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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

Frozen embryo transfer or not?

55 replies

Nk11 · 02/01/2023 21:44

After a failed fresh transfer in December we have the option to have our one remaining embryo transferred but it is a Day 6 graded 5CB and our fresh 3 day transfer didn’t take at all which was graded the highest quality at the time of transfer. I got my AF like nothing had ever happened just before Xmas…fabulous.

We knew our issue was male factor due to low on all areas but DH recently had an ultrasound that showed a varicocele and 2 cysts. Now thinking we need to have this treated as is now causing DH discomfort but wondering whether we should have the FET or not. Worried it may be poor DNA quality since the fresh one did not work and varicocele can impact DNA frag.

DH has also just started taking Proxeed so we are thinking maybe we will have a better shot if we repair the varicocele and give it a little time but undecided whether to use the frozen embryo or leave it in storage. Kind of feels like we should give it a go and expect it to fail but it’s another £2000 to do this plus the £1000 to pay for the freezing of it. Does anyone have any similar stories or advice on what you would do?

For context I am 30 and have a good egg reserve, only had Bemfola 100 stims so did get 9 eggs but only 2 were progressing at day 3. We can do another cycle after varicocele treatment it is just what to do about this frozen embryo! Would also be nice to hear of anyone going through something similar.

OP posts:
Anonbaby · 02/01/2023 23:18

Hi ladies. Hope you don’t mind me hijacking your conversation. I just wondered if you had been told that cysts can negatively impact fertility as my OH has them but we have been told that it’s fine. He’s always had them and we do have children already but we’ve struggled to conceive again now for two years and his latest SA was much worse than it’s been historically.

Imisscoffee2021 · 02/01/2023 23:01

@Nk11 The NHS won't do much for a varicocele if its not causing pain, or if they do it's a long wait as fertility sadly isn't a priority for them atm.

You'll read alot about varicoceles and how embolization optimised ivf for couples who'd had a less than satisfactory round in the infertility and ivf threads on here. We went to St John's Wood private hospital for the procedure it was about £4k but you can find it cheaper I think, that was just the nearest one to us. Sad it didn't work but had to try that first. Varicocele embolization also takes months to see any results if it is successful and isn't always guaranteed but I've read tons if threads of couples who have had a bad ivf round and then a good one once they dealt with the varicocele.

I'm with Care Fertility Woking and found that you do have to advocate for yourself at times, and push for things a little (like extra progesterone in my case as I bled 7dp5dt on first transfer) and the two multicycle packagecost about £8000, for all transfers I causing any frozen. You also get embryoscope for free so they have a time-lapse and can see the cell division. The meds obviously are on top but if we'd had to do more frozen transfers we would have been bankrupt so it was a good deal for us. Takes the pressure off knowing the frozen ones are there and technically I can transfer for free in future for a sibling if this little guy works out in there :)

Are you in an IVF group on the infertility forum? I joined one as I began my round and it was so helpful to swap stories with other women at other clinics and different protocols, not to mention support is amazing!

Original poster
Nk11 · 02/01/2023 22:29

@Imisscoffee2021 sorry forgot to tag not sure if you get a notification otherwise

OP posts:
Original poster
Nk11 · 02/01/2023 22:26

Congratulations so nice to hear that yours worked and with a similar story.
We are with abc ivf. We initially went to Create as that is where DH had an initial semen analysis and had considered the 3 cycle package as it seemed the most economic but we are so new to all of this.

After my baseline scan the nurse was so optimistic that it would be a breeze as I had passed all the tests with flying colours and she said a male factor was the easiest issue to fix. So with that they said to go to the sister company ABC which is nurse led and cheaper. It worked out with ICSI at £3950 but yes we do have to pay for frozen transfers and storage. So if we do need another cycle which we will as even if the frozen works we have no more left, it’s going to be at least another £5k on top of that. With the failed fresh transfer I was pretty gutted as despite having 6 mature eggs all fertilising only 2 were progressing at day 3 so they said I had to have the best one transferred in case none made it to day 5 apparently they like to have at least 4 progressing to wait to Day 5. The Day 3 didn’t even try implanting I don’t think as I started spotting 8 days later and had a full 5 day bleed as normal before my test date.

Honestly part of me thinks if I don’t use the frozen one now when will I and at least I will know then, but the other part of me knows how hurt I will be if it fails despite being pragmatic and having a plan going forwards.

DH ever the optimist thinks taking proxeed and having the varicocele sorted will cure all but I am not so sure. Not had 1 positive in 4 years of trying makes me more sceptical. Unfortunately the nurses at the clinic won’t offer me any advice either as they very much seem to leave it up to me what I want to do. Wondering whether I would be better paying more for a consultant led service as I am starting to think maybe paying less isn’t better especially since I never asked for the cheaper option.

Where did you go for the embolization and was this private or NHS? DH had the scan in December on NHS the GP tried to say wouldn’t normally treat but because of pain would refer to urologist. We’ve asked if we can have a private referral as we would rather get it sorted or try at least so we can move forward with this.

OP posts:
Imisscoffee2021 · 02/01/2023 22:02

Hello,

Your story is similar to mine on that we have ICSI due to hubby having a severe varicocele. We tried to embolise it but he's in 10% of men whose veins are configured in such a way that surgeon couldn't find it!

So we went to ICSI. I was terrified of embryo drop off rates and DNA fragmentation so hubby stopped having baths, took proxeed, gave up caffeine and alcohol and aimed to ejaculate every other day in the 2-3 months lead up to our first cycle. We ended up with 7 eggs, all of which fertilised and all made it to day 5, when one slowed down and was given an extra day but ultimately wasn't frozen.

Our fresh transfer failed despite being a grade 10, 5AA hatching blastocyst. Our first frozen transfer in October however was successful and I'm currently 12+2 had many scans (anxious IVFer!) and had always been healthy and wriggling around now, fingers crossed remains so!

I think the frozen one took partly because my body wasn't pumped full of meds co pared to a fresh cycle. We didn't have much confidence when our first 5AA fella failed but was so pleasantly surprised to see those two pink lines.

I think you're wise to optimise hubbies sperm for next cycle, it's so important as embryo drop off rates after day 3 are due to male factor. May be worth giving the frozen one a go for now though, you never know!

Have you got a multicycle package or did you pay for one round? I ask as I notice you're paying for the frozen embryo. My clinic also charges around that for frozen so we looked at multicycle plans where you get 2 or 3 rounds and it includes all frozen transfers. It worked out cheaper for us even though we're successful on first round and may not use 2nd, due to paying for the frozen transfers. Not every clinic offers it but worth checking as there are so many hidden costs to IVF aren't there!

Best of wishes for whatever you decide :)

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