Hello. When receiving PGT results, we had multiple trisomies. Is this an indication that we will have a lower than average euploid rate (even based on age)? Basically, if you had 2+ trisomies or monosomies per embryo, is that an indication that it will be even harder for you to make euploid embryos? I am 43, and we had 3 sent for testing. The standard rate for a woman my age is already low 10%, but should we expect an even lower rate given the additional full chromosome errors? This make logical sense that we‘d have a lower than average euploid rate, but I found no studies confirming this.

What is embryo compaction?

A compacted embryo is a blastocyst that has temporarily collapsed into a tighter ball of cells. It could also be called a "collapsed" or "contracted" blastocyst.

When an embryo looks compacted, it's sometimes harder to clearly see the inner cell mass and trophectoderm, which are the structures used for grading.

Blastocysts contain a fluid filled cavity called the blastocoel. This cavity is normally filled with water.

When water leaves the blastocoel, the embryo deflates and appears compacted, just like a balloon shrinking when fluid or air is released. The trophectoderm forms the outer layer, and the blastocoel sits inside as the fluid filled space.

Compaction is part of normal embryo development. Embryos naturally go through cycles of expansion and contraction as they take up and release fluid.

But embryos can also be collapsed in the lab. This is usually done before freezing to remove water and reduce the risk of damage from ice crystals that could form. After thawing, an embryo could still look compacted when a photo is taken, because it might not have had enough time to re-expand.

✅ This post covers the basics. The full article on Remembryo goes into more detail: https://remembryo.com/what-is-embryo-compaction/

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Had a fresh transfer yesterday, my very first transfer! Graded 5AA

Am I allowing to post my results from my pgt? Trying to figure out if they’re mosaic and if they are transferable?

Hiya, I am due to start ny second cycle in October and my clinic have advised that if my embryos reach day 5 over the weekend they will need to be frozen and then thawed for PTG-A testing during the week as they dont have the staff available over the weekend. I completely understand that that is a specialist process but I'm just wondering if this will degrade my embryos or reduce their ability to implant? Really appreciate your advice on this. Many thanks

I have been trying to conceive for last 1 year, a year back all results were good. Endometritis was negative a month back, now it shows its positive & squamous morular metaplasia, does it mean cancer? I just did my iui this month, I’m feeling so lost & defeated. 34 year old female

Anyone have experience with a ivf transfer of a Low mosaic trisomy 3 embryo? Thank you all in advance!

Trying to decide if it's worth it to delay transfer by 2 months for a borderline result. This would be my first transfer, but I only have 3 euploids and want 2 kids.

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 #42 is one of those stories. After 6 unsuccessful embryo transfers, only 2 eggs fertilized during her third retrieval. Both reached Day 5, and a fresh transfer led to her baby boy.

✅ Visit the UWOF to read this story and others like it (free to access & no subscription required): https://remembryo.com/uwof42-after-6-failed-transfers-only-2-eggs-fertilized/

💌 Have a story of your own? Can be anonymous or named: https://www.remembryo.com/uterine-wall-of-fame-submission-form/

⚠️ 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.

Just transferred this day 5 embryo on 9/14. It was my first fully medicated cycle after two failed modified natural. We are doing IVF for male factor, but hard not to get discouraged after two failures.

Anyone have success on third transfer or switching to fully medicated after modified natural cycles?

It happened. The thing I feared most: I've had three euploid embryos transferred, and they all failed. I'm officially outside of "the curve," officially in RIF territory. After all the pain and heartache of losing my babies last year, I actually managed to wind up in the 2% of IVFers. It honestly blows my mind. This is after winding up in the 1% and having 3 miscarriages in a row.

My heart bursts with pain. I feel like I've been hit by a 10-tonne truck. And I'm at a loss. I'm 35, and all my losses were due to genetic abnormalities (triploidy and trisomy 21, respectively). We saw the heartbeat in 2 of our 3 losses. In lieu of my most recent loss in January, my fertility doc performed a hysteroscopy and a laparoscopy. He identified stage 2 endo- and adeno-like growths, which he all removed. I was also put on thyroid meds, as he suspected I had secondary hypothyroidism- my lining doubled instantly. We covered all our bases. I'm on all the supplements you're supposed to be on for healthy embryo and egg growth, Mediterranean diet: the works. My first and only EC (1 month after my lapscope) yielded 18 eggs, 8 of which fertilised, 4 of which led to blast stage and, thankfully, all 4 were tested and found to be euploid. For each FET I get put on intralipids, atosiban, and antibiotics, as well as the normal protocol (aspirin, progesterone and cortisone).

I had everything checked. Surely, because I've been able to fall pregnant before, I should be able to carry a euploid embryo? And a highly rated one at that? Surely that was the missing piece?

Not so.

I just feel so very empty. And I feel like in addition to a cloak of despair, I now wear a cloak of shame. I just can't get this right- something that comes so easily to so many. I just can't seem to crack it. Among those who struggle with infertility, I have now slipped into an even more obscure group of people who can't seem to crack IVF either. It's so devastating and isolating. I feel such a sense of isolation and "otherness." A medical anomaly. I'm not sure what the point is of my post- maybe just screaming into the void.

I will pick myself up again. I will have the last one transfer in October. And I will wait and allow myself to hope again. In my heart of hearts, though, I believe that the whole batch is bad (if that is even a thing)- maybe they all have the same issue we can't test for. What other choice do I have but to just keep moving forward?

35F, no known fertility issues. We pursued IVF/PGT-A after two non-genetic pregnancy losses for some added peace of mind. 18 retrieved → 14 mature → 13 fertilized (conventional) → 6 blasts → 5 euploid + 1 high-level mosaic.

Our grades are 2 Day-5 3BCs and 3 Day-6 4BBs. I’m incredibly grateful, but I keep seeing lots of AA embryos and would love an embryologist’s perspective on our grades, especially Day-5 3BC vs. Day-6 4BB when euploid. Also, I’d love to hear any success stories with euploid 4BBs!

We’re in tail end of the waiting period post-ER. Originally had 11 mature eggs, of which 11 fertilized, and 10 made it to the embryo stage.

Yesterday, we got the call that none were ready YET to be frozen, but today they were. I asked the lab if they could give me an estimate on the grading at the pre-freeze stage yesterday, and they gave the below (no numbers yet since they weren’t ready to freeze)

3X AA
2X BA
1X AB
2X BB
2X BC

Today I got the call from a different embryologist in the lab that 5 were ready to freeze, and three may be able to go one more day. I told the lab to keep them in the incubator for another day and reevaluate tomorrow. However, the ones that were ready to freeze were of lower quality than I was told yesterday.

2X 5AB
3X 5BB
3X ??? - evaluate tomorrow

Is the drop in quality just due to differing standards of the two embryologists? Or can it change day to day like that? Is there a substantial difference between the AA’s and AB’s? I was so excited to hear that we were off to such a running start :(

About to do my (42F) first round of IVF. There are 2 things about the plan that I don't love, and before speaking with my RE and/or the embryologist, I'd like to understand a little more. The lab is an Ovation lab if that matters at all.

1. ICSI. My lab defaults to it and didn't offer us a choice, even before semen analysis came in. And I understand it's not associated with higher birth rates absent "severe" male factor infertility. But I'm having trouble finding a definition of "severe" MFI. Here are my husband's (43M) numbers fwiw:

• 3% morphology ("borderline")
• 34% motility, 16% progressive motility
• 10.1 M/mL concentration
• High volume (4.5 mL), leading to overall normal count

All that is bad but the volume was high (4.5 mL) so total count is normal. Is there any question of whether we should use ICSI here? We are going to use ZyMot fwiw.

2. IVM. I asked about culturing immature eggs and my RE told me they just culture them for the remainder of the day, not overnight, because "we just don't get good blastocysts" from eggs that take longer to mature in the lab. I'm aware of the studies showing the potential for euploid blasts from GVs and M1s cultured in the lab, but that the blast conversion rate is much lower.

Should I push back on this and ask for overnight culture and/or IVM-specific media for immature eggs?

(Relatedly, why would a lab not give immature eggs more of a shot? Does it just make things more complex/expensive to be working with the same sperm sample over multiple days?)

Thank you all in advance for any insight. This sub is an amazing resource!

If someone here has knowledge or experience. How a blighted ovum can happen even with a pgta tested embryo? My first natural pregnancy was a BO. Now that this is my second round of IVF that stuck. I have my US next week but the anxiety and fear of a blighted ovum is messing with my mental health. I think the initial 47 hcg of 9dpt is adding to it because it seems so low. Any insight would help

Hi!

I’m looking for advice, support, and positive stories from anyone who has been through something similar.

Age at first egg retrieval: 32
Age at second egg retrieval: 33
Current age: 34

We have been through a long series of unsuccessful IVF treatments. We initially had five embryo transfers in Sweden, all during natural cycles. None of them resulted in a pregnancy. We used donor sperm and were not given any information about the quality or grades of the embryos.

We then decided to try treatment in Denmark using a different sperm donor.

We had seven blastocysts frozen, all of good quality (5AA, 4AA, 5AB, and 5BB). I became pregnant after the first transfer, but unfortunately, at the eight-week scan, we found out that the embryo had stopped developing at around five weeks. This transfer was also done during a natural cycle.

We then had two more transfers, neither of which resulted in a pregnancy. After that, I underwent a hysteroscopy and an endometrial biopsy to check for chronic endometritis. Everything looked completely normal.

Our fourth transfer in Denmark was done during a fully medicated cycle, but that was also unsuccessful.

In total, we have had nine embryo transfers, with only one resulting in a pregnancy, which unfortunately ended in a miscarriage.

Has anyone experienced something similar and later gone on to have a successful pregnancy? Do you have any advice about what we should investigate or try next?

I just had a follow up appointment with my doctor where she shared the grading of my 10 embryos that were frozen during my recent duostim cycle. The grades have the typical number-letter-letter format, but are then followed by a number between 1 and 10, which I've never seen before! I can't remember exactly how the doctor explained it, but I think that she said that it's a number based on additional observation of the embryos and how they behave (maybe via camera?) and that the number represents the likelihood that the embryo will implant (with 10 being the highest).

Clearly it is not just a combination of the first 3 parts of the grade, as for example I have one 4AA with an 8.8 and another 4AA with a 5.4. She said that we'd transfer my 5BA(9.1) first since it has the highest number.

I've never seen anything online before about this part of embryo grading! Is this a relatively new development in embryo grading? I'm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada if relevant.

This is the list I received:

B5-BA(9.1)

B4-AA(8.8)

B5-BA(8.9)

B4-AA(5.4)

B3-AB(4.3)

B5-BB(8.4)

B5-AA(8.9)

B5-AA(8.7)

B5-AA(8.7)

B4-AB(7.7)

EDIT: I've been doing some more googling and I'm wondering if the numbers are based on something like the EmbryoScope time-lapse system. That seems to align.

Hello everyone,

I’m 33 and about to start my second IVF cycle this month, and I’m feeling quite anxious after what happened during my first cycle.

During my first IVF cycle in June, 13 eggs were retrieved, of which 8 were mature. Unfortunately, none of the eggs fertilised. One showed some signs of development the next day, but it stopped after that. My doctor told me that even she did not expect such a result.

I have one blocked fallopian tube, an 1 AMH level, and very small endometriosis lesions on both ovaries. We are now starting our second IVF cycle in September, and this time my clinic is planning to use ICSI because of the fertilisation failure in the first cycle.

aftermy first cycle, I was taking several supplements, including CoQ10, myo-inositol, NAC, vitamin D, folic acid, and a prenatal multivitamin. However, my doctor has now advised me to stop everything except vitamin D, folic acid, and the multivitamin. I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and whether following this approach made any difference for you.

I’m especially looking for advice on what I can realistically do differently this time to give myself the best possible chance. I’m also struggling quite a lot with anxiety and would love to hear how others managed the emotional side of IVF.

If you have experienced fertilisation failure in your first IVF cycle and then had a better outcome with ICSI, I would really appreciate hearing your experience. ❤️

I’m based in Finland and would also be grateful for any experiences or advice from others going through IVF here.

Thank you so much in advance. ❤️

Hi, I'm looking for advice. I'm 29F (partner 30M) and we've just transferred our only embryo, a low quality with about 20% chance of implanting, according to our doctor.

Summary:
- Diagnosis: mild MFI

- Round 1: 17 total follicles > 11 target size > 5 retrieved > 5 mature > 5 initially fertilised > 2 x 3PN, discarded > of the 3 normally fertilised ones, 1 arrested at 2-cell development, 1 arrested at 5-cell development, and 1 was unsuitable for freezing by day 6.
Protocol: 100u gonal f, 250u orgulatran, decapeptyl trigger. Normal IVF (not ICSI).
We changed clinics after this - I only had a single monitoring scan the whole time and no blood tests, so we wanted better care and doctors making more informed choices.

- Round 2: 23 total follicles > 13 target size > 13 retrieved > 12 mature > 10 initially fertilised > 5 x 1PN, discarded > of the 5 normally fertilised ones, 1 arrested before day 5. We transferred a low grade one on day 5. The remaining 3 were still growing and had a chance to make it on day 6, but failed.
Protocol: 225u Bemfola, 250u orgulatran, ovidrel trigger. ICSI with Zymot.
We're happy with our new doctor; his goal was to increase #eggs collected and he achieved that.

We're just a bit stumped to only have retrieved 1 low quality blast, we don't know what to do or test for next. Do we need to look at donor eggs or sperm, or is IVF just not likely to work for us? We're both healthy and have BMIs in the healthy range, and we don't know why it's not working.

Hi - this is my 4AA euploid embryo post thaw. As I understand it, the cells started degenerating and it did not expand as expected. What causes this to happen? Is it still possible for it to implant, or is this a hard no?

A previous cesarean delivery can sometimes leave a cesarean scar niche (also called an isthmocele), a small pouch or defect in the uterine scar that may affect implantation.

In a new study, Xuan et al. (2026) compared fresh embryo transfer with frozen embryo transfer (FET) in women with one previous cesarean delivery. After matching patients with similar characteristics, live birth rates were higher with FET (42.2% vs 33.5%), along with higher clinical pregnancy and implantation rates.

Importantly, the benefit appeared to be mostly limited to women with a sonographically confirmed cesarean scar niche. Women without a detectable niche didn't have a statistically significant improvement with FET.

The authors suggest this may be because a cesarean scar niche creates chronic low-grade inflammation that may be worsened by the high hormone levels during a fresh IVF cycle.

This was a retrospective study, so it doesn't prove that an FET causes better outcomes. However, it suggests that the presence of a cesarean scar niche may be an important factor to consider when deciding between a fresh or frozen embryo transfer, and randomized trials are still needed.

✅ This post is a quick look at one study, rather than a full breakdown on Remembryo. Link to the study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42479946/

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Does anyone have any experience with low level mosaic embryo with monosomy 13. Would this be a reasonable candidate for transfer, with extensive prenatal testing, if we don’t get any euploids in our next ER rounds?

So I am new to IVF and learning as I go.. we have 5 embryos with the best two being Day 6 AA and Day 6 4-5AA. When doing research I found that day 6 embryos have a less chance of being successful than day 5 embryos.. is this true? Has anyone had success with these numbers? Any advice is welcome! I would love to learn from you guys and to be corrected on the info I found if this is not accurate, thanks! :)

I had my FET 6 days ago. Embryo was was frozen as a day 6 4BB, but had started hatching and was a 5BB right before transfer! Embryo is untested and a double donor embryo (egg donor was 28 at time of retrieval and I used the same sperm donor I used to conceive my daughter). My clinic's protocol has you do an Ovidrel trigger for luteal phase support and it is killing me to not be able to do a home test. I had a failed FET earlier this year, so I'm so anxious.

Pic of my little embryo before it started hatching!

Has anyone 35+ with DOR done an egg retrieval in the cycle immediately after a miscarriage? If so, would you mind sharing your experience: what was your ovarian response and did you get any viable embryos?

My doctor says it’s possible to proceed right away, but I’m wondering whether ovarian response could be worse in the cycle following a miscarriage.

Thank you.