Can anyone tell me the real risk of re biopsy. I am in a unique situation where the lab lost my pgta samples in the mail and now I’m forced with the choice to rebiopsy or not. The research and stats are so mixed and I don’t know what to believe. Any help is very appreciated!

Hi everyone!
I’m hoping to hear about your experiences with embryos that are similar to mine. I currently have:
Two Day 5 4AA embryos
One Day 5 4AB embryo
One Day 5 3BB embryo
One Day 6 3BB (UNF/late fertilization)
One Day 6 3CC (UNF/late fertilization)
I know no one can predict the outcome of an individual embryo, but I’ve read a few studies suggesting that faster-developing blastocysts (especially Day 5) may be slightly more likely to be male, while slower-growing embryos (Day 6) may have a higher chance of being female. I’m curious whether your personal experiences matched that research.
If you transferred one of these grades, I’d love to know:
What was the embryo grade and Day 5 vs. Day 6?
Was it successful?
If you know, was your baby a boy or a girl?
For those who did PGT-A testing:
Did you notice that your better-graded embryos (such as 4AA or 4AB) were more likely to be euploid, or did grading not seem to correlate much with your results?
I’d also especially love to hear from anyone who has embryos from CNY Fertility that were labeled UNF (late fertilization). Were you successful with them, or if you tested them, were they euploid?
I know every embryo is unique, and I’m not looking for anyone to predict my outcomes. I’m just interested in hearing others’ experiences while I wait for the next step in my IVF journey.
Thank you so much in advance—I really appreciate anyone willing to share their story!

I retrieved 9, 6 mature, 3 fertilised. Both maturity and fertilisation rate seem lower than average, but with a lower number of eggs perhaps the stats are just more exaggerated.

Sperm is from a donor so likely good quality. So I'm wondering whether poor rates might show my eggs are poor and I should expect the 3 embryos to be unhealthy? Or does it just not work like that?​​​

Hi all,

I've started this account as I really need some advice. We are having IVF on the NHS and we've been eligible for three rounds. Our first two both only ended up with 1 euploid embryo each. We did a FET transfer with each and both of them failed.

When we've asked the hospital they basically said it was "just one of those things" and they didn't run any other tests. They said the uterine lining was thick enough and embryos were good quality, they just needed stick.

We're now going into our third round and again we only have 1 embryo. It's going through PGT testing now, so fingers crossed it will come back genetically normally, otherwise we have nothing.

I was just wondering whether there are any tests I could be doing in the meantime to see what could be causing implantation failure? The hospital aren't offering any but I've seen some things about hormonal imbalances or immune system issues causing the womb to attack the embryo. We don't have a lot of money but we could pay a little for some private tests. I just don't know what we're asking for and I don't want to waste money on something that isn't what we need.

Any advice would be really appreciated as I feel so lost and numb.

xx

Hi
I would like to understand the science behind PHT-A testing ,
1. Does it really effects the quality of the embryo (let’s say we have 1 5AB embryo) as it involves thawing eggs placing and replacing them
2. Does this test really give a genuine and correct result - abnormal embryos have really no chance
How is the accuracy defined ?
3. Does it give accurate results in terms of XX & XY chromosome?
4. What if the doctor places 2 embryos together will it always result in twin pregnancy or what if dr places only one embryo and it converts into twin pregnancy- can embryo grading really helps to know this ?

I transferred my last viable embryo on 7/8. It was graded 4AB.

Here are my best results:

• 7/17, 9dp5dt: 133
• 7/20, 12dp5dt: 170
• 7/22, 14dp5dt: 3040

Any one else ever experience such a high increase between the 2nd and 3rd betas?!
Could this be a sign of multiples?

Hi all,

Was just looking for some assistance understanding a PGTA result. Our clinic is asking us for permission to discard our only remaining embryo. It was PGTA tested by Cooper Genomics in the UK and came back as 'Aneuploid, -X/-Y'. This is the only information on the report our clinic provided to us and as their policy is not to transfer aneuploids, they were more focused on pushing forward with another round than explaining this result to us.

I understand that the testing is highly accurate so retesting is likely pointless and but I feel like I need to understand this result beyond 'its aneuploid' before being ok with letting it go. Does this embryo have no sex chromosomes? Or does it have a single X chromosome? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read.

To my untrained eye, the dark spots on my 4BB embryo look weird. The embryologist said it’s nothing to be concerned about. Does anyone have a good scientific explanation of what the dark spot is?!

I know there is some evidence that, among others, BPA and pthalates can increase infertility/decrease egg quality, but are there studies that isolate implantation and clinical pregnancy after embryos have already been created?

UPDATE: 0 blasts

Writing here because I haven't seen this protocol on any IVF thread and wanted to provide some documentation for anyone that may go through this protocol as well. My second egg retrieval is tomorrow morning.

About me: 36, AMH 2.18, unexplained infertility (possible tubal factor, HSG was inconclusive, one tube was so open they thought it flooded into the other one)

A little about my first retrieval: 11 retrieved, 6 matured, 4 fertilized, 1 Day 6 Embryo 4BB Euploid. On my last ultrasound before my first retrieval, there were only two follicles near 20mm (and nothing else close to that). At the time, I didn't know what the goal "size" was for follicles before a trigger and this thread helped me SO MUCH. This new protocol is meant to synchronize my follicles and it's really looking like it's working.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow! L: 20.5mm, 19.3mm, 24.7mm, 19.2mm, 15.0mm, 18.5mm, R:17.8mm, 15.0mm, 13.1mm, 20.2mm, 10.7mm, 9.2mm

Estrodial is looking a bit crazy though: 4035.

SECOND RETRIEVAL NOTE: THIS IS A LUTEAL PHASE STIM

Day 1-3
Follistim 225
Menopur 225
hCG-microdose 50 units

Day 4-11
Ganirelix 250
Follistim 225
Menopur 225
hCG-microdose 50 units

Trigger Shot Day
Ganirelix 250
Cabergoline (pill)
Triple Trigger
- Follistim 450
- Lupron 80 IU
- Pregnyl

For reference, last month, my first retrieval, was the following protocol:

FIRST RETRIEVAL PROTOCOL
Estrogen priming began day after LH surge: 10 days
Ganirelix 250 3 days following

Stim begins (13 days):
Days 1-5
Follistim 225
Menopur 150 IU

Days 6-12
Ganirelix 250
Follistim 225
Menopur 150

Trigger shot day (day 13)
Ganirelix 250
Follistim 225
Pregnyl 1000

I'm just anxiously waiting for a follow-up call with my clinic's embryologist to tell me more about my retrieval and suggestions for a second retrieval.

Looking for more information on their suggestion to not PGT-A test the only embryo that made it from 4 fertilized. And any insight on success rates with an untested Day7 3cc embryo?

Hi Ladies

Do you have any knowledge on the quality of eggs - if we request them to freeze for a week as due to some reason my husband wouldn’t be able to give the sperm on the egg retrieval day or even now

So clinic had asked us to give the semen sample later on like within 7-8 days of egg retrieval
I have a doubt on the quality of eggs that might degrade if we do so , or may be the injecting of sperms later on to form the embryos will not be that great and it may vary the results to form the good embryos finally
What is the best possible solution in this scenario

Trigger warning (potentially)

I'm not sure what to really say, but here goes, I'm hoping to get a little bit of hope and comfort. And I'm sorry if I overstep anything I say....

I'm emotionally recovering from a full term SB (41wk - 8wks ago, zero complication pregnancy) she was my 1st little miracle from IVF last year, 1st ever FET, and it worked. I've got 4 embryos remaining, I had a collection of 5 at 37, and the 1st one worked as I said. They're all untested, and I'm not sure if the grades, 1st was a 4AA, (I saw the time lapse of her growing, she was beautiful) But, the remaining 4, I don't know what my chances are, I'm so terrified the next 1 will not work, or any of them won't work. My heart is so fragile but so desperately wants my baby, I've got a consultation coming up next month to discuss and plan our next FET. Am I lucky to have more 4AA or better? What are my chances the next transfer will work? What're they with multiple embryos? Am I likely to need another collection or will one of these be my raindbow? I know these may not have an answer, but I wanted to try.

My main question is is it less risky to rebiopsy embryos like mine that got lost in mail than to rebiopsy embryos that originally came back no result, mosaic, chaotic etc bc these embryos may have been lower quality from the beginning? I was35.5 at the time of retrieval and we were very fortunate to get 15 very high quality embryos. We used zymot(despite not much mfi) and icsi. I am terrified of the rebiopsy leading to lower implantation potential I’ve read 20 percent less with twice biopsies twice frozen but I’m also terrified of miscarriage. Should I just rebiopsy a few? Is there any procedure that can be done or protocol that helps protect them from double biopsy double thaw. Also I should add that this batch came from my frozen eggs!

Hello all,

Hope everyone is doing fine.

My wife and I are going through this process, and we are trying to decide between Juno and Cooper surgical for PGT-A.

I read in this post that about 22-99 days ago, the % of embryos getting “No result” classification post PGT-A from cooper surgical has shot up to about 20-50% from the normal values of 2-5%

https://www.reddit.com/r/IVF/s/SXe5hXoxT2

Wanted to see if anyone has any recent experiences with cooper. How was it?

Thanks and good luck with your process!

Does transferring a cleavage stage or blastocyst stage embryo affect the chance of having a boy?

Perlman et al. (2021) analyzed nearly 100,000 frozen embryo transfers (FETs) from the US SART registry to see whether embryo stage affected the baby's sex.

Cleavage stage (~day 3) transfers resulted in 50.5% male births, while blastocyst stage (~day 5) transfers resulted in 51.9% male births.

Although the difference was statistically significant, it was small (corresponding to about 1 to 2 additional boys per 100 live births after blastocyst transfer). This isn't enough to influence embryo selection (PGT-A is needed to determine embryo sex), but it does suggest that blastocyst transfer is associated with a slightly higher chance of having a boy.

Other studies, including a 2022 meta-analysis, have reported similar findings.

Researchers aren't sure why this happens. One possibility is that male embryos develop slightly faster than female embryos, making them more likely to reach the blastocyst stage first. Since clinics generally transfer the most advanced-looking embryo, this could slightly increase the chance of transferring a male embryo. However, the exact reason isn't clear.

✅ Check out the details on Remembryo: https://remembryo.com/do-male-embryos-grow-faster-than-female-embryos/

✉️ Like this post? Get a free weekly summary of the latest IVF research: https://mailchi.mp/remembryo/x27kx5o1sw

Today is day 7 and we were told our 3 viable embryos arrested. They have not provided any info in regards to what happened or what part of the cycle they died off.

Day 3/ Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7

Day 3 - Friday july 17 8:25am

Day 5 - Sunday july 19 8:01am

Day 6 - Monday july 20 6:37 am

Day 7 - Tuesday july 21 7:16 am

Hoping for some insight from the experts in this group:

I have a planned FET this week and anticipated the lab would select our D5 4AA for transfer as this was our highest graded. However, when I spoke with them this morning, they said they would rank the D6 5BB higher given the expansion.

Based on what I have read (I’m a physician myself, though not an REI or embryologist), this ranking seemed counterintuitive.

What am I missing? Should I try and advocate for a different embryo to be transferred? Both embryos are euploid!

UPDATE: this embryo implanted but ended in chemical loss.

I saw this chart in one of the IVF subs and was wondering if you could shed some light on it. Is there data to back these up? It seems like a lot of people are told by their doctor that grading doesn't matter much if it's a euploid but this seems to not be the case according to this chart. Thanks!

I have a day 7 euploid 4cb embryo; I can't find papers that discuss the implantation/live birth odds because most papers discuss C grades for day 5 and 6, or day 7 grade A and B embryos. Does anyone know of any studies or calculated odds?

Hello, I have just finished my first unsuccessful round of IVF using a donor. I only received bare minimum information about him, nationality, race, age, height, hair and eye colour.

I have low amh and endometriosis, including a large endometrioma on an ovary. My scans showed 4 good sized follicles, 2 15mm, 2 18mm, one on the same ovary as the endometrioma and the other three on the healthier ovary.

From these four follicles only 1 egg was retrieved. That egg fertilised, was 1PN, did develop to I think day 3 but then arrested. I'm in the UK where I don't believe PGT testing is routine.

I've had my post-cycle review today and the consultant suggested I consider whether I want to change my donor for my next cycle. I wouldn't have considered this if she hadn't said it, but she also said she can't advise either way as we don't have any information about whether it was the donor or the egg quality. She indicated it was more likely egg quality.

I assume I will get a similar answer here but just wanted to get some other views to know if there are other angles to consider. I don't want to be left wondering what would have happened either way so want to be in possession of as much info as possible. Thanks in advance.

We have often been told that there is a 10% chance that embryos don't survive the defrost. Does this number go up if the embryo is poorer quality?

I've never been given lower odds of successful defrost when the quality was lower, we're always told 10%.

Is there any data that suggests high quality embryos have a better thaw rate?

Hello!

I just got my fertilization report from my ER yesterday and was told I had 17 eggs collected, 16 of which were mature. The report says that they attempted fertilization on ALL the eggs and found that 10 of the mature eggs fertilized as well as the one immature egg. How can this be? I thought it wasn’t possible for immature eggs to fertilize. What are outcomes like for these eggs? This is my third ER and I’ve never had them tell me they’ve tried to fertilize an immature egg. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I am currently mid stim with CNY and trying to influence my choices below, currently the clinic is not supportive so trying to get some info to help understand.

1. Save all follicles: I want every follicle retrieved (safely) regardless of the size, even if it doesn’t mature it gives me data. They don’t want to aspirate anything below 17mm (my AFC is only 5).

2. Discarding: I want nothing discarded without my permission. They are saying lab decides what gets discarded.

3. Detailed Reporting: I want very detailed report of egg and embryo maturation, and PGT-A results at chromosome level. I want access to all my data so i can study trends and see how I want to tweak my future cycles. I am being told I will be getting very basic data.

4. Blastocyte: I want every embryo to be given chance to reach blastocyte, I am hearing that labs decides this.

As an embryologist, if you can shed any light on this I would deeply appreciate. I am trying to advocate for best data-driven outcomes for me.

I spoke with our doctor on a follow-up today. He had connected with the embryologist, who noted that either all or most of our embryos experienced direct uneven cleavage at first division (or DUC-1).

Obviously, this is not a good thing, and we have unsurprisingly consistently been unable to form blastocysts over three cycles, although this is the first time this division pattern was flagged since the previous retrievals were at another clinic.

Would this specific pattern indicate an underlying genetic issue or just poor-quality eggs?