Thursday, October 2, 2014

Upcoming Frozen Embryo Transfer #4: Do I Transfer 1, 2 or 3????


Question:

Hello,
I have a son via FET. I have now had three cycles of FET total. The first did not work, the second we got my son, and this last one worked- however I had a miscarriage at 6.5 weeks pregnant. I now have 4 embryos left frozen and am starting my next IVF cycle. They are frozen in vials of 2 each. I am so concerned if only one survives: do I only implant only one and pray it works, or do I thaw the last two we have and implant all 3? I obviously want the ultimate outcome: a pregnancy. 
 
My doctor is NO help when I ask what he recommends.  I am scared to only implant one.  Yet I am scared to use all of them in this one last attempt we have.  Is only implanting one pointless? Can you give me a recommendation on what is best if this situation were to happen on the day of transfer? The transfer is only a couple weeks away so I am so nervous.
 
Thank-you so much.
 
S. from Illinois. Nervous mom!!!!!!!

Answer:

Hello S. from the U.S. (Illinois),

Since you haven't given me your age, I can't give you specific recommendations but will have to answer your question in more general terms.  Also, another significant piece that would help answer the question is whether your embryos were frozen on day#3 (cleaved) or day#5 (blastocyst).

We always consider age when counseling patients on the number to transfer because this affects the quality of the embryos and therefore their chances of implantation.  Of course, the younger you are, the higher your chances of implantation and pregnancy per embryo.  Because the technology has gotten so much better over the years, pregnancy rates have gone up and we have realized a problem; namely, an increase in multiples, especially those over twins.  As a consequence, every IVF Physician is wary of putting to many back for fear of getting too many in return.  As a result, the American Society for Reproductive medicine and the Society for Assisted reproduction, its subgroup, have produced recommendations or guidelines for transfer.  these of course are dependent on the age and the stage of development.  Their recommendations are as follows:

 Cleaved embryos:   
                             35    35-37    38-40  40 years old
   Favorable         1-2       2         3        5+
   Unfavorable        2        3         4        5+

 Blastocyst         

   Favorable          1        2         2        3
   Unfavorable      2        2         3        3

I have my patient sign a counseling for that they have been informed regarding these guidelines and either choose to follow them or choose a different number.  I do let my patients decide within reason.  Because you have gotten pregnant with these embryos before, that would be an additional piece of information making me more cautious.

So here's the decision.  Unless you are over 35, I would recommend no more than 2 if they are blastocysts.  If these are cleaved embryos, then I would recommend 2-3.  But, the risk is of getting multiple implantations leading to at least twins.  With blastocysts and transferring 2, my twin rate is 56%.  With cleaved and transferring 3, my twin rate is 35%.  Are you willing to take the risk of having twins?  The pregnancy is harder and there is an increased risk of fetal loss.  If you are not willing to take the risk of twins then you would only transfer 1 no matter what stage.  If you are not willing to take the risk of triplets, then you would not transfer more than 2.  I do not recommend triplets.  The fetal loss rate can be as high as 50%.  The down side of transferring less than 2 is a decrease in pregnancy rates per cycle, but not necessarily over all.  It make take more attempts to get pregnant doing single embryo transfer.

I hope this gives you the information you needed to help with the decision.

Good Luck,

Dr. Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program

Monterey, California, U.S.A.

 

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