Seeking guidance on freezing blastocysts

bumblebee_88

Hello fam. I’m 35 with stage 3 endometriosis. My amh is <.5. DH (also 35) has low sperm count and motility, which varies, but low enough that ICSI is strongly encouraged over regular IVF. We’ve tried IUI and are on to IVF/ICSI. So far, we’ve done two egg retrieval cycles.

First cycle: 4 eggs retrieved, 4/4 mature and fertilized, one day five 4aa euploid, one day six 5aa euploid, one day six aneuploid.

Second cycle: 6 eggs retrieved, 5/6 mature, 3/6 fertilized, three day five blastocysts (4aa, 3ab, 3bb - pgta results pending).

Honestly, I’m over the moon. My doctor told me she’d be shocked if we ever got pregnant (thanks for that) - to know that my egg quality hasn’t been demolished by the endo yet came as a wonderful surprise. Today, in the here and now, I’m doing a great job staying positive and upbeat. But I have questions. How many blastocysts should we freeze (to get 2 babies? 3?)? How do we make decisions on what to do if we have extra frozen blastocysts? How many more retrievals should I do? I feel like I need to make all these decisions up front - I have so few eggs left and probably only a moment before their quality vanishes. I know when I stop doing retrievals, that’s probably it. I’ll then be doing Lupron to attack the endo before starting to do FET. I’m so paranoid I feel like I need at least two more retrievals - but is that just nerves or me being cautious and a good idea?

I’m looking for advice on how to make these big decisions - who did you turn to? What would you do?? I feel so torn and am trying to stay optimistic - but also realistic.

babylonghorn16

as far as far as I know, it costs the same to freeze 1 embryo or 10. I would freeze all of them!

as far as retrievals, can you just do an egg retrieval and freeze your eggs? I would be hesitant to create more embryos when you already have 6.

we have 12 embryos and are planning on donating the ones we don’t use. It’s a really hard decision that I wish we didn’t have to make! 

I hope that helps! Best of luck to you!!

bumblebee_88

Thank you for your response! I’ve been beating myself trying to figure out the right number, but your idea to freeze eggs not embryos moving forward is inspired - making the decision of what to do with more sounds very challenging and I wish you all the best

ivfmeerut

It's great that you've had success so far. Freezing 5-6 blastocysts is often recommended for two babies. Consulting your doctor and a fertility specialist can guide decisions on further retrievals and what to do with any extra frozen blastocysts.