intro and PGS - yay/nay?

kms456 · February 2016

**Trigger - BFP/DD mentioned**

Hello Everyone! I'm new to the board (this time around) so wanted to give an intro. We went through our initial IF testing back in 2012 after a year of TTC. DH was diagnosed with MFI- low count and low motility. We were told we had a 3% chance to get pregnant naturally. Our first RE recommended straight to IVF. We got a second opinion and got pregnant on our first IUI cycle (Dh's numbers during this cycle were way higher than any previous SA we had had) and had DD in May 2013.

Fast forward to this past fall after 6 months of TTC. Decided to go ahead and go back to the RE#2 that got us pregnant. Immediately started IUI's and DH's numbers are just way lower than the first time around. After 2 failed IUI's (and not really a good quality of care) we decided to switch RE's again. We went through some additional testing at RE#3's and they suggested that DH stop taking Adderall and that "may potentially" help increase his numbers in 3-4 months.

While I think this is an absolute long shot (he had low count before Adderall even came into play), we are waiting to move on to IVF until April in order to give DH the time to hopefully increase his numbers for an IUI instead. He will have a repeat SA in March. In the meantime, we are getting all our ducks in a row financially (no insurance coverage) and going ahead with prelim testing to gear up for IVF.

So now to my question - to do PGS or not. I'm 29 (will be 30 by ER) and DH is 30 (will be 31 by ER). I've done a prelim genetic testing and tested negative for all the abnormalities they checked. DH has not been tested. We will only be doing one full cycle of IVF including any FET that we can do, but we cannot afford more than one ER. I'm leaning towards yes - just because it will be our only one and we should want to increase all of our odds. But we are already paying 100% OOP so the added expense is something to consider too. None of my friends have ever been through this, so I of course know you ladies can weigh in.

Appreciate it!!!

2legbaby · February 2016

I think that PGS at your age (although borderline) is something to consider, if you transfer a PGS tested normal embryo the pregnancy rates go up and you can avoid transferring more than 1 and risking twins (assuming you don't want twins

) and hopefully decreasing the chance of a miscarriage (as most (not all) miscarriages are suspected to be due to chromosomal abnormalities). There are, of course, risks to the embryos with biopsying so be sure to question your RE about the embryologists experience with the procedure (we never really "vet" the embryologists, but really they are so important in how everything turns out!). Also, I would advise against the day 3 biopsy as it is riskier and can give false positives (saying that embryos are abnormal when they would have "self reverted") so prepare for a day 5 if you do and that means no fresh transfer, you would do a frozen transfer the month after the results.
I am glad our RE recommended it, we had 4 embryos that were all abnormal and while I am so looking forward to being pregnant, I am glad we didn't risk having to go through the trauma of a miscarriage which would have ultimately occurred as all the abnormalities were fatal.

kms456 · February 2016

@2legbaby When we were at the RE's she didn't mention specifically what day they do the testing on, but she did say that if we chose to go that route - it would be a FET the next month. So I'd assume that would mean a Day 5 test. But I'll verify with her. It's funny how many questions come up AFTER our appointments

2legbaby · February 2016

LOL yes, like 10,000 questions that you hope you remember for next time

My husband and I always write a list and then go over it at the end and make sure we have crossed off each question before leaving

If they mentioned an FET then they will be doing a 5 day which I would say is the way to go if you elect to do it. It seems the pricing for testing really varies, some women have paid $5000, the company my RE uses it was $2300 for up to 8 embryos and $225 for each additional embryo (that doesn't include the biopsy fee from the RE office). The company is Reprogenetics and I wonder if your RE uses a more $$ place if you can request sending it someplace cheaper???
We are planning to move forward with a donor egg, right now we are hoping to use frozen eggs of a friend who went through MFI (some issues have come up) but we plan on PGS testing regardless of who we use as our RE quoted us a 70% chance per cycle of getting pregnant! I'm sure other ladies will chime in and I know this question has come up before so if you search you may find some more info to make your decision

dragonfaerie · February 2016

KKamm917 We have a very similar story. DH and I decided to go with the PGS testing for no other reason than to increase our odds. Our doc put it like this: you can pay a little more out of pocket now and have the 70-80% of a BFP, or we can go with the unknown, and potentially have a loss. Our office always tests and transfers at 5 days because so much can change between days 3 and 5/6.

I know it's a hard decision to make though. Praying for your peace of mind!

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