How many frozen embryos should we transfer?

[amandago]

Hi all,
My first IVF did not work in July. We only transferred one and have 2 frozen. One is good quality and one is fair. They are both 5 day blasts. We are doing FET in early October. I am looking for any opinions and experiences with this.

All of this was out of pocket. If we do another round we are going to do the $30,000 (gasp) shared risk financing.

I guess my thoughts are that if the embryos do not take due to less than optimal conditions, then we "wasted one". Of course we never know why they do not stick..... Do you think our chances are better with two separate transfers?

My drs. strongly encourage single embryo transfer for patients my age, but will definitely transfer 2 if we would like. They have very high success rates with FET.

I just turned 35 and have a 3 1/2 year old. What would you do?

Thanks all!

[tortillachip]

Hi there Amanda,
It's a personal decision you must make with your hubby. What does he think? I am 38 and we have been trying for 5 1/2 years. The first 2 times I did IVF we transferred 4 and one was a chemical pregnancy, and the other a BFN. The third time we defrosted 5 embies but none survived...cancelled morning of transfer. The fourth time we transferred 5 and I am finally pregnant with one baby.
Good luck to you!

[Warren Dew]

I don't think there's much difference either way, as long as you are ready to carry twins if you put both in and they both take. That said, I'd do the two single transfers; as you say, the chances may be slightly better, and an extra frozen embryo cycle is cheap compared to the $30k.

[angeinhull]

Hi

I have not done a FET but my clinic said that if you do they always recommend transferring 2 due to success rates compared with fresh. This may be different at your clinic.

For me I would transfer 2 as I would be happy with twins. I think it is very personal and you need to think about wether the risk of twins vs singleton is a problem.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Ange

[Miner_79]

Amandago- I am kinda in the same boat as you... I just completed my 1st IVF and it ended with a chemical pregnancy. I was crushed. But as always in life you have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off. With that being said we have 3 frozen embies. 2 are good quality and 1 is fair.. The doc said that he would recommend transferring all 3. It concerns me a little but I am up for it... I would say you should think about what is best for you and your husband. Either way I will keep you in my prayers and wish you all the best in the world...
-Chris

[lisa10]

I am doing a FET in mid October and had the same decision to make. We are only doing one fresh and however many frozen cycles we can do and then we are done since we are also paying out of pocket also. We have been blessed with 2 children already, but have been trying for 3 years for #3. Due to our situation and not wanting twins, we are hoping for 2 possible FET's with the 2 frosties we have. Transfering 1 each time. I am worried that the 2nd FET has the least successful chance since it will be the lowest in quality egg since they start each time with the best, but that's how we are going about it. We had a chemical last month w/ the best blast in my fresh cycle, so each time I think our chances of success go down. I agree with everyone, even my Re said I can't tell you what to do, you need to decide. Our clinic's success rate of FET or freah are about the same. I guess you have to decide if twins will work for you, remembering as my Re said, you will have an at risk pregnancy with a twin pregnancy. Or do you want a better chance at this time working? Because putting 2 in at once will impove your odds of success.

[baylorbear33]

I tell you my story... We did our first IVF fresh cycle last year. We transferred two embyros. Only one of them took, but split twice giving us an identical triplet pregnancy. We lost one baby at 7 weeks and lost the other two at 19 weeks due to complications. We had three frozen embryos left from the fresh cycle. In April of this year, we did a FET and transferred one 6-day blast (fair quality) in an attempt to reduce our chance of multiples given what happened with our first cycle. This resulted in a chemical pregnancy/very early miscarriage. In June of this year, we had two embyros left, and we made the decision to transfer both. (one 5-day blast and one 6-day blast) We did this for a couple of reasons: 1) we were exhausted with the process and wanted to give ourselves the best chance possible for our last attempt, and 2) our doctor seemed far more comfortable with us transferring two to give us a better chance. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant with one baby. I completely understand where you are coming from, but I just wanted to share my story. We had made the decision when this all started that we would only try IVF once given the expense. We were fortunate to have the option of FET following our fresh cycle. We had made the decision that we would pursue adoption if we were unsuccessful, so this made the decision to transfer the final two much easier. I hope this helps.

[hopeful_cycle_one]

amandago - I am in similar boat too. D&C is tomorrow at 7.5 weeks, baby stopped growing around 5.5 weeks. We have 3 frozen, all blasts. Not sure of blast quality. We transferred only 1 embryo, a 1AA, for our fresh cycle (that was our first IVF cycle).

We're not sure what to do either -- transfer 1 or 2. The whole reason I went with IVF is to avoid multiples. I really don't want the risks associated with twins -- I know many horror stories.

I'm 32, TTC 2+ years.

Keep us updated on what you decide!

Hopeful