Bad Eggs and PGD (newbie) TW Losses

aconklin214 · September 2018

Hi Everyone,
Let me start by saying this post may be a TW for some.

I'm new to posting but a long time reader of these boards. I am currently pregnant but will probably experience my 3rd miscarriage in a year and a half and my 4th total.

A quick background. I had my first MC 9 years ago. Hubby and I decided to wait and enjoy our 20s before trying again. Fast forward to April 2017 when I found out I was pregnant. At 20 weeks, we found out our daughter had Trisomy 18, and 2 weeks later I MC'd. In March 2018, I found out I was pregnant again, twins, and MC'd at 8 weeks. Started seeing a RE who ran all sorts of tests. Came back that I have MTHFR, PCOS and Endometriosis (I already knew about the Endo after being diagnosed in 2012). No chromosomal translocation for hubby or myself. Doc warned that I may have bad eggs, as T18 is not common when you're 29. He felt we should do IVF with PGD. My husband and I declined and instead decided to try clomid. 2 weeks ago I found out I was pregnant for the 4th time. My beta HCG has been terrible, not doubling, barely moving. I've been taking progestorone, baby asprin, lovenox injections, prenatals and additional folic acid. Dr. said to prepare myself as this pregnancy will not be viable either. He once again stated I have bad eggs and suggested IVF with PGD if I want to try again.

My question is, has anyone ever had anything similar, done IVF with PGD and had good embryos? IVF with PGD is very expensive and I'm petrified to spend all the money to have every embryo come back abnormal. I'm not asking if anyone has had a successful pregnancy, just if anyone has had success with PGD testing after being told they have bad eggs.

byrneme · September 2018

Hello and I'm sorry to hear you are going through all of this, I cannot even imagine. We got pregnant naturally and I had a MMC around 6 weeks and found out at our 9 week ultrasound. Got pregnant again almost immediately and that resulted in chemical. Tried the natural route for awhile and it didn't work so went into the RE for testing. He felt my AMF was fine but, at my age (36 at the time) it was likely chromosomal/my eggs and suggested IVF with PGD. We chose to do 4 medicated IUIs, all of which failed. When we did the IVF retrieval I had 13 eggs, 10 fertilized, 3 made it to Day 5 and 1 came back genetically sound. We are insanely lucky that one embryo resulted in a healthy baby girl. I 100% believe that the genetic testing is worth every penny. I didn't have a problem (at first at least) getting pregnant but staying pregnant was a whole different story. I hope this helps and sending lots of baby wishes your way. Good luck.

mbradfo2 · September 2018

I also had a MMC around 7-8 weeks (and a vanishing twin at the same GA); my doctor ultimately feels that our primary issue was likely egg quality with a side reserve issues based on my IVF cycle and borderline lab numbers (I consulted with him briefly when I dropped by with baby for a visit). I got 9 mature eggs on retrieval and only 5 fertilized, but we ended up with 2 untested day 6 blasts. One of those M/C; the other is my little girl, so likely there was only one normal one. We did not test because we got so few blasts and I was under 35 with only one prior m/c at that point -- the RE would have suggested it in the future since our issue seems to be producing normal embryos rather than staying pregnant. My vanishing twin and MMC both had the same signs of abnormality, so technically 2 MC out of 3 embryo implants.

Most ladies I know who have egg quality issues and do IVF with testing end up with similar numbers (if they get any at all) -- 1 to 2 normal embryos. .

I'm sorry you are experiencing all of this :-( I hope you get your take-home baby soon!!!

natashaloy13 · September 2018

IVF/PGD will find you a good embryo without you having to miscarry the bad ones. That alone is priceless. You have been through enough.

2MomsHoping · September 2018

I had 3 early miscarriages and no answers. I sought a second opinion from a new re who said thought my eggs were likely bad even though all my other tests were normal. We ended up sending 9, five day embryos for PhD testing only 2 came back normal. (For my age at the time that was a very low percent) PGS testing does not ensure a take home baby but it can help you decide what to transfer. The cost was well worth it to me when I think of those other 7 embryos where they didn’t have a chance i was at my breaking point and I may not have had the mental strength to make it to pgs normal ones. It is possible to get no normal embryos which happened with my first IVF it is a huge blow and I hope that isn’t the case for you but I guess with my second IVF I figure I rather know it was unsuccessful and not transfer than suffer another loss. Best wishes to you I know this is not an easy road and these decisions are so difficult and personal. Take some time after hearing the pros and cons and above all other opinions trust your gut.

cashewchicken · September 2018

I’m sorry that you are going through all this. Have you had a second opinion? I’m asking because I’m a bit surprised that your doctor concluded that you had bad eggs after T18 chromosomal abnormality with your first pregnancy. My understanding is that T18 is the second most common chromosomal abnormality after Down syndrome. While the risk of having an embryo with the abnormality does increase with age, it’s not unheard of in younger mothers. My state actually screens for trisomy 21, 18 and 13 (through serum testing and ultrasound) in all pregnant women, not just women of AMA.

That said, embryo abnormality is one of the main reasons why women miscarry and PGS screening will at least rule out the abnormality as the cause of miscarriage. I screened my embryos since I was 38 at the time of IVF and I’m glad I did. I had 5 embryos after retrieval #2 and all 5 came back abnormal. If I hadn’t screened them, I’d have likely spent 1-2 years transferring them without any success. I was able to get 4 normals from the third retrieval and one became my son.

I also noticed one thing from your post. If you have a MTHFR mutation, I thought that you need to take a different folic acid, the methylated one, instead of taking more folic acid.

aconklin214 · September 2018

@cashewchicken After my 3rd miscarriage (lost 4 babies by that point) is when he stated that he believes I have bad eggs, partially due to the T18 and because of the amount of miscarriages by 29. My first pregnancy ended at 7 weeks. I was also tested for T13, 18, and 21 at 13 weeks with my second pregnancy and the test never picked up the T18. It wasn't until my anatomy scan and a later amnio that we discovered what was wrong. I've been taking a vitamin called Methyl B Complete. When I wrote the post, I couldn't remember the exact name, so that's why I just said extra folic acid lol.

aconklin214 · September 2018

Thank you all for taking the time to respond and tell me your stories. Knowing that I am not alone and that other people have done PGD and have had atleast 1 good embryo gives me hope. I know I can no longer try naturally as I cannot mentally handle losing more babies.

Holls214 · September 2018

Glad you jumped over here and got some more answers. Thinking about you.

I ended up doing PGS testing on our embryos since I also didn't want to transfer any that may have chromosomal issues as well. It is tough and it is expensive, but I do think you would be able to get some normal ones with testing.

aconklin214 · September 2018

@Holls214 thank you for the recommendation

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