For context, we had 5 miscarriages ourself - 3 of the testing came out normal. Then we went with IVF and transferred a PGS tested embryo to a surrogate - but at 9W the heart beat stopped after perfect growth till 8.5 weeks. We are at a loss - Doctor believes could be some gene mutation - but not sure. Can you get me in touch with your friend? Thanks a lot. really appreciate

U mean with the surrogate or herself?

Prednisone, Lovenox, and high amounts of folic acid

Hi, we r in the sameboat as ur friend. Can u tell us wt worked?? Plzzzz

I mean embryos, not eggs.

If I were in her shoes this what I would do. Do a new IVF cycle with Braverman on HIS immune protocol. He has access to a lot more testing. She'll have to go through an IVF cycle anyway if she is using a surrogate (if she doesn't want to use the rest of the eggs she has). This is a tough case and will need someone willing to think outside the box for treatments. She will have his attention given the history here. If that doesn't work then she should go back to the surrogate using the eggs she had from Dr. Braverman's protocol. I just really think it's her best shot.

The surrogate has 3 children of her own. Never had a miscarriage/any issues.

I am hesitant to say it is immune because she did two full immune treatments with KK and those were the times she didn't get pregnant at all. I am wondering if there is something genetic since the implanted embryos in the surrogate stopped growing at the exact same stage as all the others that were miscarried. Nothing makes it past week 8, even if it is tested as normal (PGS, also did karyotyping).

At 33 I don't think she should move to DE yet. Was the surrogate a proven surrogate?

Immune issues are certainly at work here and that can impact the egg in that environment. You can find a few of Dr. Braverman's blog entries about this here http://www.preventmiscarriage.com

She is 33; DH is same age.

How old is your friend?

I am about to do a second cycle at BFC. They've prescribed Humira, IVIG, lovonox and a few other things based on testing done in Chicago.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! This is great!


We know it is not the uterine environment because there were two surrogate transfers--one bfn and one miscarriage.

It could be the quality of the eggs--she makes a lot of them and always gets blasts in the double digits the majority of which are normal with pgs testing.

With this many miscarriages, and so many variables, and thinking it's likely not the uterine environment, if I were her I would seriously consider donor eggs or adopting an embryo at this point. No matter how many and beautiful the eggs, if they're not doing the trick, why not try a new approach?

Thanks! This is great!


We know it is not the uterine environment because there were two surrogate transfers--one bfn and one miscarriage.

It could be the quality of the eggs--she makes a lot of them and always gets blasts in the double digits the majority of which are normal with pgs testing.

Neutropenia is a condition where women have low WBC due to some reason (genetic or autoimmune) and are on G-CSF to increase their WBC. Women who have this condition have taken Neupogen (G-CSF) for decades safely.

And doing DE won't help if the uterine environment is hostile.

Maybe Braverman or Tortoriello. Maybe move to DE?