Should we do D5 transfer, or freeze and do another IVF?
Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 10:02 am
Hello,
My husband (35) and I (36) are looking for some advice as to our next steps. We just had a retrieval on Saturday, August 24th, in which they collected 9 eggs, 8 mature, 4 fertilized. This morning we were told that all 4 look good and they are planning a day 5 transfer on Thursday, August 29th. However, we are considering freezing all four and moving forward with another IVF cycle to create as many frozen embryos as possible. This is where we need advice/guidance/things to consider. Our concern is that with only 4 embryos, it is not enough for future children and our goal right now is to "freeze time". If I were to become pregnant now without assurance of frozen embryos for later, I'm afraid we would miss our window to add down the road - I would be 38 before we could try again considering the time for pregnancy and breastfeeding (until a least 16 mos).
Here is our story:
We completed 3 IVF cycles in 2010 (2 miscarriages from these cycles). For all three, we retrieved only 3 eggs and the following results: 1st - 1 embryo, neg; 2nd - 3 embryos, pos but low beta, never saw sac; 3rd - 2 embryos, pos, never saw sac. We then did a donor egg cycle with a proven donor in 2011 - this cycle was also unsuccessful. We were told she had poor egg quality, which we knew wasn't true since she had done several donor cycles before with Dr. Smotrich who confirmed she was an excellent donor. So we decided to switch RE's , and in the midst of changing RE's, we conceived naturally and now have a 17-month old daughter; very easy pregnancy/delivery.
We are ready to expand our family and with purposes of "freezing time" for future children (ideally we want 4 total) started working with a new RE with a primary goal of freezing embryos and a secondary goal of achieving pregnancy. We definitely had a much better cycle this week, however, since only 4 eggs fertilized, and since our goal is to continue to add to our family (not just one more pregnancy) we are not sure if we should move forward with the transfer this week, or if we should freeze and do another retrieval. We're aware that frozen embryo transfers do not lead to as many successful pregnancies as fresh, which is why we are so torn at this time.
We would appreciate any guidance you could provide.
Thank you in advance!
My husband (35) and I (36) are looking for some advice as to our next steps. We just had a retrieval on Saturday, August 24th, in which they collected 9 eggs, 8 mature, 4 fertilized. This morning we were told that all 4 look good and they are planning a day 5 transfer on Thursday, August 29th. However, we are considering freezing all four and moving forward with another IVF cycle to create as many frozen embryos as possible. This is where we need advice/guidance/things to consider. Our concern is that with only 4 embryos, it is not enough for future children and our goal right now is to "freeze time". If I were to become pregnant now without assurance of frozen embryos for later, I'm afraid we would miss our window to add down the road - I would be 38 before we could try again considering the time for pregnancy and breastfeeding (until a least 16 mos).
Here is our story:
We completed 3 IVF cycles in 2010 (2 miscarriages from these cycles). For all three, we retrieved only 3 eggs and the following results: 1st - 1 embryo, neg; 2nd - 3 embryos, pos but low beta, never saw sac; 3rd - 2 embryos, pos, never saw sac. We then did a donor egg cycle with a proven donor in 2011 - this cycle was also unsuccessful. We were told she had poor egg quality, which we knew wasn't true since she had done several donor cycles before with Dr. Smotrich who confirmed she was an excellent donor. So we decided to switch RE's , and in the midst of changing RE's, we conceived naturally and now have a 17-month old daughter; very easy pregnancy/delivery.
We are ready to expand our family and with purposes of "freezing time" for future children (ideally we want 4 total) started working with a new RE with a primary goal of freezing embryos and a secondary goal of achieving pregnancy. We definitely had a much better cycle this week, however, since only 4 eggs fertilized, and since our goal is to continue to add to our family (not just one more pregnancy) we are not sure if we should move forward with the transfer this week, or if we should freeze and do another retrieval. We're aware that frozen embryo transfers do not lead to as many successful pregnancies as fresh, which is why we are so torn at this time.
We would appreciate any guidance you could provide.
Thank you in advance!