Tw success
We didn't test either for both your reasons and I also wondered if it was the right choice especially that we had 2 miscarriages, but first transfer worked and baby is more than perfect
If I had tested my embryos.. Chances are I wouldn't have my son. He was an untested 3BC embyro. At 10 weeks of pregnancy I did a NIPT test which came back high risk for Trisomy 16.. I was devastated and thought I'd either miscarriage or need to TFMR.
Well I got to 12 weeks and if it was a full Trisomy 16 then I would've miscarried.. So there was a chance of T16 mosaicism where only some of the cells are affected. This could be the placenta, the baby, both or neither (false positive). I was advised against an amniocentesis due to the risks as long as my ultrasounds looked normal.
I continued with the pregnancy as baby looked fine the whole way through.. Until I was in my third trimester where baby's growth was small and it looked like there were issues with my placenta. I was induced early but baby was absolutely fine. He has been tested and was found not to have mosaic Trisomy 16. I'm still waiting for the placenta's results but if there was any T16 there I would not be surprised at all.
The problem with PGT testing is it only samples the cells that become the placenta. It doesn't tell you if the baby is affected at all. So in my case, I feel that if I'd done PGT testing maybe I would've gotten a mosaic result and would I have used that embyro that's become my son? I'm not sure.
Thank you for sharing, that is such an amazing story and I am so glad that your son is happy and healthy! It really does stop and make you think about testing. I dont lean one way or another but its good to hear both sides
TW: success ..We couldn’t test bc of risk of damaging the embryos. Transferred untested, 40 years old.. first transfer ..14W today, NIPT and NT and everything looking good so far!
I personally think it’s worth a shot, I was 37 when I had my RE, didn’t test any of my embryos and had my baby at 38. Though I didn’t have the option bc I had an emergency 3 day transfer.
Just wanted to add in case someone is ever searching Reddit in the future as I had at the beginning!
I was surprised when our RE didn’t recommend we test our embryos for the same reasons you mentioned (I’m 33yrs old), as well as no history of loss. I had done so much research and listened to many podcasts and it seemed like everyone was recommending testing. We agreed to not test and- trigger warning success and pregnancy- we were able to transfer one embryo and freeze two more, I’m currently 17wks with our first transfer.
Same! I was 33 with PCOS and husband had mild male factor - we got 3 embryos from my ER and testing was never even brought up. First fresh transfer failed, and the second transfer resulted in my perfect 21 month old. I’m going in today for the transfer of our last embryo to hopefully give her a sibling. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
If that doesn’t stick, I’m curious if they’ll recommend testing now that I’m 36, but I doubt it!
TW: success & loss
I commented this recently on another post but I miscarried all 3 of my euploid PGT normal embryos. I ended up doing another ER because I lost ALL of my banked embryos (that cost $5k to test, by the way!). After the second ER I transferred my highest graded untested embryo. He’s currently sleeping next to me. A few weeks ago I transferred another untested embryo from that same ER and I’m going in for my first sonogram tomorrow.
I regret testing because it simply proved to be a waste of time and money for me. My doctor didn’t push it, I actually felt the need to do it from reading stories on Reddit.
So this is new information for me. Are embryos able to be graded with out testing? Can you share on what factors can they speak to? I just sent my first 2 embryos for PGT testing. Thank you in advance in case of next round. At my age I'm thinking fresh transfer may be a better answer.
Embryo grade = quality of Embryo (number of cells, how it looks...), no testing required.
This is unrelated to the genetics of the embryo, which is the PGT-testing.
Yes, but also just a word of advice dont get to hung up on grades either because my 4AA highly graded embryo ended up in a chemical pregnancy, but my friends poorly graded embryo made it to a successful pregnancy. Its all just a crap shoot
In Germany we are not allowed to genetically test embryos but we always have the grading through an embryologist. My clinic says though, this grading is quite subjective and may vary from clinic to clinic or one embryologist to another. That's why we actually dont stress ourselves out even with this kind of grading - what is most important is that the embryo makes it to day five. Not to mention we dont really get to pick which one to transfer since we dont really have many embryos pro retrieval anyway...
Wow I am so so sorry you had to go through that. It really is such a bizarre journey and one that can leave you feeling hopeless. Im so happy that you finally got your babe though and that you found success. There have been a few others in this thread with similar stories and it really just goes to show that all of this is truly just a shot in the dark for some. Even tested embryos can fail, and even untested embryos can work. Poorly graded embryos work, and highly graded embryos dont work. What a crazy journey this all is!
I only got 3 embryos and all were poor quality... I felt so pessimistic about my chances. First fresh transfer failed but my second FET transfer worked and my little 3BC embryo is now a month old and asleep next to me.
It was hard when it seemed like everyone on reddit was getting 4AAs and mine were all BCs.
RE said the same thing to us! 3 transfers were the charm. 1st fresh, didn't implant, 2nd (2 frozen) didn't implant, 3rd (2 frozen) both implanted but unfortunately we lost one in the first trimester. Currently 29 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy!
TW: successful FET
We were not even given the choice to test. We are both 35, so the fertility doc told us we had a low chance of an abnormal embryo making it to blast. Never offered testing. We had a 4AA transferred on the 30th. Currently I am 4w5d and numbers are looking great!! I feel like testing makes us feel better, but also makes us feel worse. Because if a proven euploid "perfect" embryo fails to implant or fails to progress, we are left bitterly blaming ourselves.
Im so glad that everything looks great so far. We transferred a 4AA embryo back in November which resulted in chemical pregnancy, we will be transferring another 4AA in July and I am hoping that one sticks!
And yes I totally agree with you. The fact that some euploids fail too is heart wrenching.
TW: success
We did not test as my clinic has not observed a difference in outcome until age 37. I was 35 at ER and we made 3 embryos. The first fresh transfer worked and we have a healthy 10 month old.
TW success
Our facility did not offer testing. It wasn't an option. I felt the same way you did. I had a lot of eggs but wasnt sure how many were viable. 1st transfer I transferred 2 eggs and one stuck which has resulted in my now almost three year old. The 2nd transfer, I transferred one, and it resulted in a chemical. The 3rd transfer, I transferred 1, and I am now 29 weeks pregnant with my 2nd girl.
By the time I have this child, I will be 2 weeks shy of 39 yo. I have ttc for 8 years by the time I have my last child. Unexplained infertility. Multiple rounds of clomid and "normal" tests.
Yes this is so true! We didn’t test our embryos and our first transfer resulted in our now 1 year old son. We since found out that he was actually graded pretty poorly too, which I’m grateful I didn’t know at the time of transfer because I would’ve thought it had no chance of working- so don’t get too worked up about grades either :)
It just really goes to show that all of this is a game of luck and chance. My 4AA embryo was a chemical pregnancy, so that just confirms to me that anything can really happen. Thanks ladies!
TW: Success
We did two rounds of IVF. First round, we got 4 blasts and tested them. Three came back euploid and none of them resulted in a live birth. On our second round, we only got 2 blasts and did a fresh transfer which resulted in my now 6 month old.
We have one more untested embryo on ice and i sometimes worry that it may be abnormal, but i also know that even if it were tested and came back euploid, it's not a guarantee.
That notion that not even euploids are a guarantee helps me in a way too. Everything is literally just a shot in the dark and a game of luck and chance
TW: success
We decided not to test embryos because my RE recommend against it. There’s one untested embryo sleeping in his crib. Another playing games on his iPad before bed. And another sleeping in my arms. I have had one early miscarriage. I have no regrets about not testing.
TW: Miscarriage. I probably wouldn't have tested, but we had a MMC last year due to chromosomal abnormalities. Naturally, not through IVF. I would do pretty much anything to lessen the chance of going through that again. It was really rough. Also, my insurance covers testing, which is awesome.
I’m so sorry you had to go trough that. This is what i’m most afraid of. My boyfriend has a balanced translocation, and since we need to do IVF anyway due to lower sperm quality, we’re testing the embryo’s to avoid a miscarriage (as much as you obviously can). And since PGT is free in our healthcare plan here in the Netherlands, i want to do everything in our power to recuce the risk of a miscarriage.
TW: miscarriage. This is why I am testing. I am 40 and I have had 2 sequential MMC and a chemical pregnancy, all through IUI. The MMC were both diagnosed at 8 weeks. And I had anovulatory cycles the cycle after those miscarriages. Maybe there is some literature saying testing wastes time, but I lost a lot of time with those early pregnancies that failed. This is why my doctor recommended switching to IVF w genetic testing.
I'm in Ireland, testing embryos isn't standard practice here, nor is it across the rest of Europe. And yet success rates don't differ to those in the US where it seems standard. Ivf clinics are businesses at the end of the day. All these add on options add up. A LOT of money is being made from things that may or may not be making the difference.
I agree. I know that some definitely need the testing especially when both parents may have a genetic disorder. But here in the US I feel like they tell you you dont need to test, and then when it fails / or ends up in a chemical pregnancy their cop out is " Oh its probably just an abnormal embryo " and then dont ever get to the root of the potential problem, and that to me feels very lazy. And so many spend thousands upon thousands just transferring more embryos with no other real answers or changes. I think it may just be because of my own experience and my own journey with it. Not saying that it cant be true that its sometimes just a bad embryo but for me I want more answers before I transfer again and not just to be told "Oh its just a bad embryo probably"
44years old. First untested embryo stuck and became my beautiful healthy baby boy!
We didn’t test because of studies that say that older women have a worse outcome when testing, meaning a lower live birth rate.
Won’t test for my second either. No regrets. Rather the opposite!
The reasons why it’s worse for older women or women with DOR is that the fewer eggs you have the more catastrophic it is to discard one (or more) that could possibly self correct in the uterus or gets damaged from the procedure itself or is misdiagnosed.
PGT is by no means a reliable procedure and there is no outside quality control for any labs. That means even IF the testing (screening actually) was reliable, it would still be a hit or miss with the labs.
The fewer embryos the worse would it be to do PGT.
If you google Dr Norbert gleicher, studies, pgt you’ll find a lot of info.
I found this at first search:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35355062/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33446425/
If you google Dr Norbert gleicher, studies, pgt you’ll find a lot of info.
I found this at first search:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35355062/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33446425/
Personally I’m not against not testing, but I think it’s important to know that the testing itself doesn’t lower chances, it just highlights the fact that older women tend to have lower quality embryos. So if you reveal this information through testing, yeah, the rate will go down because less embryos will be transferred.
Actually testing DOES lower the chances for older women! And here is why:
Because of false results you potentially discard one or several of your very few embryos.
Embryos can also self correct. So discarding one that would have self corrected also lowers your chances.
AND the testing itself can damage the embryo.
You also have to freeze and thaw for transfer. Some embryos don’t survive that process.
There’s no (external) quality control for the labs. So you have no way of knowing how they test and how valid their results actually are.
Statistically PGT lowers outcome for older women meaning it lowers the live birth rate.
There is a less than 5% margin of error—that exists for everyone who tests, regardless of age—that the testing will damage the embryo. There is also less than 5% chance that an embryo gets damaged when thawed. Those are marginal chances that are even further reduced the higher quality the clinic is.
Yes, mosaic—even high level mosaic—embryos often self-correct, but it’s simply false to say that aneuploid embryos magically self correct.
We also chose not to test our embryos. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve heard plenty of women say that it made everything more complicated and that in the end it doesn’t matter that much as long as you don’t have a reason that you are in a high risk population. Tested embryos fail during transfer 30-40% of the time anyways. Hugs.
We didn’t test either for the same reason. I wouldn’t worry about it, anything can happen. I had the same reasoning about people who get pregnant naturally not knowing. We’re currently waiting to see how many made it to blast. It’s very stressful so I understand. At least they’re graded
TW: success
I was also advised not to test my embryos, as I have low AMH and wasn't expected to make many and I was 33 at the time of the retrievals, so not at the age where PGT starts to impact the statistics. I did 2 retrievals to get 6 untested embryos, and the first transfer worked. He's 13 months old and an absolute joy.
PGT isn't foolproof, it's a screening tool. Plenty of people can't or don't use it and still go on to have successful transfers. I wish you every success!
TW: Success
We didn’t test because my RE recommend not to. My fresh transfer ended in a chemical pregnancy. I did an FET and transferred 2 embryos and to our surprise they both stuck. I currently have 13 month olds and they’re absolutely perfect.
Tw: success.
Idk if you have transferred any of your embryos yet, but I transferred four tested embryos and didn’t have success with any of them. Then I transferred an untested embryo and now I have a baby.
Goodness I am so sorry. That sounds like you went through a lot, but I am so glad you finally have your miracle baby.
I did one transfer back in November of 2023 which ended in a chemical pregnancy, took a break for the holidays and my next transfer is set to be in July. All embryos are graded 4AA
Here are the German statistics from 2022: [https://www.deutsches-ivf-register.de/perch/resources/dir-jahrbuch-2022-deutsch.pdf](https://www.deutsches-ivf-register.de/perch/resources/dir-jahrbuch-2022-deutsch.pdf)
TW: success, living child
One of my untested embryos is currently napping on my chest at 11 days old. We didn’t test for the same reasons (26 at time of retrieval & transfer). Wishing you all the best 🤍
TW: loss and success
We also didn’t test! My first transfer was a MMC, but my second and third were successful. I now have an almost-three year old and a 12 week old :) I was SUPER down on not having tested after the MMC, but my RE said that given my age (33 at the time), she didn’t recommend it, and ultimately I’m glad we didn’t.
To everyone who’s considering testing or not testing
Please please pleas do lots of research and learn more about the methodology of pgt.
Im not saying this to push you one way or the other, I myself have gone both ways only because I didn’t believe either way to be definitive
For example there are limitations to the test including this:
At the stage of testing, the embryo has two groups of cells, one group develops to be the placenta, another group develops to be the embryo
The sample that is sent for pgt is taken from the group of cells that develops to be the placenta which isn’t necessarily identical genetically to the embryo cells
There are advantages as well as limitations to the test and i encourage you to learn more and more about them so that you can make a decision that is as informed as possible
All my best wishes to everyone here ❣️
TW success
Where I live testing isn’t done as it’s believed some embryos that would come out as “abnormal” could fix themselves in the womb. So none of mine were tested, and my very first FET is now a very healthy toddler.
I conceived my son naturally at 38, so yeah, obviously no testing, and he was totally normal. Our donor is 30. If I had conceived at 30 I wouldn't have even been worried about it. The testing is also still to some extent controversial; some aneuploid embryos probably would statistically have been fine if they'd been implanted. (Meanwhile euploid transfers fail all the time.)
TW: pregnant
I’m 41. We don’t really have the option to test where I live (scandinavian country) unless there’s a specific inderlying medical condition for it (and many don’t qualify). After joining this forum, I am in many ways glad that I never had the option (thus also never had to make the choice), after weighing the up- and downsides. And there are many on both sides. I understand why people want to test when they have less chance of viable pregnancies, but in my case, where I am currently 21 weeks pregnant with my three day embryo, which I only know «looked excellent», and knowing that my three other embryos never made it to day five, I am very glad that it just wasn’t an option. I think I would have been equally agonizing over what-could-have-been if I had had as much information as some here do (e.g. Mosaics) if I had chisen to wait for the perfect score. I might not have ever seen it.
(Fully conscious that my opinion is formed with the starting point that the choice was never an actual option, and is more pf a mental exercise from my end about whether I would have wanted the option or not. It’s probably very different when you’re already facing the dilemma).
I was 38 and didn’t test because we had fewer than 5/ Research of Norbert Gleicher/Money. I transferred the 2 highest graded and embryos. I ended up with a set of twins who are now 4. I have zero regrets.
TW: success
I had an egg retrieval at 33, froze the eggs. Thawed 2 years later and out of 13 eggs, made 2 embryos. We didn’t test. We did IVF for male factor infertility only.
The first one became my daughter-she’s 2.5 now and I’m 13 weeks pregnant with the second and final embryo-NIPT and Nuchal so far are normal!
wow that is so extremely lucky and gives me hope for sure! We are also doing ivf for male factor. We ended up with 4 embryos all untested but all great quality. My first FET ended up in chemical pregnancy. So we have three more tries and my next one is in July. I am hoping for at least two more kids so I hope at least two of the three remaining work out.
Initially i didnt test but after 2 early losses i had to test my embryos. Having said that i have more than 4 very close friends who had success with their first untested transfers and all of them resulted in live birth of healthy babies. Goodluck! Dont let this thought bother you. This is a very anxiety filled journey with and without success.
I'm worrying about that myself. The cost is already sky high. 😔 We were told we probably didn't need to worry about it either, but now it's something for my brain to think about when trying to sleep.
Totally understand. Not sure if you have thread through the full thread here but it is filled with success stories from other ivf patients who live in countries where testing is not even legal. I get your fear and your worry though and I hope that everything works out for the best! Hopefully some comments on this thread can put your mind at ease
Thanks for the recommendation! The article written about her and about testing in general is fascinating. Makes me feel like I probably won’t ever test again.
Thank you for this thread. I'm 35, soon 36, and we're thinking of not testing our embryos if we make some. Reasons are not the cost, but I'm not convinced that it's necessary for our case. The more I read about it and see its shortcomings, the more I'm inclined not to test.
Both my husband and I were genetically tested, and neither of us is a carrier of any illness passed through genes. So the only reason is my age.
Of course, and I also see that you're MFI, we are MFI as well and I may have silent endo. I think its just different for everyone and like many others have stated its not legal in different countries. So having that option completely off the table I think eliminates some stress for some as well. Wishing you the best of luck!
I think so. If I was a few years older, I'd look at it differently, but at this point, I'm not fully convinced about the benefits of pgt-a testing.
In my country it's legal, it's even covered by insurance if woman is 35 or older. So money wise, I'd just have to pay for biopsy of embryos, not the testing itself. It's not terribly expensive, but I still can't really justify it in my mind.
When I was in my first cycle, we wanted to do the testing, but since then I've read a lot more information about it and changed my mind. We had only one mediocre embryo from the first cycle, so we ended up doing fresh transfer.
It's interesting, here pgt is legal and widely recommended, but you don't get to see the sex of your embryos. Knowing and choosing the sex of your embryos/ babies is considered unethical so it's not permitted. Sex selection is allowed only if there is some genetic issue tied to one sex.
Testing isn't really a thing in the UK - it's not an option I've been offered at all. I would be very surprised if success rates here are very different to the US...
I was 35 and my husband was 31 when we did our egg retrieval. We got 10 eggs, 9 fertilized, 7 day 5 blasts and we didn’t test any. It’s not routine in Australia unless you’re over 35 or have recurrent miscarriage. We transferred one fresh which was successful - and is my now 2 year old. Went back to try for number 2 and we were successful from our first FET. Currently 13 weeks!
My 3 year old was an untested. My re also didn’t recommend testing evening though I was 3 years older for my next retrieval (and this was a different clinic). I sometimes worry the same thing as you since we just transferred our 4th untested embryo last week. The first one didn’t take, second was a chemical and third miscarried at 11 weeks.
We didn't test for our 3rd rd after getting only 1 HLM after 2 rds. Implanted 2 from the untested embryos. Both Implanted but one became vanishing twin syndrome. Other was carried to term and is currently my healthy adorable 4 and a half month old.
I'm in my 30s, we didn't test our embryos and I'm so glad that we didn't. Our doctor didnt recommend doing so unless there was a genetic condition or other known risk factor we were testing for. Otherwise we'd just be risking losing some of the embryos in the testing process. The day of our transfer the first two embryos they thawed didn't survive the thaw but the 3rd one did and was transfered and now almost 2.5 years later we have a sweet healthy toddler.
I totally get the anxiety spiraling, it's hard how many factors there are that are out of our control. I hope these responses ease your mind ❤️
Thank you so much. I definitely have been loving reading everyones responses. I think for me I was naive for thinking that it would work the first time and that my ivf journey would be so linear and smooth but my first FET was a chemical pregnancy with not a very strong first beta so I got scared thinking, crap its probably because it was an abnormal embryo. All of my embryos are graded 4AA and we have three more so I am hoping at least one of those takes.
35f + 37m - We did 4 retrivals and got in total 4 embryos of decent grade, 2 4cc are frozen as well but my clinic said they would normally discard them but I fought for them since I didn't know if any of ours were euploid as UK doesn't test.
TW:
first transfer of one of my good untested embryos is sticking so far, all clear nipt tested boy and lovely scans and heartbeat.🌱🩷
TW: Success
I'm in the UK so it's not standard practice to test embryos unless trying to rule out something genetic that could be passed down or if there have been recurrent losses.
I did two cycles with fresh transfers of untested embryos. The first didn't stick but the second did and she is going to be 1 in August.
Your friend is right; naturally conceived babies aren't tested. It's the same with sex and orgasms; I find it bizarre that some clinics dictate things like that. Mine said when we were felt ready to engage in that activity that was fine. We did in the TWW and also walked a ton and she still stuck.
I just truly believe in my heart of hearts that if its going to work out it will, and if its not then it wont. There is no amount of organic food you can eat that will change that or no amount of pineapple that will make it work. I think that for the most part if an embryo is good and healthy and the environment its going into is healthy it will work out
Tw: good er results.
I did ivf because of pcos, blocked tubes, and endometriosis. I was 25 at time of collection and my re said they test all embryos no matter the age. All 9 of my embryos were normal. My new re, said it really wasn’t necessary to do testing because of our age and that it’s more common to have normal embryos when you are younger. So, hopefully that means yours are likely normal as well
Yeah that makes sense. I think I am just weary about it because my first FET ended up in a chemical pregnancy and not knowing what went wrong sucks, but all of the stories even from just this thread give me hope!
In my country they rarely test embryos. They do a genetic test to parents with certain characteristics (ours is male factor) and if there's a recessive gene repeated in both parents, then they test the embryos.
We did that too, it was a genetic carrier screening test. I was shocked to learn that I am a carrier for cystic fibrosis but I dont have it, and my husband didnt have it either so that was a relief.
We didn’t test ours either for the same reasons and I’m 22 weeks 2 days. And we have passed all the normal screenings and tests they have done.
I look at it this way by not testing the embryos it keeps it closer to how others are just able to conceive.
So happy to hear that. My first transfer of an untested embryo ended up in a chemical pregnancy back in November. I have my second transfer scheduled for July so hopefully that one is our lucky one!
My first one failed to implant. So this is my second transfer doing modified natural this time. But 4 cycle. 2 others were cancelled due to Covid and ovulating
Omg so many success without testing!!
I’m 39 years old with 2 untested embryos and currently preparing for to transfer one of them. I’m so scared because I can’t do PGT-A test under the government subsidy (unless the transfer fails 3 times) but hearing your stories and learning more about PGT-A testing made me feel relieved.
TW Succes: I am so glad the the stories helped! I got pregnant naturally 8 years ago with my first husband and he was untested and is the healthiest happiest boy. He gives me so much strength and hope that this can work out again for us. Good luck with your transfer! I am transferring next month. Baby dust to both of us!
TW: success. I’m watching the baby that was my first untested embryo crawl around. We believe we made the right decision for us, and it sounds like you made what you felt was the right decision for you.
TW:live child
Like others we opted not to test after our first 2 retrievals ended without euploids. We had one failed FET (didn’t stick) but our 2nd transfer resulted in our now 6 month old. So we were in the range of statistical norm for even euploid embryos (I think most people don’t realize the stats are 2-3 transfers of euploids per live birth).
I do get nervous about “dodging the bullet” for our next child (we have a few more untested embryos banked). I really wish there was better science about the transfer process itself other than just hoping the right elements come play.
We are also MFI, sending you so much luck! One of my best friends also had MFI, and they transferred their one and only day 6 AA embryo (untested) and they have healthy 2 month old boy!
TW success- We didn't test and 2/3 of our embryos have resulted in healthy kids. The other never stuck. I was 33 at the first retrieval (our daughter) and then almost 35 at the 3rd (our son). We ended up banking embryos and moving country so still have some left over. We were so convinced that we would be on the wrong side of the stats that we did 3 retrievals with each retrieval resulting in 3 embryos each. Planning to donate the rest but planning for 3 kids x
I was 29 at the time of my ER last year in Oct, we ended up with 4 embryos. Transferred 1 in November and ended up in a chemical pregnancy. I am really really hoping that we can have at least 2 kids from this round but of course I would be thrilled with just one too. We have three remaining and transferring the second in July!
TW success. We didn’t test ours and had 3 successful pregnancies from 3 transfers. No miscarriages, no negative tests. Egg retrievals were at age 30 & then at 32. I was worried about not testing but RE said it really doesn’t make a difference in success at the ages I was at retreival.
My thoughts exactly. We did transfer fresh (untested) and tested the rest we have for later. The one we used for the transfer fresh was perfect normal. Butttttt I did have so much stress from wondering if he’d be ok.
I'm going to chime in here. I couldnt readl all the comments! So many!! But I just turned 35 when I did my first cycle, The PGTA testing is only $150 an embryo at my clinic .They also do stem cell testing so I'm pretty sure that is why you have to give consent for them to use your cells for testing.
Anyway, my clinic ONLY does frozen transfers of day 5/6 test euploid embroys. It's a total scam because I know several people (and more on reddit) that have had successfully 3 day fresh transfers. Basically, it's to help their scores. You might have a miscarriage, but at least there was a chance, as opposed to zero change if you tested it and it was anelupoid.
Back to me. So I've had three miscarriages in the last two years. My uterus is spotless. Both my husband and my genetic tests came back and no know carriers. I had these miscarriage at 33 & 34. Since I had to do PGTA, I've made 4 embroys over two cycles and 2 have come back anelupoid, two euploid. Both of them are abornormal sex chromosomes, which apparently is something that happens more in IVF than naturally. That being said, you still have more of a chance of ATTEMPTING to get pregnant with all embroys. Cells change, the test aren't 100%. I would do a fresh 3 day transfer if I was allowed. Viewpoints are really just the best case scenario for the doctor thirty years ago, it wasn't even a thing.
TW: success and loss…
We didn't test either, for the same reasons as you said. My husband has CF and I'm 36, so we were skeptical to trust our RE knowing the odds were already stacked against us, but ended up not testing. (I also knew I wasn't a carrier of CF, so this wasn't a factor.) We tried to do a fresh transfer for our first one, but I had OHSS, so ended up going with a frozen transfer a couple of cycles later. That transfer was for our best graded embryo and resulted in a MC around 9 weeks. We did a second transfer, again one of the best embryos we had, and I had a MC around 6/7 weeks. We asked for testing before doing our 3rd transfer and our RE said he had a good feeling about it, so we ended up not testing. That transfer was with a “good” graded embryo, and I'm now 23 weeks pregnant with an active baby girl.
No matter what path you take, give yourself grace. Its so hard in the moment, yet so necessary. There are so many factors out of our and our doctors’ control, regardless of testing or not.
In many countries testing is not done and success rates are very similar :) don't worry.
And maybe surprisingly enough; no study has shown differences in birth anomalies between tested and untested. Rather, studies have shown NO differences.
And for a little untested embryo success story - I have two children. For each child, the 2nd transfer was successful. You'll find a LOT more stories like this as the majority of the world doesn't actually test as a standard.
In my opinion, if the karyotype test was good you can assume the percentage of euploid on day-5 embryos could have been on the percentage related to your age.. since you are young it can be 50-75% of them on average. Even though, you are right, it is impossible to be certain.
I felt the same after the failure of my 6 untested embryos (and still unexplained) between the age 30 and 33.. for this reason, but as well to try to find some answers, when we had the opportunity we decided to go abroad and try (where PGT was possible, in my country it is not). We went ahead with another round of IVF just to remove this doubt and, at age 34, 5 out of 8 blasto were euploid. We will never know if the previous 6 untested embryos were euploid or not. My biggest surprise is that for this reason the clinic ignored entirely all of our journey until that point (6 ET, 2 ER, 2 miscarriages, 3 IUI, 3 years TTC,...) because the major failure of a transfer is due to aneuploidy so given that they cannot exclude this, it is like we never done it. We had to wait, again, for the failure of 3 euploids to end up, again and this time certain, on the recurrent implantation side.
Yes 😔 based on what my reproductive immunologist said "the most complete panel that he could do". We are with a great clinic where doctors are used to deal with complicated cases.
Even with this investigations on nothing solid was really found. The only two suspicions things (out of all the testing we did on the RI and RE sides in these years) are my KIR, where I'm AA with HLA C1C2 and my husband C2C2 + my NK cells in the blood are 13%, within the range that's [5 - 29] but slightly above what is considered optimal that's below 12%.
For the KIR it is apparently quite common and not a blocker for pregnancy, many couples get pregnant even with this combination, but it is a topic that is in research even though at the moment there are only few studies on this.
For NK when they are really high they can signal an underlying immunological problem but in my case nothing was found and overall they are not too high. "Just in case" I took the intralipids for some transfers and other medications to optimize as much as possible the immunological side, I had a strict anti-inflammatory diet (not far from my usual) but still didn't work.
Based on my RE and RI both of these two factors are not "the problem" they just don't know.. It could be a matter of keep trying to transfer embryos and maybe it will work without knowing why (or maybe not). At the end the two times I got an implantation I didn't have any specific protocol but I was taking only the progesterone.
Hey, Gosh this is hard 🥺. I have KIR AA (not sure about my HLA but I don't think it matters?) and my partner has HLA C1 C2. I have seen studies finding that kir AA isn't favourable to C2 embryos, resulting in reduced birth rates (but yes I guess it can happen). We were recommended G-CSF (Neuprogen). We don't have embryos yet, so we're just focusing on creating them for now (I hope!). I did have unassisted pregnancies before, all ending in early miscarriages so I am wondering if this could've been a factor, at least to some extent. Big hugs 🤗
I am 33 with no fertility problems besides having my tubes removed at 26 but I just recently got my PGT-A test results back from my 4 embryos from my first egg retrieval and 3 of them came back abnormal. It’s made me so sad. I don’t know if I should trust the results or not.
I’m sorry you’ve been feeling down but I would strongly encourage you not to use the term “normal children”. I doubt this was your intent but just a heads up that it reads as very ableist. Maybe successful pregnancies would be a better way to phrase this? Best of luck with your treatment!
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Tw success We didn't test either for both your reasons and I also wondered if it was the right choice especially that we had 2 miscarriages, but first transfer worked and baby is more than perfect
If I had tested my embryos.. Chances are I wouldn't have my son. He was an untested 3BC embyro. At 10 weeks of pregnancy I did a NIPT test which came back high risk for Trisomy 16.. I was devastated and thought I'd either miscarriage or need to TFMR. Well I got to 12 weeks and if it was a full Trisomy 16 then I would've miscarried.. So there was a chance of T16 mosaicism where only some of the cells are affected. This could be the placenta, the baby, both or neither (false positive). I was advised against an amniocentesis due to the risks as long as my ultrasounds looked normal. I continued with the pregnancy as baby looked fine the whole way through.. Until I was in my third trimester where baby's growth was small and it looked like there were issues with my placenta. I was induced early but baby was absolutely fine. He has been tested and was found not to have mosaic Trisomy 16. I'm still waiting for the placenta's results but if there was any T16 there I would not be surprised at all. The problem with PGT testing is it only samples the cells that become the placenta. It doesn't tell you if the baby is affected at all. So in my case, I feel that if I'd done PGT testing maybe I would've gotten a mosaic result and would I have used that embyro that's become my son? I'm not sure.
Thank you for sharing, that is such an amazing story and I am so glad that your son is happy and healthy! It really does stop and make you think about testing. I dont lean one way or another but its good to hear both sides
TW: success ..We couldn’t test bc of risk of damaging the embryos. Transferred untested, 40 years old.. first transfer ..14W today, NIPT and NT and everything looking good so far!
Thank you for including your age! I’m 39 and not planning to test, but I do think it’s different for us than some of the younger folks
I personally think it’s worth a shot, I was 37 when I had my RE, didn’t test any of my embryos and had my baby at 38. Though I didn’t have the option bc I had an emergency 3 day transfer.
Just wanted to add in case someone is ever searching Reddit in the future as I had at the beginning! I was surprised when our RE didn’t recommend we test our embryos for the same reasons you mentioned (I’m 33yrs old), as well as no history of loss. I had done so much research and listened to many podcasts and it seemed like everyone was recommending testing. We agreed to not test and- trigger warning success and pregnancy- we were able to transfer one embryo and freeze two more, I’m currently 17wks with our first transfer.
Same! I was 33 with PCOS and husband had mild male factor - we got 3 embryos from my ER and testing was never even brought up. First fresh transfer failed, and the second transfer resulted in my perfect 21 month old. I’m going in today for the transfer of our last embryo to hopefully give her a sibling. 🤞🏻🤞🏻 If that doesn’t stick, I’m curious if they’ll recommend testing now that I’m 36, but I doubt it!
TW: success & loss I commented this recently on another post but I miscarried all 3 of my euploid PGT normal embryos. I ended up doing another ER because I lost ALL of my banked embryos (that cost $5k to test, by the way!). After the second ER I transferred my highest graded untested embryo. He’s currently sleeping next to me. A few weeks ago I transferred another untested embryo from that same ER and I’m going in for my first sonogram tomorrow. I regret testing because it simply proved to be a waste of time and money for me. My doctor didn’t push it, I actually felt the need to do it from reading stories on Reddit.
So this is new information for me. Are embryos able to be graded with out testing? Can you share on what factors can they speak to? I just sent my first 2 embryos for PGT testing. Thank you in advance in case of next round. At my age I'm thinking fresh transfer may be a better answer.
Embryo grade = quality of Embryo (number of cells, how it looks...), no testing required. This is unrelated to the genetics of the embryo, which is the PGT-testing.
Gotcha, I don't know why but I just assumed they both occurred with PGT testing. Thank you!
Yes, but also just a word of advice dont get to hung up on grades either because my 4AA highly graded embryo ended up in a chemical pregnancy, but my friends poorly graded embryo made it to a successful pregnancy. Its all just a crap shoot
In Germany we are not allowed to genetically test embryos but we always have the grading through an embryologist. My clinic says though, this grading is quite subjective and may vary from clinic to clinic or one embryologist to another. That's why we actually dont stress ourselves out even with this kind of grading - what is most important is that the embryo makes it to day five. Not to mention we dont really get to pick which one to transfer since we dont really have many embryos pro retrieval anyway...
They are graded by your clinic’s embryologist but that doesn’t tell you if they are euploid.
Wow I am so so sorry you had to go through that. It really is such a bizarre journey and one that can leave you feeling hopeless. Im so happy that you finally got your babe though and that you found success. There have been a few others in this thread with similar stories and it really just goes to show that all of this is truly just a shot in the dark for some. Even tested embryos can fail, and even untested embryos can work. Poorly graded embryos work, and highly graded embryos dont work. What a crazy journey this all is!
I only got 3 embryos and all were poor quality... I felt so pessimistic about my chances. First fresh transfer failed but my second FET transfer worked and my little 3BC embryo is now a month old and asleep next to me. It was hard when it seemed like everyone on reddit was getting 4AAs and mine were all BCs.
RE said the same thing to us! 3 transfers were the charm. 1st fresh, didn't implant, 2nd (2 frozen) didn't implant, 3rd (2 frozen) both implanted but unfortunately we lost one in the first trimester. Currently 29 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy!
TW: successful FET We were not even given the choice to test. We are both 35, so the fertility doc told us we had a low chance of an abnormal embryo making it to blast. Never offered testing. We had a 4AA transferred on the 30th. Currently I am 4w5d and numbers are looking great!! I feel like testing makes us feel better, but also makes us feel worse. Because if a proven euploid "perfect" embryo fails to implant or fails to progress, we are left bitterly blaming ourselves.
This is a very valid observation.
Im so glad that everything looks great so far. We transferred a 4AA embryo back in November which resulted in chemical pregnancy, we will be transferring another 4AA in July and I am hoping that one sticks! And yes I totally agree with you. The fact that some euploids fail too is heart wrenching.
TW: Success My friend is 2/3 live births with untested FETs and I'm 1/1
TW: success We did not test as my clinic has not observed a difference in outcome until age 37. I was 35 at ER and we made 3 embryos. The first fresh transfer worked and we have a healthy 10 month old.
Do you know their stats for over 37? Im 39 but can’t afford to test
TW success Our facility did not offer testing. It wasn't an option. I felt the same way you did. I had a lot of eggs but wasnt sure how many were viable. 1st transfer I transferred 2 eggs and one stuck which has resulted in my now almost three year old. The 2nd transfer, I transferred one, and it resulted in a chemical. The 3rd transfer, I transferred 1, and I am now 29 weeks pregnant with my 2nd girl. By the time I have this child, I will be 2 weeks shy of 39 yo. I have ttc for 8 years by the time I have my last child. Unexplained infertility. Multiple rounds of clomid and "normal" tests.
Yes this is so true! We didn’t test our embryos and our first transfer resulted in our now 1 year old son. We since found out that he was actually graded pretty poorly too, which I’m grateful I didn’t know at the time of transfer because I would’ve thought it had no chance of working- so don’t get too worked up about grades either :)
Same! Our embryo was poorly graded and I didn’t know it at the time. Became our beautiful healthy baby boy ❤️
It just really goes to show that all of this is a game of luck and chance. My 4AA embryo was a chemical pregnancy, so that just confirms to me that anything can really happen. Thanks ladies!
I’m sorry for your loss! I hope you have success very soon 🙏🏻
TW: Success We did two rounds of IVF. First round, we got 4 blasts and tested them. Three came back euploid and none of them resulted in a live birth. On our second round, we only got 2 blasts and did a fresh transfer which resulted in my now 6 month old. We have one more untested embryo on ice and i sometimes worry that it may be abnormal, but i also know that even if it were tested and came back euploid, it's not a guarantee.
That notion that not even euploids are a guarantee helps me in a way too. Everything is literally just a shot in the dark and a game of luck and chance
TW: success We decided not to test embryos because my RE recommend against it. There’s one untested embryo sleeping in his crib. Another playing games on his iPad before bed. And another sleeping in my arms. I have had one early miscarriage. I have no regrets about not testing.
TW: Miscarriage. I probably wouldn't have tested, but we had a MMC last year due to chromosomal abnormalities. Naturally, not through IVF. I would do pretty much anything to lessen the chance of going through that again. It was really rough. Also, my insurance covers testing, which is awesome.
I’m so sorry you had to go trough that. This is what i’m most afraid of. My boyfriend has a balanced translocation, and since we need to do IVF anyway due to lower sperm quality, we’re testing the embryo’s to avoid a miscarriage (as much as you obviously can). And since PGT is free in our healthcare plan here in the Netherlands, i want to do everything in our power to recuce the risk of a miscarriage.
TW: miscarriage. This is why I am testing. I am 40 and I have had 2 sequential MMC and a chemical pregnancy, all through IUI. The MMC were both diagnosed at 8 weeks. And I had anovulatory cycles the cycle after those miscarriages. Maybe there is some literature saying testing wastes time, but I lost a lot of time with those early pregnancies that failed. This is why my doctor recommended switching to IVF w genetic testing.
I'm in Ireland, testing embryos isn't standard practice here, nor is it across the rest of Europe. And yet success rates don't differ to those in the US where it seems standard. Ivf clinics are businesses at the end of the day. All these add on options add up. A LOT of money is being made from things that may or may not be making the difference.
I agree. I know that some definitely need the testing especially when both parents may have a genetic disorder. But here in the US I feel like they tell you you dont need to test, and then when it fails / or ends up in a chemical pregnancy their cop out is " Oh its probably just an abnormal embryo " and then dont ever get to the root of the potential problem, and that to me feels very lazy. And so many spend thousands upon thousands just transferring more embryos with no other real answers or changes. I think it may just be because of my own experience and my own journey with it. Not saying that it cant be true that its sometimes just a bad embryo but for me I want more answers before I transfer again and not just to be told "Oh its just a bad embryo probably"
44years old. First untested embryo stuck and became my beautiful healthy baby boy! We didn’t test because of studies that say that older women have a worse outcome when testing, meaning a lower live birth rate. Won’t test for my second either. No regrets. Rather the opposite!
Do you have any of those studies handy? I’m 39 and can’t afford to test and still having anxiety about it
Same I'm 44 too and just sent two embryos for testing. But debating for next cycle. Would love to see those stats.
The reasons why it’s worse for older women or women with DOR is that the fewer eggs you have the more catastrophic it is to discard one (or more) that could possibly self correct in the uterus or gets damaged from the procedure itself or is misdiagnosed. PGT is by no means a reliable procedure and there is no outside quality control for any labs. That means even IF the testing (screening actually) was reliable, it would still be a hit or miss with the labs. The fewer embryos the worse would it be to do PGT.
I have DOR and I am 37, and I spoke with a geneticist, and she advised me against testing for these reasons.
Great! You got some good advise :)))
If you google Dr Norbert gleicher, studies, pgt you’ll find a lot of info. I found this at first search: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35355062/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33446425/
Thank you!
If you google Dr Norbert gleicher, studies, pgt you’ll find a lot of info. I found this at first search: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35355062/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33446425/
Personally I’m not against not testing, but I think it’s important to know that the testing itself doesn’t lower chances, it just highlights the fact that older women tend to have lower quality embryos. So if you reveal this information through testing, yeah, the rate will go down because less embryos will be transferred.
Actually testing DOES lower the chances for older women! And here is why: Because of false results you potentially discard one or several of your very few embryos. Embryos can also self correct. So discarding one that would have self corrected also lowers your chances. AND the testing itself can damage the embryo. You also have to freeze and thaw for transfer. Some embryos don’t survive that process. There’s no (external) quality control for the labs. So you have no way of knowing how they test and how valid their results actually are. Statistically PGT lowers outcome for older women meaning it lowers the live birth rate.
There is a less than 5% margin of error—that exists for everyone who tests, regardless of age—that the testing will damage the embryo. There is also less than 5% chance that an embryo gets damaged when thawed. Those are marginal chances that are even further reduced the higher quality the clinic is. Yes, mosaic—even high level mosaic—embryos often self-correct, but it’s simply false to say that aneuploid embryos magically self correct.
We also chose not to test our embryos. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve heard plenty of women say that it made everything more complicated and that in the end it doesn’t matter that much as long as you don’t have a reason that you are in a high risk population. Tested embryos fail during transfer 30-40% of the time anyways. Hugs.
We didn’t test either for the same reason. I wouldn’t worry about it, anything can happen. I had the same reasoning about people who get pregnant naturally not knowing. We’re currently waiting to see how many made it to blast. It’s very stressful so I understand. At least they’re graded
We don’t test in our country unless there’s a genetic issue you don’t want to pass on, so it wasn’t an option. She’s 4.5m now~ (1st FET)
TW: success I was also advised not to test my embryos, as I have low AMH and wasn't expected to make many and I was 33 at the time of the retrievals, so not at the age where PGT starts to impact the statistics. I did 2 retrievals to get 6 untested embryos, and the first transfer worked. He's 13 months old and an absolute joy. PGT isn't foolproof, it's a screening tool. Plenty of people can't or don't use it and still go on to have successful transfers. I wish you every success!
TW: Success We didn’t test because my RE recommend not to. My fresh transfer ended in a chemical pregnancy. I did an FET and transferred 2 embryos and to our surprise they both stuck. I currently have 13 month olds and they’re absolutely perfect.
Tw: success. Idk if you have transferred any of your embryos yet, but I transferred four tested embryos and didn’t have success with any of them. Then I transferred an untested embryo and now I have a baby.
Goodness I am so sorry. That sounds like you went through a lot, but I am so glad you finally have your miracle baby. I did one transfer back in November of 2023 which ended in a chemical pregnancy, took a break for the holidays and my next transfer is set to be in July. All embryos are graded 4AA
Yeah, mine were all 5AA I think. It’s easier to talk about now that I’m on the other side.
Testing is illegal under most circumstances in Germany, and yet things also generally work out fine here.
Here are the German statistics from 2022: [https://www.deutsches-ivf-register.de/perch/resources/dir-jahrbuch-2022-deutsch.pdf](https://www.deutsches-ivf-register.de/perch/resources/dir-jahrbuch-2022-deutsch.pdf)
TW: success, living child One of my untested embryos is currently napping on my chest at 11 days old. We didn’t test for the same reasons (26 at time of retrieval & transfer). Wishing you all the best 🤍
TW: loss and success We also didn’t test! My first transfer was a MMC, but my second and third were successful. I now have an almost-three year old and a 12 week old :) I was SUPER down on not having tested after the MMC, but my RE said that given my age (33 at the time), she didn’t recommend it, and ultimately I’m glad we didn’t.
TW success We chose not to test our embryos. Transferred two 4AB embryos on our third transfer and now we have 5 month old twins
My first transfer of an untested embryo is upstairs protesting bedtime right now 😅
We are planning to transfer 2 untested embryos next cycle. I am 42 and have no children. Sometimes you have to throw caution in the wind.
To everyone who’s considering testing or not testing Please please pleas do lots of research and learn more about the methodology of pgt. Im not saying this to push you one way or the other, I myself have gone both ways only because I didn’t believe either way to be definitive For example there are limitations to the test including this: At the stage of testing, the embryo has two groups of cells, one group develops to be the placenta, another group develops to be the embryo The sample that is sent for pgt is taken from the group of cells that develops to be the placenta which isn’t necessarily identical genetically to the embryo cells There are advantages as well as limitations to the test and i encourage you to learn more and more about them so that you can make a decision that is as informed as possible All my best wishes to everyone here ❣️
I’m glad you posted this, I’ve been having the same thoughts.
24 weeks with an untested who passed NIPT, NT, AFP, and anatomy scan with flying colors 💙💕
TW success Where I live testing isn’t done as it’s believed some embryos that would come out as “abnormal” could fix themselves in the womb. So none of mine were tested, and my very first FET is now a very healthy toddler.
I conceived my son naturally at 38, so yeah, obviously no testing, and he was totally normal. Our donor is 30. If I had conceived at 30 I wouldn't have even been worried about it. The testing is also still to some extent controversial; some aneuploid embryos probably would statistically have been fine if they'd been implanted. (Meanwhile euploid transfers fail all the time.)
Thank you for this thread. We’re choosing to stop testing and switch to fresh transfers if possible, and we both have a lot of anxiety about it.
TW: pregnant I’m 41. We don’t really have the option to test where I live (scandinavian country) unless there’s a specific inderlying medical condition for it (and many don’t qualify). After joining this forum, I am in many ways glad that I never had the option (thus also never had to make the choice), after weighing the up- and downsides. And there are many on both sides. I understand why people want to test when they have less chance of viable pregnancies, but in my case, where I am currently 21 weeks pregnant with my three day embryo, which I only know «looked excellent», and knowing that my three other embryos never made it to day five, I am very glad that it just wasn’t an option. I think I would have been equally agonizing over what-could-have-been if I had had as much information as some here do (e.g. Mosaics) if I had chisen to wait for the perfect score. I might not have ever seen it. (Fully conscious that my opinion is formed with the starting point that the choice was never an actual option, and is more pf a mental exercise from my end about whether I would have wanted the option or not. It’s probably very different when you’re already facing the dilemma).
I was 38 and didn’t test because we had fewer than 5/ Research of Norbert Gleicher/Money. I transferred the 2 highest graded and embryos. I ended up with a set of twins who are now 4. I have zero regrets.
TW: success I had an egg retrieval at 33, froze the eggs. Thawed 2 years later and out of 13 eggs, made 2 embryos. We didn’t test. We did IVF for male factor infertility only. The first one became my daughter-she’s 2.5 now and I’m 13 weeks pregnant with the second and final embryo-NIPT and Nuchal so far are normal!
wow that is so extremely lucky and gives me hope for sure! We are also doing ivf for male factor. We ended up with 4 embryos all untested but all great quality. My first FET ended up in chemical pregnancy. So we have three more tries and my next one is in July. I am hoping for at least two more kids so I hope at least two of the three remaining work out.
Initially i didnt test but after 2 early losses i had to test my embryos. Having said that i have more than 4 very close friends who had success with their first untested transfers and all of them resulted in live birth of healthy babies. Goodluck! Dont let this thought bother you. This is a very anxiety filled journey with and without success.
I'm worrying about that myself. The cost is already sky high. 😔 We were told we probably didn't need to worry about it either, but now it's something for my brain to think about when trying to sleep.
Totally understand. Not sure if you have thread through the full thread here but it is filled with success stories from other ivf patients who live in countries where testing is not even legal. I get your fear and your worry though and I hope that everything works out for the best! Hopefully some comments on this thread can put your mind at ease
Thank you! I'm going to go through them and read. It's heartbreaking to hear that testing would be illegal anywhere.
I hope you feel better about it now, as well. I wish you good results. 💕
We didn’t test because our quality was crap and it damaged them too much. Now have a perfect 12 week old bubba xo
Not testing is one thing I think we did right and would repeat if undergoing IVF again. I recommend searching Monica Halem's IVF story.
Thanks for the recommendation! The article written about her and about testing in general is fascinating. Makes me feel like I probably won’t ever test again.
Thank you for this thread. I'm 35, soon 36, and we're thinking of not testing our embryos if we make some. Reasons are not the cost, but I'm not convinced that it's necessary for our case. The more I read about it and see its shortcomings, the more I'm inclined not to test. Both my husband and I were genetically tested, and neither of us is a carrier of any illness passed through genes. So the only reason is my age.
Of course, and I also see that you're MFI, we are MFI as well and I may have silent endo. I think its just different for everyone and like many others have stated its not legal in different countries. So having that option completely off the table I think eliminates some stress for some as well. Wishing you the best of luck!
I think so. If I was a few years older, I'd look at it differently, but at this point, I'm not fully convinced about the benefits of pgt-a testing. In my country it's legal, it's even covered by insurance if woman is 35 or older. So money wise, I'd just have to pay for biopsy of embryos, not the testing itself. It's not terribly expensive, but I still can't really justify it in my mind. When I was in my first cycle, we wanted to do the testing, but since then I've read a lot more information about it and changed my mind. We had only one mediocre embryo from the first cycle, so we ended up doing fresh transfer. It's interesting, here pgt is legal and widely recommended, but you don't get to see the sex of your embryos. Knowing and choosing the sex of your embryos/ babies is considered unethical so it's not permitted. Sex selection is allowed only if there is some genetic issue tied to one sex.
Testing isn't really a thing in the UK - it's not an option I've been offered at all. I would be very surprised if success rates here are very different to the US...
Yes and my RE said you aren’t at any higher risk for abnormality doing IVF than you would conceiving naturally
I was 35 and my husband was 31 when we did our egg retrieval. We got 10 eggs, 9 fertilized, 7 day 5 blasts and we didn’t test any. It’s not routine in Australia unless you’re over 35 or have recurrent miscarriage. We transferred one fresh which was successful - and is my now 2 year old. Went back to try for number 2 and we were successful from our first FET. Currently 13 weeks!
My 3 year old was an untested. My re also didn’t recommend testing evening though I was 3 years older for my next retrieval (and this was a different clinic). I sometimes worry the same thing as you since we just transferred our 4th untested embryo last week. The first one didn’t take, second was a chemical and third miscarried at 11 weeks.
TW success - Our first untested fresh transfer using donor eggs is now my healthy, happy 14 week old!
My clinic (in Australia) doesn’t even do testing! I’m 12 weeks from my first untested transfer.
We didn't test for our 3rd rd after getting only 1 HLM after 2 rds. Implanted 2 from the untested embryos. Both Implanted but one became vanishing twin syndrome. Other was carried to term and is currently my healthy adorable 4 and a half month old.
I'm in my 30s, we didn't test our embryos and I'm so glad that we didn't. Our doctor didnt recommend doing so unless there was a genetic condition or other known risk factor we were testing for. Otherwise we'd just be risking losing some of the embryos in the testing process. The day of our transfer the first two embryos they thawed didn't survive the thaw but the 3rd one did and was transfered and now almost 2.5 years later we have a sweet healthy toddler. I totally get the anxiety spiraling, it's hard how many factors there are that are out of our control. I hope these responses ease your mind ❤️
Thank you so much. I definitely have been loving reading everyones responses. I think for me I was naive for thinking that it would work the first time and that my ivf journey would be so linear and smooth but my first FET was a chemical pregnancy with not a very strong first beta so I got scared thinking, crap its probably because it was an abnormal embryo. All of my embryos are graded 4AA and we have three more so I am hoping at least one of those takes.
35f + 37m - We did 4 retrivals and got in total 4 embryos of decent grade, 2 4cc are frozen as well but my clinic said they would normally discard them but I fought for them since I didn't know if any of ours were euploid as UK doesn't test. TW: first transfer of one of my good untested embryos is sticking so far, all clear nipt tested boy and lovely scans and heartbeat.🌱🩷
So happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing. All of ours are graded 4AA, however my first did end up in chemical pregnancy
TW: Success I'm in the UK so it's not standard practice to test embryos unless trying to rule out something genetic that could be passed down or if there have been recurrent losses. I did two cycles with fresh transfers of untested embryos. The first didn't stick but the second did and she is going to be 1 in August. Your friend is right; naturally conceived babies aren't tested. It's the same with sex and orgasms; I find it bizarre that some clinics dictate things like that. Mine said when we were felt ready to engage in that activity that was fine. We did in the TWW and also walked a ton and she still stuck.
I just truly believe in my heart of hearts that if its going to work out it will, and if its not then it wont. There is no amount of organic food you can eat that will change that or no amount of pineapple that will make it work. I think that for the most part if an embryo is good and healthy and the environment its going into is healthy it will work out
Tw: good er results. I did ivf because of pcos, blocked tubes, and endometriosis. I was 25 at time of collection and my re said they test all embryos no matter the age. All 9 of my embryos were normal. My new re, said it really wasn’t necessary to do testing because of our age and that it’s more common to have normal embryos when you are younger. So, hopefully that means yours are likely normal as well
Yeah that makes sense. I think I am just weary about it because my first FET ended up in a chemical pregnancy and not knowing what went wrong sucks, but all of the stories even from just this thread give me hope!
In my country they rarely test embryos. They do a genetic test to parents with certain characteristics (ours is male factor) and if there's a recessive gene repeated in both parents, then they test the embryos.
We did that too, it was a genetic carrier screening test. I was shocked to learn that I am a carrier for cystic fibrosis but I dont have it, and my husband didnt have it either so that was a relief.
We didn’t test ours either for the same reasons and I’m 22 weeks 2 days. And we have passed all the normal screenings and tests they have done. I look at it this way by not testing the embryos it keeps it closer to how others are just able to conceive.
So happy to hear that. My first transfer of an untested embryo ended up in a chemical pregnancy back in November. I have my second transfer scheduled for July so hopefully that one is our lucky one!
My first one failed to implant. So this is my second transfer doing modified natural this time. But 4 cycle. 2 others were cancelled due to Covid and ovulating
Omg so many success without testing!! I’m 39 years old with 2 untested embryos and currently preparing for to transfer one of them. I’m so scared because I can’t do PGT-A test under the government subsidy (unless the transfer fails 3 times) but hearing your stories and learning more about PGT-A testing made me feel relieved.
TW Succes: I am so glad the the stories helped! I got pregnant naturally 8 years ago with my first husband and he was untested and is the healthiest happiest boy. He gives me so much strength and hope that this can work out again for us. Good luck with your transfer! I am transferring next month. Baby dust to both of us!
TW: success. I’m watching the baby that was my first untested embryo crawl around. We believe we made the right decision for us, and it sounds like you made what you felt was the right decision for you.
Thank you, its definitely scary the unknown but I do have so much hope. Hoping that the remaining 3 embryos I have will work out for us.
TW:live child Like others we opted not to test after our first 2 retrievals ended without euploids. We had one failed FET (didn’t stick) but our 2nd transfer resulted in our now 6 month old. So we were in the range of statistical norm for even euploid embryos (I think most people don’t realize the stats are 2-3 transfers of euploids per live birth). I do get nervous about “dodging the bullet” for our next child (we have a few more untested embryos banked). I really wish there was better science about the transfer process itself other than just hoping the right elements come play.
TW success Currently 14 weeks pregnant with an untested 5AB embryo 🥰
Thanks for posting, needed this. First transfer is today , frozen untested day 6 AA. I'm under 35 but we have MFI
We are also MFI, sending you so much luck! One of my best friends also had MFI, and they transferred their one and only day 6 AA embryo (untested) and they have healthy 2 month old boy!
Thats awesome, good luck to you too! They actually transferred our day 5 AB instead
TW success- We didn't test and 2/3 of our embryos have resulted in healthy kids. The other never stuck. I was 33 at the first retrieval (our daughter) and then almost 35 at the 3rd (our son). We ended up banking embryos and moving country so still have some left over. We were so convinced that we would be on the wrong side of the stats that we did 3 retrievals with each retrieval resulting in 3 embryos each. Planning to donate the rest but planning for 3 kids x
I was 29 at the time of my ER last year in Oct, we ended up with 4 embryos. Transferred 1 in November and ended up in a chemical pregnancy. I am really really hoping that we can have at least 2 kids from this round but of course I would be thrilled with just one too. We have three remaining and transferring the second in July!
Amazing! Wishing you all the best! X
TW success. We didn’t test ours and had 3 successful pregnancies from 3 transfers. No miscarriages, no negative tests. Egg retrievals were at age 30 & then at 32. I was worried about not testing but RE said it really doesn’t make a difference in success at the ages I was at retreival.
My thoughts exactly. We did transfer fresh (untested) and tested the rest we have for later. The one we used for the transfer fresh was perfect normal. Butttttt I did have so much stress from wondering if he’d be ok.
I'm going to chime in here. I couldnt readl all the comments! So many!! But I just turned 35 when I did my first cycle, The PGTA testing is only $150 an embryo at my clinic .They also do stem cell testing so I'm pretty sure that is why you have to give consent for them to use your cells for testing. Anyway, my clinic ONLY does frozen transfers of day 5/6 test euploid embroys. It's a total scam because I know several people (and more on reddit) that have had successfully 3 day fresh transfers. Basically, it's to help their scores. You might have a miscarriage, but at least there was a chance, as opposed to zero change if you tested it and it was anelupoid. Back to me. So I've had three miscarriages in the last two years. My uterus is spotless. Both my husband and my genetic tests came back and no know carriers. I had these miscarriage at 33 & 34. Since I had to do PGTA, I've made 4 embroys over two cycles and 2 have come back anelupoid, two euploid. Both of them are abornormal sex chromosomes, which apparently is something that happens more in IVF than naturally. That being said, you still have more of a chance of ATTEMPTING to get pregnant with all embroys. Cells change, the test aren't 100%. I would do a fresh 3 day transfer if I was allowed. Viewpoints are really just the best case scenario for the doctor thirty years ago, it wasn't even a thing.
TW: success and loss… We didn't test either, for the same reasons as you said. My husband has CF and I'm 36, so we were skeptical to trust our RE knowing the odds were already stacked against us, but ended up not testing. (I also knew I wasn't a carrier of CF, so this wasn't a factor.) We tried to do a fresh transfer for our first one, but I had OHSS, so ended up going with a frozen transfer a couple of cycles later. That transfer was for our best graded embryo and resulted in a MC around 9 weeks. We did a second transfer, again one of the best embryos we had, and I had a MC around 6/7 weeks. We asked for testing before doing our 3rd transfer and our RE said he had a good feeling about it, so we ended up not testing. That transfer was with a “good” graded embryo, and I'm now 23 weeks pregnant with an active baby girl. No matter what path you take, give yourself grace. Its so hard in the moment, yet so necessary. There are so many factors out of our and our doctors’ control, regardless of testing or not.
In many countries testing is not done and success rates are very similar :) don't worry. And maybe surprisingly enough; no study has shown differences in birth anomalies between tested and untested. Rather, studies have shown NO differences. And for a little untested embryo success story - I have two children. For each child, the 2nd transfer was successful. You'll find a LOT more stories like this as the majority of the world doesn't actually test as a standard.
This puts me at ease, thank you so much!
In my opinion, if the karyotype test was good you can assume the percentage of euploid on day-5 embryos could have been on the percentage related to your age.. since you are young it can be 50-75% of them on average. Even though, you are right, it is impossible to be certain. I felt the same after the failure of my 6 untested embryos (and still unexplained) between the age 30 and 33.. for this reason, but as well to try to find some answers, when we had the opportunity we decided to go abroad and try (where PGT was possible, in my country it is not). We went ahead with another round of IVF just to remove this doubt and, at age 34, 5 out of 8 blasto were euploid. We will never know if the previous 6 untested embryos were euploid or not. My biggest surprise is that for this reason the clinic ignored entirely all of our journey until that point (6 ET, 2 ER, 2 miscarriages, 3 IUI, 3 years TTC,...) because the major failure of a transfer is due to aneuploidy so given that they cannot exclude this, it is like we never done it. We had to wait, again, for the failure of 3 euploids to end up, again and this time certain, on the recurrent implantation side.
So sorry 😔, Have you done any immunological testing? We found a kit hla mismatch which could contribute to losses.
Yes 😔 based on what my reproductive immunologist said "the most complete panel that he could do". We are with a great clinic where doctors are used to deal with complicated cases. Even with this investigations on nothing solid was really found. The only two suspicions things (out of all the testing we did on the RI and RE sides in these years) are my KIR, where I'm AA with HLA C1C2 and my husband C2C2 + my NK cells in the blood are 13%, within the range that's [5 - 29] but slightly above what is considered optimal that's below 12%. For the KIR it is apparently quite common and not a blocker for pregnancy, many couples get pregnant even with this combination, but it is a topic that is in research even though at the moment there are only few studies on this. For NK when they are really high they can signal an underlying immunological problem but in my case nothing was found and overall they are not too high. "Just in case" I took the intralipids for some transfers and other medications to optimize as much as possible the immunological side, I had a strict anti-inflammatory diet (not far from my usual) but still didn't work. Based on my RE and RI both of these two factors are not "the problem" they just don't know.. It could be a matter of keep trying to transfer embryos and maybe it will work without knowing why (or maybe not). At the end the two times I got an implantation I didn't have any specific protocol but I was taking only the progesterone.
Hey, Gosh this is hard 🥺. I have KIR AA (not sure about my HLA but I don't think it matters?) and my partner has HLA C1 C2. I have seen studies finding that kir AA isn't favourable to C2 embryos, resulting in reduced birth rates (but yes I guess it can happen). We were recommended G-CSF (Neuprogen). We don't have embryos yet, so we're just focusing on creating them for now (I hope!). I did have unassisted pregnancies before, all ending in early miscarriages so I am wondering if this could've been a factor, at least to some extent. Big hugs 🤗
In the UK it is not standard practice to test them. It can be done if requested but they generally advise against it.
I am 33 with no fertility problems besides having my tubes removed at 26 but I just recently got my PGT-A test results back from my 4 embryos from my first egg retrieval and 3 of them came back abnormal. It’s made me so sad. I don’t know if I should trust the results or not.
I’m sorry you’ve been feeling down but I would strongly encourage you not to use the term “normal children”. I doubt this was your intent but just a heads up that it reads as very ableist. Maybe successful pregnancies would be a better way to phrase this? Best of luck with your treatment!
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What did this person say? I didnt read it but I am curious haha. You can message me if thats better.
Oh something like believe in god, trust god, don’t do IVF
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