IVF #1 - How Many to Transfer?

kmw722

Hi ladies,

I'm hoping you can provide some insight...we are between ER and ET for IVF #1. ER was Tuesday. We have 5 embryos: one 5 cell, 3 four cell and 1 three cell. All along I have wanted to transfer two. DH is undecided. He thinks he only wants to transfer one, but wants to see what RE recommends. I'm pretty sure RE will recommend one, just because he always says his goal is one healthy baby. I am completely ok with twins. I'm having a hard time knowing that we have 5 amazing embryos growing and we may only transfer one. If we get a BFP I'm sure DH will feel that our family is complete (we have one DS). However, I think I would feel incomplete knowing we had frozen embryos. I would be finished if we had three children though...if that makes sense. Anyway, thanks in advance for your advice!

mnj05

We transferred two, one blast and one morula (they didn't tell us the grades or even how many cells) and we got DS from those. We plan on transferring two again next time, which will be a fresh IVF again as we didn't have any make it to freeze.

Age sometimes plays a role too. My RE recommends transferring two or three embryos at age 35 or over, but usually just two. I think it's also a personal decision, as you said it's about what you're comfortable with having at once, potentially. Like you, twins don't scare me, in fact they run in my family and I'm next in line to have them anyway if the pattern were to continue. My husband wants twins, in fact I think he was a little disappointed it didn't happen this first time.

I can also understand the feeling of wanting to give those frozen embryos a chance. If we are lucky enough to have some next time around and do not end up needing to transfer any of them, we will have a hard time deciding what to do.

I'm really no help after all of that, but good luck with your decision and hoping you get a BFP!

kmw722

Thanks so much for your response! I'm 28, so I can't use age as a reason to transfer more than one. Thanks again!

angela2004

We did one. We have one healthy little girl. I have seen moms carry twins.. It's very hard.

Dragonfly1226

MrsLee04 said:

Honestly this sounds more like an issue between you and your DH as to the # of children you each want.  If my DH only wanted 2 kids, I wouldn't feel comfortable putting ourselves in the position of possibly getting twins.  You two have to agree on the # of children you want before you move forward.

This is exactly what I was going to say. I would definitely not transfer two in hopes of having twins and forcing the issue about having three children. If your RE recommends transferring two, I would have a serious talk with your dh about what he is comfortable with. I absolutely adore my girls, but twins are no joke.

sweett1998

We transferred two.  I'm 34 and I just wanted to make my chances of having even 1 embryo stick!!  We do have 5 frozen embryos as well.

Ruthie04

I agree with PPs about speaking with your husband. In all honesty, I would strongly consider transferring one. It's your first cycle and age is on your side. I only transferred two because I had a failed cycle and two lesser quality embryos. My nurse didn't think my cycle would work at all and no one thought both would take. I now have twin boys.

While my twins are the greatest blessings in my life, I would never encourage someone to transfer two in a "good prognosis" scenario. I had made it to 36w and my boys stayed out of the NICU, despite being less than 5 lbs. However, I had ongoing 2nd tri red bleeding (placenta previa related, could not lift more than 10lbs and pelvic rest), contractions every 2-9 minutes for five weeks, and my boys had IUGR so I was placed on bed rest to help them grow. A twin pregnancy increases your risk for many complications and caring for infant twins is so difficult. I slept 20 minutes that first night at home and even today, I only had a 30 minute break from baby care. It's awesome, but really hard.

Being open to the possibility of twins means being fully aware of the risks and extra work. It's so very rewarding, but it is really different from caring for a singleton.

PennyLane26

If this is your first IVF and you are under 35, I would think the only reason you would transfer 2 is if the quality of your embryos are terrible.

We transferred 2 for our first IVF (I was 27) because we had really crappy embies, it eventually resulted in a c/p. Our second cycle we transferred one because it was a high quality blast (that resulted in our perfect baby girl!). Even with carrying a singleton, I had a very high risk pregnancy. I'm sure that multiples would have made things even more serious.

IMO the ideal result of IVF is a healthy baby and a healthy mom. If you have a good quality embie, do a SET.

kgs0505

My first fresh IVF, we transferred all 3 that were left at day 5 because none of them looked particularly great - BFN.  The second fresh IVF, we transferred two - BFN.  The first FET we transferred 2, and these were the best quality embies we had overall, they turned out even better than the fresh - BFN.  Three year break to adopt.  I had 3 embies frozen still, none we great quality.  But every time I thought of throwing them away I would literally have a panic attack.  So we used them all up in a last shot.  One stuck, and split.  So I had identical twins.  The twin pregnancy was really hard on me and there were multiple complications.  The girls are here and healthy now, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but the pregnancy was really tough. 

You really don't know what will make it to freeze, so I wouldn't worry about that now.  Just concentrate on what your doctor recommends and this one cycle.  You can worry about the future after you know the outcome of this cycle.

phishgirl29

I would encourage 2, only because we transferred 2 and one of our babies was lost in between my 9-10 week appointments. They were both the same quality and I'm thankful every day that we (the doctor and my husband and I) chose 2 or else my son wouldn't be here. When we go back for a FET we will transfer 2 again. Loosing the twin was hard, but an easier pill to swallow knowing that I was still carrying a healthy baby. GL with whatever you decide.

amandaleigh1

Just because an RE recommends transfer of 2 or more embryos doesn't mean that you are making the best choice for yourself and your family if you follow that advice. There are plenty of clinics out there that routinely transfer at minimum 2 embryos to try to get their stats up. In the meantime, they have a pretty high rate of twin pregnancies that result.

If you or your spouse doesn't want any more than 1 more baby, then I would say that 1 embryo is the number you should go for.

At my transfer (day 3, I was 37 at the time with 6 embryos growing, 5 growing well), I was recommended to transfer 2. I did not want the very increased chance of twins that goes with a 2 embryo transfer, so I transferred only 1. That embryo is DS. I was lucky to have 3 make it to freeze, but most people aren't so lucky. You may not necessarily have any frosties when all is said and done.

I have seen a lot of difficult twin pregnancies on this board and in real life. Twins are not a goal in ART, they are a complication.