Thoughts on ERA

Re: Thoughts on ERA

• vetgirl2011 member

  May 2022

  I did an ERA test. Mine showed that I needed an extra 12 hours of progesterone, so I’m really glad we did it! I think the majority of people are receptive at the normal time, but I wanted to make sure I had the best chance possible. It was hard pushing FET back another month, but I don’t think I would have my son now if I hadn’t. Best of luck!

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• 00kim00 member

  May 2022

  I did a lot of research on ERA before making a decision. I'm a logical and scientific person, so I looked for peer-reviewed research on ERA. Only one study (paid for and done by the company who makes the ERA test) showed a significant difference for typical women. Given the conflict of interest and that it contradicts other research, I take that with a grain of salt. There was one or two who found benefit for a very specific type of woman (I think it was something like 3+ implantation failures with genetically normal embryos), but the evidence was pretty overwhelming that the ERA test for the general population and for first time transfers is not backed by science. That said, if you are the type of person who feels like you need to do everything possible, even if there's no evidence showing it works, and you have the money to burn (insurance, if you have any, probably covers nothing of that cycle), and you'll always regret not having the test if your embryos don't take, then you can do it for your own mental health. But just go in knowing you're doing it for that reason (the same reason that some people have to knock on wood so they don't jinx themselves), not because it is evidence-based practice. There's a reason no insurance covers it. Don't let the extra cycle or two (my doctor estimated it would put us back 2 cycles- one for the test, and another just waiting for the results) factor in, though. Even if you are older, like me, that primarily effects the eggs/embryos; you already have those on ice, so a couple of months isn't going to hurt your chances at all.
  
  **possible triggers ahead**
  I'm 41 years old, and did one egg retrieval knowing it will be our only chance for financial and age-related reasons. I've been through 7 years of infertility, including one loss. We got 4 embryos, none of which were genetically tested for ethical reasons. After a lot of research, discussion, thought, and prayer, we opted not to do the ERA testing and I felt comfortable that I wasn't going to regret it or blame that, even if we didn't have success; I felt confident in the research I read that ERA is unlikely to be a factor in success. We transferred 2 embryos in April, and I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant with a singleton. There's no way to know what the ERA test would've said, but even if this transfer didn't take, we would not have opted for the ERA before the next transfer.

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• enaids member

  May 2022

  @00kim00 thanks for the thoughtful response. We are also very research and science based thinkers (both engineers). We have also come to that same conclusion. So we are not planning to do the ERA. 
  
  Hope your pregnancy goes smoothly! 

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• strongwarrior member

  June 2022

  Thank you for this post, I really appreciate it. Congratulations!

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• courtneyh7138 member

  June 2022

  I did the ERA as a preventative measure. Most doctors will only recommend this after a few failed transfers, but I didn't want to get to that point. I decided to do it up front along with ReceptivaDX, Emma and Alice, it came back that I needed an extra 24 hours of progesterone so I'm thankful I did.

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