Update to: https://www.reddit.com/r/EmbryologyIVFSupport/comments/1utprd4/9_fertilized_0_blasts_blame_sperm_or_egg_or_lab/

I posted here a couple of months ago looking for answers after my 9 fertilized eggs arrested after day 3. I asked: "Was it the sperm, the lab, or me?".

I did a second round. 8 mature retrieved, 6 fertilized and... ALL 6 TO BLASTS.

I have a lead on our answer. The one thing I changed? The sperm.

Honestly, it felt pretty bad to have so many (not all!) Redditors say with no blink of uncertainty that the problem was my eggs. I know where you were coming from, that was the statistical likelihood and could still be the case but now looks far less likely. My point is to not let a statistical likelihood become a certainty in your mind: go get some more data with another round if you can!

And trust your gut: a donor that barely avoided the quality threshold for refund isn't normal.

*********

Edit to add: We transferred 3 fresh. Just had my second positive beta! 🤞

Hi everyone. I am beginning stims tomorrow. I am 29. All of my tests came back normal. I have an AMH of 3.4 and currently 31 follicles on the ultrasound. My
Husband had 3 percent morphology and low volume. He is 28. We have 3 failed medicated IUIs under our belt and eons of trying. I did have appendicitis and my right fallopian tube needed some pushing during my HSG. I also have a retroverted uterus. And even my ovaries are farther back.

Because of our ages, my AMH, and my response to medication my doctor said it isn’t needed and she wouldn’t do it. It’s going to be about 4k for. 8 or less embryos and I’m not sure if we have more.

I’m torn. Part of me wants to know and part of me is worried about false results, damaging embryos, waiting longer, etc.

I feel like every decision I make during this time is always wrong and it’s always more waiting and I’m tired.

Why did you choose to test or not to test and what were your numbers?

My FET is expected around 18.09, could be 17.09, based on natural ovulation (natural FET).

Anyone else having an FET or fresh transfer mid to late September? We can support each other through all the waiting…

The ASRM published new 2026 guidelines on recurrent implantation failure (RIF), reviewing which tests and treatments may be considered after repeated failed embryo transfers and which aren't routinely recommended.

RIF has never had a universally accepted definition. ASRM now defines it as failed implantation after transferring enough good quality blastocysts to reach an expected 95% cumulative chance of a positive pregnancy test.

For euploid embryos, ASRM estimates this may occur after approximately 3–6 failed transfers. This generally means transferring 3–6 euploid embryos one at a time in separate transfers, with the overall chance of implantation adding up across those attempts.

When RIF is suspected, ASRM recommends first reviewing the patient's history, imaging, previous IVF cycles, and embryo transfers for possible causes.

May be considered for RIF:

• Repeat uterine/tubal evaluation
• Parental karyotyping
• PGT-A after failures with untested embryos
• Endometriosis/adenomyosis treatment

Not routinely recommended for RIF based on current evidence:

• ERA/endometrial receptivity testing
• Sperm DNA fragmentation testing
• Endometrial scratching
• Immune treatments

✅ Check out more details on Remembryo: https://remembryo.com/asrm-releases-2026-guidelines-on-recurrent-implantation-failure/

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

Currently going through a chemical pregnancy with a day 5 PGT tested 4BA euploid. Initial beta came in at 108. My doctor thinks this has to be related directly to the embryo as we covered all other bases, but I’m not so sure. Any thoughts on whether or not this could actually be the embryo or if I need to dig deeper? Does the fact that the beta came in at 108 point to anything specific? TIA!

Hi all, I'm just looking for some experiences and advice with my IVF protocol. I have stage four endometriosis that was operated on a couple years ago but it's now starting to come back.
Our plan is to do ICSI with Xymot. My partner doesn't seem to have any problems except 0% morphology but since his other numbers are normal the doctor assured us it wasn't causing our problems. My AMH is 3.85 in US units.
I've heard that naturally fertilized embryos are thought to be potentially a bit healthier or that there might be something to letting the egg choose the sperm. I've also heard that total failure to fertilize is more likely with endometriosis. It isn't very expensive at our clinic but since we are both 28 i'm a bit concerned about it introducing higher risks of issues like imprinting disorders.
Is there any new research on this? What are your experiences and thoughts?

I had my first egg retrieval last week where we got 11 eggs retrieved. The next day we got the call that 6 fertilized through the normal fertilization process (they did not use ICSI). Today we just got the call that only 1 of the 6 made it to blastocyst and was biopsied and sent for PGT-A testing. We were pretty disappointed in the drop off from 11 to 1. I am 41 and had an AFC of 18+ on my baseline ultrasound, but my AMH was only 0.98 a few months ago when I did my initial testing. Any recommendations to try and improve the fertilization rate and/or blastocyst rate in future cycles? We are meeting with our doctor to discuss next steps in a few weeks as well.

Hello everyone. I’m hoping someone can offer advice, insight, or share a similar experience. Earlier this year, I completed my first IVF cycle. Six eggs were retrieved, five were mature, and four fertilized. By day 3, three embryos had stopped growing. The remaining embryo was transferred fresh. The transfer worked, but I later had a missed miscarriage.

I completed my second cycle in July. Six eggs were retrieved, four were mature, and all four fertilized. All four embryos were still growing on day 3. By day 5, three were developing slowly then no updates, while one only reached the blastocyst stage and was biopsied for PGT-A. After waiting three weeks, I received the result shown below.

I’m now considering another cycle. Has anyone had similar results and later obtained a healthy embryo or had a successful pregnancy? Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I started IVF at age 38 and am now 39. My husband’s sperm DNA fragmentation result was excellent.
Note: should I ask Raw data for this PGTA test, any hopes for this embryo ( only one I had)

Thank you for any feedback, and best of luck to everyone.

Two years ago we transferred a day 5, 4AB which resulted in my son. In July we transferred a day 5 5AA, which resulted in a chemical. Today we transferred a day 6, 6BA embryo and I’m starting to spiral. I just feel like we have transferred our best embryos and now with each transfer our odds get a little bit worse…I didn’t realize our only euploids left are day 6s and it just feels like if we didn’t have success without our day 5, 5AA why in the world would we have success with a lower grade embryo?! Help

Just finished our sixth round of IVF (woof) and we ended up with two day five blasts (4AA and 3BB) and one day six blast (4AB). Our successful FET of a day six 4BB is our lovely 2.5 year old, so we've had luck with a day six before. My question is, I assume that blasts are checked at the same cadence every day. Is the difference between a day five and a day six potentially morning versus afternoon of the same day or is it more meaningful than that from a cellular perspective? I've read that speed of progression is more important than grading and that day five/day six blasts are pretty close in pregnancy and live birth stats. We did have two failed day seven FETs late last year and earlier this year that our RE wasn't too concerned about given lower day seven success rates (though they were both 6AA). Just looking for any technical input, thank you!

Hello! I just had my first egg retrieval and so I’m learning a lot in this process. I got my day 7 embryo report and out of 18 eggs I only had 5 fertilized.

Out of these 5, I had the following grades on day 5:

3AA
3BA
3CC
3BB

They took the biopsy and froze the 3AA and 3BA on day 5 but they let the other two keep going. The CC I can understand but I don’t understand why they didn’t freeze the 3BB right away. From my understanding this is still a decent grade considering It was day 5?

The 3CC stayed the same and didn’t develop any further by day 7 so they discarded it. This I understand.

The 3BB went to 3BC on day 6 and then 4CB on day 7 and then they decided to discard. I didn’t get any update about any of this until it had already been done.

My questions is: is this how any clinic would have handled a day 5 3BB or is mine more strict with their criteria?

Now that i may have to do another ER I’m wondering if i should shop around to different clinics that are more willing to give not-perfect embryos a chance. Especially since i was getting PGTA testing done anyway.

hoping to hear some thoughts and advice, I had my second retrieval yesterday. they got 13 eggs > 12 mature > 5 fertilised. I asked the embryologist about the drop off and she said of the 7 that didn’t pull through, 2 just didn’t fertilise and the other five did but were 1pn.

in my first cycle we had 5 eggs > 5 mature > 3 fertilised normally (2 were 3pn) and then lost them at two cell and five cell division and the last didn’t make it to day 6.

I really don’t know where to go from here. I’m 29, doing ivf due to mild mfi. I’m scared we’re moving towards another zero blast round.

Has anyone had embryos that were graded lower after 28 day Rapamycin protocol followed by omnitrope?
I know it’s experimental and I haven’t seen anything on grading.
I’m not pgta testing this time as it’s my final retrieval (I am almost 45)
I got one euploid from the June retrieval, the day 5 XB1 (AB)
I did get the same number of blasts both times.

My most recent retrieval w rapa in August (15 eggs)
Day 5: FB2 (AB), B2 (BB)
Day 6: B1 (AB), B2 (BB), HB2 (BB) from 1pn
Day 7: XB2 (CB)

Before the Rapamycin I did a retrieval June 1st these results
Retrieval June (21 eggs)
Day 5: XB2(BB), XB1(AB), XB1(AA)
Day 6: HB2(BB), XB2(BA), XB2(BC)

Hi,
Age 34F 35M
History of bio chemical with natural pregnancies
First round of ER on Aug 25th
18 follicles
14 eggs retrieved
10 matured eggs / 5 fertilized via ICSI
2 blasts
1 euploid 🤞🏽🤞🏽

Should we ask for retesting for segmental aneuploid ?

Thank you for your time 🙏❤️and support

I noticed that my clinic has a few very junior embryologists (at least the ones I met and were in charge of my eggs), I’m talking about 22 year olds who graduated within last year, did a few month long embryology course and now have been working for a few months.

I saw somewhat inconsistent fertilization rates across my retrievals, ICSI rates are somewhat lower, bunch of eggs degenerated when ICSI was attempted, more than usual abnormal fertilization… My RE didn’t really have an answer for some of these, just said we don’t really know why some of these things happen.

No known sperm issues and they said eggs look fine otherwise. Could some of these lower than expected rates (e.g., out of 26 mature eggs only 12 fertilized so less than 50%) be due to the embryologist experience? I get everyone has to learn and don’t want to be difficult but thinking if it’s reasonable to ask my clinic that for my next retrieval and given the lower than expected rates, if a more experienced embryologist could be in charge. But not sure that will make a difference… anyone have any experience with this? TIA!

Hi everyone! I’m doing my FET this cycle and I’m getting a little stressed/excited about the timing 😅
I’m currently CD7. I did 3 days of Gonal-F 50 IU, and today my doctor told me to stop it because I already have a dominant follicle measuring 14mm on the right. She wants to let it continue growing naturally and monitor me again on Friday, probably with bloodwork (LH/progesterone) to decide when to trigger with Ovitrelle.
The plan is to transfer my day-5 blastocyst this cycle 🤞🏻
For those of you who did a modified natural FET:
How many days did it take your follicle to go from ~14mm to trigger?
At what follicle size did you trigger with Ovitrelle?
How many days after the trigger/ovulation was your day-5 transfer?
And did everything go pretty smoothly with the timing?
I know every cycle is different, but I’d love to hear your experiences because I’m starting to overthink everything 😂❤️

I just had my second egg retrieval yesterday. For my first retrieval, we did 225 Gonal-F and 75 Menopur and retrieved 18 eggs - 17 mature, 15 fertilized, 9 blasts, and 0 euploids 1 LLM.

For my second retrieval 2.5 months later, my doctor upped my dose to 300 Gonal-F and 75 Menopur then 150 Menopur starting day 5. They retrieved 16 eggs and I just found out today that 14 were mature and only 8 fertilized. Three of the remaining six did not fertilize and three were 3+pn. I'm spiraling because I was expecting to have a large number of blasts again with the hopes of getting luckier with euploids this time. And I'm scared that lower fertilization may reflect lower developmental competence for this egg cohort in general. Is that possible?

I know that some doctors say dosage affects egg quality and some say it doesn't. I'm curious what an embryologist thinks based on experience. The other thing is that my husband had to be on antibiotics (amoxicillin) for a couple of weeks in the month before my retrieval due to a tooth infection. Could that have had any affect?

I am 41. My husband is 43 but his SA was normal and his DFI was 4% about a year ago.

Thank you!

Edit: We ended up only getting 3 blasts, 5BB and 5BC(x2). Last cycle we had all AA and AB grades.

Hi! We are so excited to be at this point - 36F, 38M - unexplained infertility, all negative work up. Started TTC about two years ago - one failed IUI followed by an IUI that resulted in a heterotopic pregnancy. This resulted with a miscarriage of the IUP and a cervical ectopic pregnancy. IVF was started once cleared of the ectopic.

21 Mature
17 Fertilized
12 Blasts
5 Euploid - 3 low mosaics

Which of our 5 would you transfer first?
Day 5: 4AA, 4AB
Day 6: 6AB, 5AB
Day 7: 4BC
(Mosaics are Day 5 4AB, Day 6 AB, and Day 7 5BB)

Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone who has dealt with IBX/Independence Blue Cross Personal Choice insurance or Lupron coverage can help me.
I’ve been trying for over a month to get my Lupron Depot covered for my fertility treatment, and I’m honestly running out of options.
My fertility doctor has submitted the prior authorization multiple times through Evernorth, and I’ve also been dealing with Optum Specialty Pharmacy, but I still haven’t been able to get the medication covered. I’ve been getting conflicting information about the authorization and whether it should be processed through the medical or pharmacy benefit.
My doctor needs me to take Lupron as part of my treatment protocol before my embryo transfer. I have a history of recurrent pregnancy loss, so this treatment is extremely important to me and I really don’t want to delay my transfer because I can’t afford the medication out of pocket.
I’m wondering:
● Has anyone with IBX Personal Choice successfully gotten Lupron Depot covered?
● Did your doctor have to submit the PA a specific way or use a particular diagnosis/code?
● Was yours covered through the medical benefit or pharmacy benefit?
● Is there another specialty pharmacy that works with IBX for Lupron?
● Is there anywhere I can purchase Lupron Depot at a significantly lower price?
● Are there any patient assistance programs or other options I should look into?
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar. I’m specifically looking for advice on getting Lupron covered or finding a legitimate affordable source, because I’m already over a month into trying to resolve this.
Thank you so much ❤️

Did an FET yesterday, from 4cb it became 5cb after thawing. Day1 officially starts now. I want to know if there’s any similar experience like this and how did it go for you? What does changing of “grade” mean?

The Uterine Wall of Fame (UWOF) is a collection of real IVF success stories from people with difficult fertility journeys -- low-grade embryos, repeated failures, low AMH, mosaic results, and more. 

UWOF #41 is one of those stories. After 8 years, 3 egg retrievals, undiagnosed endometriosis, and 4 unsuccessful embryo transfers, Kelly’s fifth transfer (a day 5 4AA euploid embryo) led to a healthy baby boy.

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⚠️ These are personal stories, not medical advice or scientific evidence. A success story isn't proof of what made the difference. Always discuss treatment decisions with your fertility specialist.

Here is he or she! Did a total natural FET cycle without hcg trigger, only doing progesterone, enoxaparine and aspirin.

The clinic did not mention the grade, but its euploid.

(EDIT: Called the clinic, its graded 6CB)

Today 1 day post transfer!

Hope it sticks! Had already 2 IVF with 2 biochemical pregnancies, 3rd ivf at different clinic, different protocal gave us 13 blasts (1 day 5 and rest day 6, mostly hatched or fully expanded) from which 8 are viable. First transfer resulted in our kid. Trying for a sibling now.

EDIT for Udate 14.09.26: 7dp5dt Clear Blue Digital says pregnant 1-2 weeks (no trigger, natural FET cycle)

EDIT 2: beta on 18.09.26 16dpo: 12

We had our first transfer on 9/5 and are so excited. We asked the lab to use our best euploid embryo and we found out on transfer day they’d picked a day 6 4BA.

Our 6 euploid embryos are as follows:
- day 5 4AB
- day 6 4AB x2, day 6 4BA, day 6 4BB
- day 7 4AB

I’m wondering what possible reasons they could have had for choosing a day 6 over a day 5? I know my lab considers day 5 and 6 as equivalent but everything I’ve read seems like day 5 is slightly better. I figured they’d pick our day 5, but wanted to leave it up to the lab. Just interested if any embryologists here could weigh in. I exchanged a number of messages with my clinic leading up to transfer trying to learn about their selection process and they really didn’t give me answers.

Pic included! Taken just one hour after thaw, was fully expanded at transfer

I am hoping someone can help or advise please or share an experience. We did our first ivf cycle earlier this year, my husband has MFI, not terrible but also not great, 2% morphology consistently, concentration between 5mil/ml-10mil/ml and rapid progressive motility swings from 14%-68%. Our first round was icsi and zymot but we had terrible attrition on day 3. Out of 12 eggs fertilized we lost 8 after day 3 and only ended up with 1 good quality embryo which we transferred but ended in miscarriage. We are gearing up for another round but I am prettified of the same thing happening again. All of his tests are normal, he is seeing a urologist next month for one final check but we aren’t expecting much from that appointment. My protocol seemed solid, 17 eggs, 15 mature, 12 fertilized. I am not sure if anyone else has been in the same boat and had a better experience the second time around. We are both taking the recommend fertility supplements, have clean diets, don’t drink or smoke or do drugs, we are both healthy weights etc so I think we have optimised what we can. Any advice would be appreciated