IVF w ICSI newbie

mzl1

Hi ladies. DH and I are 31; our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) recommended transferring only 1 embryo, but I am so tempted to do 2 to increase our chances.

Also, RE (reproductive endocrinologist) said that during this month pre-IVF, we can’t TTC (trying to conceive) naturally because he will put me on birth control for a week at the end of the cycle and wouldn’t want it to interfere with a potential natural pregnancy? But couldn’t I just test negative, say, 10 dpo and he starts the birth control then?

finally, has anyone brought up gender selection w their clinic and what was the response?

anared

Hey! 

I am also doing IVF with ICSI and PGS. My retrieval is this month if all goes accordingly. The birth control has to be started at a certain time of your cycle in order to do the injections, if you start it too late you will miss the cycle (I was told to start on day 3 or 4 I can't remember but I had to start during my period after a sonogram and blood test- I am almost done with BC) I would follow your RE on this one. So you can still have intercourse but it is no longer TTC. If you want to try naturally one more month then go for it but I think you would have to wait until the next cycle to start all the pre-IVF procedures. 

I am 33 and they also told me one embryo at a time, the only time they do more than one I believe is if you are approaching 40, over 40, or depends on your diagnosis.

We haven't talked exclusively about gender selection, we are doing PGS to test the chromosomes of the embryo which was recommended by our clinic as an option. We can find out the gender with PGS but the gender for us is secondary to the health of the embryo. PGS for us is not covered by insurance, we are paying out of pocket for this. 

Hope this helps! 

Good luck!

mzl1

Thanks so much for the helpful response. Yes, I’ve gotten the sense that BC is mostly started CD3 by RE’s, but I am positive mine said he would just prescribe it for 7 days “at the end of this month,” which is why I don’t see the harm in TTC naturally this cycle?

kjk024

Hello!

I am 25 and DH is 27. I started stims for Our first (and hopefully only) cycle of IVF last night. We never had a prayer of conceiving naturally with his sperm count in the single digits if we got any. So, I’m afraid I am not much help there. I started bcp on CD 2 after my baseline and took it for 10 days.

We are doing ICSI with PGS testing. The testing is purely for my peace of mind. It increases the chance of implantation and healthy pregnancy and it decreases the chance of miscarriage and so I decided the cost was worth it. I have very few qualms if other people choose gender, but for us and our hopeful embryos, it feels unlucky and unkind. We will be keeping it a secret from outselves. That is a purely personal opinion and decision though, you should do what is best for you.

wishing you much luck!

Alyeena

Hi, 

We also did IVF with ICSI, I was 28 at the time of retrieval and my husband was 32. He is my personal experience relating to your questions.

1) We transferred only one embryo both times (one miscarriage and one successful pregnancy). We live in Canada and it is very rare here to transfer more than one, only if the embryos are low quality they will transfer more.
So it really depends on your situation (your age, quality of your uterine lining...) and the quality of your embryos, if your doctor recommended only one I would suggest listening to their advice but if you have doubts you should ask what their reasons are? Keep in mind multiples pregnancy is high-risk so you have to consider the possibility of twins or more if you implant more than one. 

2) I would follow your doctor's advice and refrain from TTC when they ask you to, and take the birth control as indicated. In my case I had to take two months of birth control pills before the egg retrieval, so I did not have to make that choice.

3) Gender selection is illegal in Canada so I cannot help with that. The only reason it is allowed is to avoid transmitting a genetic disorder.