I didn’t pgs test at 41 - did a fresh transfer, early miscarriage. Then did a fet of 2 day 6 blasts a couple months later (untested) and carried healthy twins to full term. We did cvs. My take away on pgs after doing a lot of research on my own was that testing saves time but doesn’t boost chances of eventual success, and MAYBE reduces chance of success ever so slightly. With just a few candidate embryos (to be honest, I was surprised to get 4) I didn’t want to anything that might lower chances even a tiny bit. Yes, that first transfer ending in miscarriage was tough but I knew through it all that I was doing what I could to maximize eventual success and wouldn’t have to ever second guess deciding not to transfer any embryo that made it to blast. The decision to do cvs (although it does have some small risk of miscarriage) was a whole separate thought process that I’ll spare you.

Anonymous wrote:If it helps at all I did 2 cycles at 41. Cycle 1 we transferred 2 embryos and BFN and nothing to freeze. The second cycle I had 7 embryos make it to blast and did not test. We transferred 2 embryos and had a healthy singleton pregnancy and I delivered just before my 42nd birthday. We froze 5 embryos. 1.5 yrs later we transferred two more via FET with no testing and had another healthy singleton pregnancy when I was 43. The kiddos are 7 and 9 now...no testing because it was so expensive then, I think the costs have come down somewhat since then. We were all OOP as well. Good luck and best wishes.

thank you. it does help to hear. Did you do any testing when pregnant? NIPT, cvs, amnio?

If it helps at all I did 2 cycles at 41. Cycle 1 we transferred 2 embryos and BFN and nothing to freeze. The second cycle I had 7 embryos make it to blast and did not test. We transferred 2 embryos and had a healthy singleton pregnancy and I delivered just before my 42nd birthday. We froze 5 embryos. 1.5 yrs later we transferred two more via FET with no testing and had another healthy singleton pregnancy when I was 43. The kiddos are 7 and 9 now...no testing because it was so expensive then, I think the costs have come down somewhat since then. We were all OOP as well. Good luck and best wishes.

Op here. I have always been in favor of testing. I am the type to want to have all the information possible before making a decision. I wouldn’t transfer an abnormal or even mosaic embryo. I have a low risk tolerance. Our issue has been only having very few embryos to test and then all being abnormal.

So in my case maybe not knowing is better to give me all the chances. This is what I’m struggling with. Idk. But I’m leaning towards not testing.

Anonymous wrote:What is the downside of testing? I am starting my first cycle next week (39 secondary infertility) and just assumed that testing was a necessary part of the process. Is there something I am missing?

New research indicates that mosaic embryos can lead to live births of healthy babies so by testing you may be excluding embryos that could result in a healthy baby (since most but not all clinics won’t transfer mosaics or abnormals). Transferring a known mosaic or abnormal would also likely increase anxiety even if it worked out, so it might be better not to know. Additionally some clinics are studying the transfer of abnormals and early results indicate it’s possible for an abnormal to be healthy too. Basically the testing isn’t perfect, but we aren’t quite sure how not perfect it is. If you get a lot of blasts, testing is still helpful to prioritize embryos to transfer. But if you don’t get many blasts, you could be eliminating one of your few chances for a baby.

What is the downside of testing? I am starting my first cycle next week (39 secondary infertility) and just assumed that testing was a necessary part of the process. Is there something I am missing?

Anonymous wrote:I’m verbally in favor of testing, but I think if you only have a couple of embryos it might not be worth if if your clinic wouldn’t transfer a mosaic or abnormal. The upside of testing is having a better sense of likelihood of a successful pregnancy, so as long as you can manage expectations it might be best to roll the dice in this situation after several rounds of IVF. Best of luck to you in whatever you choose.

*generally, not “verbally”

I’m verbally in favor of testing, but I think if you only have a couple of embryos it might not be worth if if your clinic wouldn’t transfer a mosaic or abnormal. The upside of testing is having a better sense of likelihood of a successful pregnancy, so as long as you can manage expectations it might be best to roll the dice in this situation after several rounds of IVF. Best of luck to you in whatever you choose.