3-day or 5-day?

ljhgrey

Is one preferable over the other? How do they decide? Does the grade of embryo and growth rate determine this?

I'm just curious, thanks for your help... 

LaLe09

It's all about selecting the best looking embryos for transfer. If they can figure that out on day 3 (or if there are very few embryos), they will transfer then. If they can push it until day 5, they might have a better chance at picking the best embryo then.

I'm sure different clinics have different rules for how this happens. My clinic told me that if they knew the best embryo to transfer on day 3, they would do it then. For me, on day 3, they could not tell the best and I had 5ish embryos, so I was able to go day 5. At that point, they could tell which one was best and transferred at that time.

ljhgrey

I stumbled upon this link which raises a concern about day 3 transfers because naturally day 3 embryos would stil be in the Fallopian tube and not yet working to implant in the uterine lining. 

 https://www.sharedjourney.com/articles/3vs5.html 

I know there is a lot of info online (who knows how credible) and I only have just begun trying to wrap my head around this. I am looking forward to talking with my doctor/nurse on Friday at my appointment. 

kelnyc

ljhgrey:

I stumbled upon this link which raises a concern about day 3 transfers because naturally day 3 embryos would stil be in the Fallopian tube and not yet working to implant in the uterine lining. 

 https://www.sharedjourney.com/articles/3vs5.html 

I know there is a lot of info online (who knows how credible) and I only have just begun trying to wrap my head around this. I am looking forward to talking with my doctor/nurse on Friday at my appointment. 

*sig warning / butting in*

These days, my RE says the data shows only a slight improvement in the odds between a 3-day and 5-day transfer, and that is usually because you have more time to let the ones who are not going to make it fizzle out on their own. But LOTS of people (including me) get pregnant on a 3-day transfer. It will all depend on quantity and quality and your embryologists advice when the time comes. GL!

ljhgrey

I'm glad you shared! Thank you and congrats! 

hugmonkey

My RE says they sometimes do a 3 day transfer because the embryos will sometimes do better in the natural environment of your body instead of in a dish.  As it was my first IVF, they did a three day transfer and they did implant although I later miscarried.  As my other 3 embryos did fine in the dish up to day five, he said if we have to do another fresh cycle, they will probably wait for a five day transfer.

kb1965

I've read countless medical papers on this. Hundreds really. Here's the scoop from what I've come to understand.

• If an embryo does not make it to day five, it would have never survived regardless.
• If an embryo (or group of them) does/do make it to day five, the doctor has the priviledge of cherry picking the very best day five-er in the bunch.
• That would be on a grading system regarding cell count, fragmentation within the cells, uniformity of cell size, etc.
• Most clinics in the U.S. have found three day embryos typically yield an average success rate of 37% in women younger than 35.
• Blasts, 5 day-er's will yield a success rate of 50%. Simple numbers. Some of those 3 day embryos just would not have made it anyway. 
• If the blasts make it to day five and are frozen, the thaw success rate of those at five days is almost double of the three day.
• If a blast is at five days, the doctor can also perform what is called assisted hatching. This process gives the embryo literally, one foot out the door to attach.

That's all I've got.