ghost & everyone. How do they choose what day to transfe

[tiffywall86]

So they called yesterday and said I had 8 mature eggs and they all fertilized. They are calling me back today and letting me know how they are doing and when the transfer is. So once they are fertilized do they make it to day 5? im worried that if they call and say lets do a day 5 transfer that they wont make it...? How do they decide?

[AmandaM]

tiffy

There are several factors into deciding what day to transfer. In my case I was automatically a day 5 transfer due to going through PGD for genetic testing. doing a day 5 transfer is better because it weeds out the embryos that wouldn't survive in the womb. It is better to transfer a blastocyst which can't be seen at day 3. It is possible that some of the embryos wont make it to day 5. However, it is better to know this then have them select to implant that one and then not get pregnant. I believe when the embryos aren't doing as well they choose to do a day 3 transfer.

[dogzrule]

Amanda is exactly right. Since you have a lot that fertilized, you are in GREAT shape to have day 5 embies. The chances of not having any are beyond low (my doctor told me 1-2%). Do not worry, this really is the best option!

[tiffywall86]

yay thank you for the information. I am getting really excited! They call me today to let me know which day we will do the transfer. So 8 fertilized is enough to expect a 5 day transfer? Also, we are putting 2 back in, what is the chances of twins?

[Ghost]

Clinics have various practices.

It sounds like yours tries for day 5 in patients with many embryos. That is pretty common practice. The rationale for it is that such patients are more likely to have many developing embryos in the day 3-5 period, and therefore culturing them to blast should help to identify the best among the many.

The rational behind doing a day 3 transfer in patients with few developing embryos is that, when there are only 1 or 2 good embryos on day 3, it's pretty obvious which should be transferred. No need for extended culture. Many clinics charge extra for extended culture, so the day 3 transfer saves $$$. On top of that, a few think the uterus is a better environment than culture media, and therefore favor early transfer as soon as the best embryos are identified.

Many other clinics just do all day 3 or else all day 5 based on routine practice. I think this is more common than the flexible protocol your clinic uses.

[ck121]

Hi! I just wanted to tell you about my ivf experience....I think whether they decide to transfer a day 3 or a day 5 embryo depends on the clinic.

My clinic does 3 day transfers but if there aren't enough 8 cells embryos to transfer, they will go to the day 5 transfer. And I don't know if it depends on the amount either b/c I had 30 eggs retrieved, 20 were mature, all 20 fertilized...they froze 8 right away and incubated 12...two were good for day 3 transfer, three made it to day 5 and were frozen, the rest didn't make it.
But they put two day 3 embryos in me and I got a BFP and just had ultrasound today and I'm having one baby!! But my co-worker did a 5 day transfer with two embyros and ended up with twins!

But it does sound like day 5 transfers are done more often than day 3 transfers. Good luck with yours!!

[dogzrule]

tiffy - I too had 8 fertilize, and it was plenty for the 5-day transfer. 3 made it to blast (one was a perfect 120-cell embie!!!), and they did put 2 in and froze the 3rd. At my clinic, the likelihood of twins on a 5-day transfer of 2 embies is 33%. How did your phone call go?????