Odd question about bf and IVF

[HerbertSnodgrass]

I was wondering

If a person was bf and also considering embarking on IVF treatment, would the bf need to cease before commencing the IVF hormone treatment?

and if not

would the hormone treatment impact the bf in any way?

and

would continuing bf negatively impact chances of conception and continuing pregnancy

(appreciate this is a really unusual and illogical sounding question. If there is no info out there I'd appreciate plain old speculation...!)

Okaaaaayyyyy, the answer is, it depends on the type of IVF,

If it was the type where you 'down reg' ie shut down your cycle and go into a chemical menopause, then your prolactin levels would be affected and you'd have little or no milk I think.

So it wouldn't be that the bf stopped conception, but the treatment would stop bf if you see what I mean.

Also there is the possibility of passing the hormones in the breastmilk so I don't think the docs would recommend trying it.

However, I'm pregnant, conceived while breastfeeding and have continued and it doesn't actually make a blind bit of difference to the success or failure of the pregnancy. Breastfeeding does cause uterine contractions, but so does laughing, coughing, pooping and various other everyday occurrences - so from that PoV it's not worth worrying about.

Thanks wmmc

I'm going to sound really ignorant, but what are the other types of IVF that don't involve shutting the cycle down? When would they be used?

Yes, there is a new technique IVM at the John Radcliffe in Oxford where instead of stimulating follicular development they simply take immature eggs and hatch them - chicken stylee - before putting them back. Some info on it here

Wow that's fascinating, thanks for the link! Do you know anything about the relative yield of eggs harvested compared to IVF?

And, crucially, do you think this might be a compatible approach with someone seeking PGD? (which is the reason why a fertile, bf mum would need IVF in this instance)

Well there are always hundreds of eggs in the ovary but immature ones - so there is no reason they can't take as many as they need but I know they try to take less that 15 - simply because each needs to be treated and it takes time.

I don't know what PGD is?

Sorry - PGD = preimplantation genetic diagnosis

screening embryos for a known genetic defect carried by a parent.

That information is very interesting. Thanks for responding. Are you in the medical profession?

Oh gosh no. I was just told I couldn't have kids so found out an awful lot about the subject. Then got pregnant once, twice, three times, and am now having a fourth pregnancy (miscarried two) but have one daughter and this ones a boy!

Oh I should say got pregnant after we gave up treatment.

Congrats on the pg, WMMC!
So sorry about the miscarriages, though.

The chromosome condition I have means my pregnancies would be very prone to miscarry. There is a risk of passing on an unbalanced version of my chromosomes to my baby, resulting in a rare and severe genetic syndrome.

I have to make a decision about whether to embark on IVF for my next baby, or whether to take my chances with nature. I'm pretty scared, to be honest. I only found out about all this when I was already pg with my dd (she is normal and healthy, doesn't even have my carrier status, thank goodness). But the wait to find out that she was healthy was utterly horrendous.

As you can tell from my OP, I'm bf her and intend to continue for as long as poss, but don't want to wait too long before trying for number 2 - dilemma!

Completely understandable. I have a genetic blood clotting disorder which means I am very likely to miscarry in the first trimester, but the way I figure it - it's better then, than later on and a healthy baby would always make it anyway.

Breastfeeding certainly doesn't seem to have affected my fertility - though its bloody exhausting being seven months pregnant and still nursing! We conceived pregnancy three and then this one, all without one period! I guess the only problem is you don't necessarily realise you are pregnant unless you are looking out for it!

You must be in an invidious position though - have you considered the possibility of CVS /amnio? We had an amnio with this baby because of high downs risk and it's a very tough thing to do emotionally but knowing things were okay really helped.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I had an amnio with dd - I wanted a CVS but was told (wrongly) that we'd missed the window of opportunity. Waiting so long for the all clear was dreadful. If I conceive naturally I'd have to have a CVS next time, as to get so far progressed and possibly face that decision - awful.

Even having to face the decision earlier is something I don't know if I can do. Hence my consideration of IVF / PGD.

I very much want to stick my head in the sand about the whole thing.

In the meantime, I'll keep bf dd and will probably follow up on the IVF possibility with the genetics team in a couple of months.

BTW - 7 months pg and still bf - bravo!

I've had IVF/ICSI and was told that in order to do any subsequent cycles that

1. menstruation had to have resumed
2. b/f would have to have stopped and then
3. 2 normal menstrual cycles before the start of an IVF cycle.

So I think the short answer is yes, you would have to have stopped b/f before taking the drugs for an IVF cycle.

Oh, btw, I've had PGS for aneuploidy, not PGD. The wait, albeit fairly short, to find out if any are chromosomally normal was excrutiating. Reason for the PGS was multiple m/c. I'm happily 7 months pg as a result.

Congrats on the pg, deux!

Thanks for the info. Not what I wanted to hear, but what I expected, though.

I wonder if tiktok concurs with the advice you were given... I'll hunt her down, I think.

I'm not too old to have run out of time to decide this yet, but am no spring chicken either, so I may have to curtail bf before I want if I want to get the IVF thing going.

(mind you, my periods probably need to return to conceive naturally anyway unless I do an immaculate conception like WMMC )

And then of course I probably ought to eject my co-sleeping dd out of the bed and bring dh back in to help things along, perhaps!

Might be worth ringing the clinics that you are thinking of consulting with and asking the question. Ime, clinics have been very good at answering enquiry questions over the phone. You could ask to speak to one of the IVF nurses and if you ring say after 2pm you're much more likely to get to speak to someone.

I'm really dragging my memory here but if I remember correctly, the drugs aren't inherently dangerous to the baby. It's more that they want your hormones on an even keel before you start the treatment and lactating may interfere with that thus not optimising the cycle.

Another thing, not sure where you are in the process, but if you need to have probes built for the PGD and get on the wait list for PGD then this in itself could take many many months, so it might all work out OK in the end.

My DS self-weaned, much to my shock, just after he turned one. He just wasn't interested anymore. I was really upset.

Good luck