17:03     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
Anonymous wrote:well - i just transferred 4 4-cell embryos at Cornell. Even though they call them day 3s they are really day 2s. I froze them on day 1, banked 14 day 1s and now throwing them back in 4 or 5 at a time after they defrost and make it to day 2. You may want to talk to Dr. Davis or someone else at Cornell - this is a standard thing they do there and it works for many women.


My wife did this same thing - froze 8 on day 1 at the 2pn stage and transferred two. We now have an 18 month old as a result and plan to go back for an FET using embryos from the same batch.

So yes, you can absolutely have a baby from an embryo that isn’t a blast. Dr. Davis also does co-culture and day 3 fresh transfers.
Anonymous
Post 06/20/2019 10:29     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
transferred a 7 and a 10 cell and have a 3 year old DD
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2019 00:54     Subject: Re:What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
I transferred a 6-cell and a 7-cell on day 3 (I only had those two remaining on day 3 out of 8 matured eggs retrieved, so I transferred both), and had a successful singleton pregnancy. This was a few years ago when SGF still did day 3 transfer. I was 36.
Good luck OP!

Anonymous
Post 06/17/2019 20:58     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
well - i just transferred 4 4-cell embryos at Cornell. Even though they call them day 3s they are really day 2s. I froze them on day 1, banked 14 day 1s and now throwing them back in 4 or 5 at a time after they defrost and make it to day 2. You may want to talk to Dr. Davis or someone else at Cornell - this is a standard thing they do there and it works for many women.
Anonymous
Post 06/17/2019 20:41     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
I also have very bad quality. I'm much younger than you, but my embryos never make it to blast. Ive had success with d3 transfers. Sometimes they do better inside of you than in a lab. In my experience, sgf does not believe in this.

I'm not saying that this always works. Bad quality is a really hard if diagnosis and I've had many, many failures. But it may pay to schedule a consult with someone who believes in d3 transfers like gw or Cornell.
fhk202
Post 06/17/2019 14:09     Subject: Re:What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
Any transfer less than the traditional 5 (or 6-) day transfer is considered a cleaved embryo transfer.
For example, a Day 3 or 4 transfer is always with an embryo that has not made to blast.

Anonymous
Post 06/17/2019 14:05     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
I’m confused.
How can you have a BFP without a blastocyst?
fhk202
Post 06/17/2019 14:02     Subject: What's the lowest-numbered cell embryo you transferred (which got you a BFP)? 8-cell? 6-cell?
I am 36 years old, hubby 41. Current patients of SGF.
I have PCOS/egg quality issues and hubby has some motility issues.
Just heard the devastating news this morning... once again our embryo did not make it to blast. Sadly, they never do.

We did 3 rounds of ERs:
2/2018- 14 mature eggs, 8 fertilized, none made to blast.
7/2018- 16 mature eggs, 8 fertilized, none made to blast after waiting 8 days (range of embryo cells were between 6-12 cells)
6/2019- (changed protocol, focusing on quality vs quantity) which yielded 2 mature eggs, 1 fertilized, no blasts (our embryo was only a 9-cell, 15% fragmentation).

We made an appointment with our RE next week but in the meanwhile, just wanted to know of any success stories with low-cell-numbered embryos transfers.
I am in dire need of some success stories.

How many cells did your embryo have (that was not a blast yet) that continued on to give you a BFP?

Thanks in advance.