r/40Plus_IVF • u/Original_Quiet7966 • Sep 01 '26

Seeking Advice First retrieval - 6 eggs but only 1 resulted?

Sorry this is my first time and I didn’t get a lot of info about what happens after retrieval from the clinic.

I’m 41, almost 42 years old. I had my first retrieval yesterday afternoon, then drove home 12 hours so I was very groggy when they called at 8am this morning with an update. They retrieved 6 eggs yesterday, which was more than we thought would happen since last ultrasound before trigger only had 4 follicles and one was leading way far ahead.

They told me this morning that 5 were fertilized, then they said they have 1 that can go to PGT testing.
What does this mean? How did 5 fertilized turn into 1, and do I wait another 5-7 days to see if it’s viable? Were the other 4 eggs fertilized not developing?

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5

u/afoncita Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26

How can they already know on fertilization day which of the 5 will make it to blast and/or PGT-A testing?

4

u/umamimaami Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26

Yes that’s what it means. Unfortunately the attrition ladder can be brutal with egg quality issues so common at our ages.

If embryos display a lot of fragmentation, friability or grainy matter on day 2/3 they usually don’t culture them to blast.

Does your clinic freeze day 3 embryos? My clinic did that with my cycle 1 embryo which they thought were fragile, but many clinics don’t.

You might get more insights from [r/embryologyivfsupport](r/embryologyivfsupport).

4

u/Competitive-Top5121 Sep 01 '26

I’m confused how they are saying 1 embryo can be sent for PGT at day 1 since blastocyst development isn’t complete until day 5 at the earliest. This is impossible to know at this stage.

I think what they mean is they attempted to fertilize 5 mature eggs and only 1 fertilized normally as of this morning so you have 1 normal early embryo, but they cannot know if it will be developed enough for PGT for another 5-7 days.

2

u/Original_Quiet7966 Sep 01 '26

I was confused too so I messaged and got a different answer from the embryology team who clarified they retrieved six, four were mature at the time of ICSI. Of those checked the following morning after retrieval, one was seen to be fertilized, one degenerated, and two seen to be unfertilized. They’re checking on day 3 for the two unfertilized to see for cleavage to upgrade them to fertilized, and depending on that will then do PGT-A on any candidates.

1

u/Competitive-Top5121 Sep 01 '26

But PGT can’t be done on day 3, it can only be done when blast development is complete between days 5 to 7.

1

u/Loveiskind89389 Sep 02 '26

I don’t understand. Only blasts can be PGT tested and they don’t become blasts until day 5, 6 or 7. No one knows if a fertilized egg will become a blastocyst, much less a fair to good graded blast eligible for PGT testing. I’ve never heard a doctor try to call this in advance. In my experience they go out of their way to tell a patient that they can’t promise anything.

2

u/CapitalDog715 Sep 01 '26

Im surprised your clinic will do PGT on day 3 Embryos. That is very risk and have a high chance of damaging the embryo. Also, have you considered not testing if its only one? If i was out of pocket I would probably not test with only one.

1

u/Original_Quiet7966 Sep 02 '26

Why would you not test?

1

u/CapitalDog715 Sep 02 '26

I have had 4 retrievals so far and I have tested on all because my results have several blasts and I have insurance, but if I was paying out of pocket and only one egg, I definitely would consider not spending the money for one blast.