ET/PGD - not what I was expecting....

[HopefulTx]

Hello everyone!

I had my ET yesterday and while I'm extremely happy and grateful, I'm a bit confused about what happened.

I had my ER on 5/16 and retrieved 18 eggs. 16 were mature, 15 were ICSI'd, 14 Fertilized, 12 were biopsied (the other 2 were only 4 cell). Of the 12 biopsied, only 4 came back normal. Out of the 4 normal embryos, 2 were hatching blasts, 1 morula and an 8 cell straggler. All but the morula were boys. Originally, we were hoping to transfer only one but the embryologists didn't think any would really make it to freeze. We decided to transfer 1 blast (healthiest boy) and the morula. I'm hoping and praying like crazy that the other blast will make it to freeze.

Anyway, what I'm confused about is why so many embryos came back abnormal? Does this mean I have poor quality eggs? My DH and I have both had karyotyping and genetic testing done and both came back normal. DH is very healthy and the only issue that came up after extensive testing is my blood clotting disorder. I guess I thought I would have more healthy embryos and I was just a little shocked, I guess, to find out that most of our embryos were "abnormal". I wonder if this is the reason for my first 2 m/c? With my 3rd loss, we had the twins tested and they were both chromosomally sound. I'm so confused.... my hematologist said that my levels were normal to low instead of high so he doesn't think this is the reason for my losses. Grrr....why does the whole ttc process have to be so confusing and stressful for some of us?

In the end, I’m glad we got PGD done and I hope at least one sticks!!!

[jkph]

I had a similar experience. In my first cycle we used day 3 PGD with 8 embryos. All of them came back with a different abnormality. We used PGD b/c I had 3 miscarriages. We didn't expect that there wouldn't be any good embryos. Now we are going to do 3 more rounds, freeze them all and do day 5 PGD. I am praying that we get a few good embryos but even being the most hopeful I am not anticipating a lot. You could have an issue w/ either sperm or egg. It depends on what day they start to see problems with your embryos. The good news for you is that you can produce a lot of eggs at once. That will really increase your chances. Good luck with this cycle. Hopefully, you won't need another one.

[carly7]

Mention

Hopeful: We did Day 5 PGD on my 2nd IVF and out of 12 embies: 2 stopped growing, 5 were normal, 5 were abnormal with various genetic issues. DH has a translocation, but only 1 of the abnormals had the worse version of his genetic issue. Our embryologist said the other abnormals can just be caused naturally. Both partners can be 100% healthy and create abnormal embies. DH's doc told him that's why natural preg rates are only 15-20% each month, even if trying during ovulation. Sometimes we never know the reasons for the abnormals. I think 4 normals is great! I'm hopeful this will work out for you this cycle! Sticky vibes!!

[WhitneyAtFertilityAuthority]

hopeful, okay to be disappointed and confused about abnormalities after pgd. it's such a huge conundrum and it can be really heavy. Think about it then let it go and try to focus on implantation of the little one inside you. My best friend had 18 fertalized blasts tested and every single one of them came back tricemy 1, tricemy 2 or downs. Let it be known that she subsequetly had two perfectly healthy children from ensuing FT. REsearch more if you need to, but lets put all the white light that we can on you and that little boy now. Keep me posted.

[HopefulTx]

jkph, I am so sorry about your losses and cancelled cycle. I hope your next cycle is a successful one. I hope doing PGD on day 5 is the ticket for you.

*mention*
carly7, congratulations on your ID twins! HH9M to you! Thanks for the sticky vibes.
*end mention*

whitney1, thanks for your continued support and sharing your friends story. It definitely gives me hope. Would you mind putting some of that light on the little girl too?

I got the call from the embryologist this afternoon. None of the remaining embryos made it . So, I guess this is it. I hope, hope, hope these embies stick!!!

I'm going to have a long conversation with my RE at my next appointment. I still have a lot of questions. Maybe my expectations were too high...I don't know...I DO know that this isn't exactly how I envisioned my first cycle of ivf to go. I know I'm incredibly lucky to have gotten this far and I'm incredibly grateful. I just hope I don't have to go through another cycle of IVF....at least not for a few years.

Thanks again everyone!

[SC-Impatient_in_VA]

HopefulTX 33% of what was biopsied came back normal - that's about right if you're my age (34). By age 25, 50% are abnormal, and the numbers keeps getting suckier and suckier the older you get. If you're significantly younger than 35, that might be a little low, but remember the sperm have to be normal too or else the embies wind up abnormal and there's really no way to be sure with ICSI besides "pick the ones that LOOK the best and hope for the best". May I ask why you didn't put back the 2nd blast, was it just because you didn't want to risk male twins? Or was the morula better graded in some way?

jkph I remember you and I still have hope for you that math just wasn't on your side that time (with 8 eggs the best you could've hoped for was 2 blasts, so a max of 0-2 normals - making it to blast doesn't guarantee normals, it's just a good indicator) and that in future attempts you WILL see success.

[HopefulTx]

Impatient_in_VA, It turns out that all 14 embryos were biopsied instead of just 12 which makes my numbers even worse. I'm a healthy (as far as I know!) 28 yo. and my DH is 30 yo and pretty healthy as well. We didn't transfer the 2nd blast because we didn't want to put back two of the same gender. I was also hoping the 2nd best looking blast would freeze as well. I am now starting to regret my decision but I'm going to try really hard not to dwell on it. I want to start thinking positive thoughts! I'm usually such a pessamist so this is going to be really hard!

PS - Does anyone know if there's a chance of success with a day 5 morula?

[SC-Impatient_in_VA]

33-ish% is a little low for 28, it's true, but do you also have a male factor issue requiring ICSI or did you just do ICSI so you could do PGD? You have to also remember that every month is different: you got 33% this time, but you could do it again 2 years from now and get 50%. There IS an element of chance to statistics, that's what makes them what they are. Having put back 2 healthy beans, your odds of a pregnancy (even a twin pregnancy) are pretty good and you might find you don't need the extra blast (which might make it anyway, it made it this far!)

[WhitneyAtFertilityAuthority]

white light on that little girl too...................oversight. Excitement. Oh man....so much white light to ALL OF YOU!

[HopefulTx]

Impatient_in_VA, no, no known MFI, we did ICSI for PGD. I really hope these embryo/s stick. The remaining embryo didn't make it, so, what does that say about the ones we transferred? Just makes me really nervous. Thank you so much for your insight, I really do appreciate it. I thought this would get easier after the ET...not so!

Whitney, lol...thank you! You are awesome!