Lurker from IF; decisions about IVF

mfarmer0811 · May 2013

So, DH and I had a very long talk last night. We are planning to start BCP's mid June, and cycling in July. We had the talk last night about how many embryos we would transfer. We are very much under the belief of giving every embryo a chance. Neither one of us are keen on the idea of freezing embryos. So, we now have to make the decision to tell the RE exactly how many eggs we want to be fertilized. I'm thinking 6 at the most, and if there are more eggs retrieved, we will freeze those.
Did any have a selected about of eggs you were willing to have fertilized?

JBDamonM · May 2013

Someone please correct Me if I am mis speaking, but you should have everything that is retrieved fertilized because there is no guarantee they will keep growing once fertilized.

also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you opposed to freezing?

itsmevkb · May 2013

We also believe in giving every embryo a chance so we had a discussion with our RE about this issue. I am a poor responder so we knew going into the egg retrieval that we'd be lucky to get 5-7 eggs. That almost turned out to be blessing as we really didn't have to make any hard decisions.

Ours worked out this way:

7 retrieved

6 were mature

5 fertilized

1 expired before day 3 leaving 4; we transferred the best 2 and left the others to develop and be frozen. One expired before day 5 and the other was frozen.

Hopefully your RE will have a good handle on how many he thinks you would need to try and fertilize in order to have maybe have one or two very good ones to transfer. I"m assuming you guys have a handle on how many children you would ultimately like to have so obviously that would come into play as well.

It's so smart to think about this issue up front. Please let us know how it all works out.

itsmevkb · May 2013

JBDamonM:
Someone please correct Me if I am mis speaking, but you should have everything that is retrieved fertilized because there is no guarantee they will keep growing once fertilized.
also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you opposed to freezing?

I think the issue is that she doesn't want to have say 15 frozen embryos because if she believes in giving each one a chance at life that means she is opening herself to the possibility of having 15 children. For some it's the same rule as don't transfer more than you're willing to be pregnant with except it's don't fertilize or freeze more embryos than you are willing to have children.

JBDamonM · May 2013

itsmevkb:
JBDamonM:
Someone please correct Me if I am mis speaking, but you should have everything that is retrieved fertilized because there is no guarantee they will keep growing once fertilized.
also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you opposed to freezing?
I think the issue is that she doesn't want to have say 15 frozen embryos because if she believes in giving each one a chance at life that means she is opening herself to the possibility of having 15 children. For some it's the same rule as don't transfer more than you're willing to be pregnant with except it's don't fertilize or freeze more embryos than you are willing to have children.

got it!!! Not sure how that one went over my head. Thanks for explaining!

hugmonkey · May 2013

This never came up fo us as Many eggs dont fertilize, and many embryos don't survive to transfer. So, DH and I never put a limit on how many the RE could fertilize.

For example, my first cycle we got 17 eggs. Out of 17, 13 were mature. 7 fertilized. I had a 2 day transfer of 2. One day later, there were only 3 left which were frozen. Upon thawing, only 2 were viable. So out of 17 eggs, only 4 even made it to embryo status.

For my second fresh cycle, we only got 5 eggs. Out of 5, 2 fertilized and made it to transfer.

Any time the RE fertilizes egg for transfer, you'll have to go though a cycle of meds--although it will be less meds than a fresh cycle. I personally couldn't see limiting the number of eggs I'd let the RE fertilize, because there's always a chance that they won't fertilize or the embryos might not make it to transfer. Then, you'll have to go through another cycle of meds to prepare your body for a transfer.

Iif you're willing to have 6 fertilized, what will you do if all six do fertilize? There are pretty strict guidelines for how many embryos they will transfer. For example, at age 35, my RE would transfer no more to 2.

Good luck on your cycle!

Dragonfly1226 · May 2013

I think it is very smart for you and your dh to think about this now. However, it is very difficult to predict how many eggs will fertilize. With my first IVF cycle we retrieved 14 eggs, 8 fertilized, we transferred two, and we froze three. With my second IVF we retrieved 10 eggs, all 10 fertilized, we transferred two, we froze four, and that cycle also gave us DS. So with my first cycle, even though we got more eggs, fewer fertilized, fewer were frozen, and we didn't have a successful outcome. PP is correct in saying that just because you attempt to fertilize an egg it doesn't mean it will actually fertilize or keep growing. I think your best course of action is to consult with your RE about your history, how you have responded to medications in the past, and what she/he recommends with regards to how many eggs to attempt to fertilize. Wishing you the very best of luck!!!

new+tothis · May 2013

Definitely talk to your doc about it before you cycle. They can adjust meds down if you are responding well and don't want too many eggs / embryos. There's also a "mini-IVF" where you shoot for getting less eggs.

I don't have the same belief but I totally respect those who do. In my IVF my AFC was 17. They retrieved 25. Of those, 15 were mature and all 15 fertilized naturally.We transferred the 2 best looking ones. We were able to freeze 10-12 of the rest (I can't remember exactly). That's quite a bit. So definitely have an open conversation with your RE about it. I know ours had an approximate percentage of eggs that would be mature and of those mature how many would fertilize given our stats. GL and it is totally doable without ending up with a basketball team in the freezer Stick out tongue

oooCarrieB · May 2013

I think a lot does depend on your dx. With DOR and some MF, we didn't expect to get much. My AFC was 5, we got 9 eggs, 8 were mature, 7 fertilized, 3 made it to blast. We transferred two for our first LO, and froze one which I am pregnant with now. Good luck with your decision. Your RE should be able to give you some advice.

PennyLane26 · May 2013

This was a fear of mine too, OP.

I had only 12 eggs retrieved for each cycle (so 24 total). Only 8 from each fertilized, so 16 total). Our first round, only 3 made it to transfer (we transferred 2, froze 1) and our second 7 made it to transfer (we transferred 1 - Grace! - and froze 6).

With those numbers there was no worry we wouldn't use them, we have 7 embies frozen and plan to use them, though I doubt with the risk of thaw and implantation it will result in 7 children! If that happens, DH and I will re-evaluate.

It' a hard decision to make if you have ethical concerns about leftover embies. My clinic had a support team they said we could talk to if we needed to talk to someone before making decisions, does your clinic offer something similar?

racheyt0227 · May 2013

itsmevkb:
JBDamonM:
Someone please correct Me if I am mis speaking, but you should have everything that is retrieved fertilized because there is no guarantee they will keep growing once fertilized.
also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you opposed to freezing?
I think the issue is that she doesn't want to have say 15 frozen embryos because if she believes in giving each one a chance at life that means she is opening herself to the possibility of having 15 children. For some it's the same rule as don't transfer more than you're willing to be pregnant with except it's don't fertilize or freeze more embryos than you are willing to have children.

Thats a good way of putting it; never thought of it like that. However, you never know how many will fertilize, grow, etc. I personally would be uncomfortable wit the variables here.

Pnut30 · May 2013

It really is such a tough call. I am glad that you and your husband are discussing it prior but it is so hard to make a judgment call before you see how your eggs and sperm fertilize.

We also wanted to give all of our embryos a chance however we were open to freezing because we really want to avoid multiples and we do want more than one child. We also have about a zero chance of getting a surprise BFP so IVF is our only option for growing our family. We were told that a "healthy" couple could expect approximately one 3rd of their fertilize eggs to become embryos but even that would be their best guess. My husband had severe sperm issues and we knew I was looking at about 15 ripe follicles. Given the math we went ahead and had them all fertilized. We never ever would have imagined having 10 of the 12 mature eggs fertilize and keep growing. By day 6 only 3 had arrested. We transferred one (DS) and now have 6 remaining. This pains me greatly. I know that not all of them may make it and that pains me as well. It is tough but I honestly feel that we made the right decision at the time.

Another option that might be available to you (if it is looking like you might get a ton of eggs) would be to only have a few fertilized and then have the eggs frozen. If that is something you are ok with it might be looking in to. I know eggs do not freeze as well as embryos but it would certainly be more than if you just had extra eggs discarded.

Good luck to you!

mnj05 · May 2013

We knew we wanted more than one child or at least try for more than one so we were fine with freezing any that we could. That said, we only had 6 retrieved and only one grow to the blast stage. We transferred two anyway but the rest stopped growing.

Assuming we will have to go through it again for our next child, I don't know yet what we will do if we have more than two good looking embryos. We both know we don't want them destroyed and DH is necessarily comfortable with donating them, so we will be in somewhat the same situation as to what we will do all of the embryos that grow well.

Good luck with your decision and your cycle!

CallMeAl · May 2013

I see where you are coming from and agree that your diagnosis really matters. We have a severe MFI diagnosis. We retrieved 18 eggs, 13 of which were mature. Of those, 9 fertilized with ICSI. We had a three day transfer of the best two and our other seven ultimately arrested. We had a singleton pregnancy. So out of 18 eggs I have one daughter and nothing frozen.

I wish you the best and agree that maybe mini IVF is worth some research.

mfarmer0811 · May 2013

itsmevkb:
JBDamonM:
Someone please correct Me if I am mis speaking, but you should have everything that is retrieved fertilized because there is no guarantee they will keep growing once fertilized.
also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you opposed to freezing?
I think the issue is that she doesn't want to have say 15 frozen embryos because if she believes in giving each one a chance at life that means she is opening herself to the possibility of having 15 children. For some it's the same rule as don't transfer more than you're willing to be pregnant with except it's don't fertilize or freeze more embryos than you are willing to have children.

This. And, our Fertility Clinic freezes eggs.

ccam · May 2013

This is such an personal decision, but it's good to think about it now. At the time we started IVF, we knew we wanted more than one child but my job (and awesome IF insurance) was at risk, so we went all the way with our first IVF cycle. I had 29 eggs retrieved, 17 fertilized, 7 made it to blast and we now have 6 frozen.

Obviously, it all depends on your diagnosis, so I would suggest having this conversation with your RE. We were in the state of mind that we would do anything to have a child. But now we have 6 embryos and it's actually causing a some anxiety for both of us. Not all of those embryos will necessarily make it, but that's a possible 6 babies. Good luck with your decision, it's hard!

Pnut30 · May 2013

mfarmer0811:
itsmevkb:
JBDamonM:
Someone please correct Me if I am mis speaking, but you should have everything that is retrieved fertilized because there is no guarantee they will keep growing once fertilized.
also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you opposed to freezing?
I think the issue is that she doesn't want to have say 15 frozen embryos because if she believes in giving each one a chance at life that means she is opening herself to the possibility of having 15 children. For some it's the same rule as don't transfer more than you're willing to be pregnant with except it's don't fertilize or freeze more embryos than you are willing to have children.

This. And, our Fertility Clinic freezes eggs.

Then in that case I would only fertilize two, three at most and freeze the rest of your eggs. I know my clinic would not have let me transfer more than the ASRM standard for my age and dx which was 2 at most. Our RE was actually pretty adamant about us only transferring one which is what we did.

wordslikeswords · May 2013

I think this is definitely a tough decision. I went in expecting to have a lot of eggs and embryos, but I also want to use all of them, so I didn't know what to do. Then when we actually did the IVF I only had 3 embryos the first cycle and 5 the second cycle total. We only put 1 in because I have kidney disease. We ended up with a baby from cycle 2, and 3 frozen embryos. I thought it was great! I could handle 4 kids. But then my kidneys went downhill with my first and we're not even sure about a number 2, let alone 4.

I guess what I'm trying to say is there's no way to know what's going to happen, so if you decide to go ahead and fertilize and freeze, have a backup plan. I'm having a LOT of trouble with the idea of embryo adoption. I want my babies. And it's really, really difficult.

Want a personalized experience?

Lurker from IF; decisions about IVF

Re: Lurker from IF; decisions about IVF

Choose Another Board

Search Boards