i feel like i am being railroaded into having a blastocyst transfer and i need advice

[stacey25xxx]

I am 25 and had my egg collection yesterday, prior to the treatment i was given several consent forms from my clinic one of which was a consent to blastocyst transfer.
After reading the section of the form where i had to agree that i understood that there is a possibility that none of my embryos would make it to the blastocyst stage and there would be nothing to transfer i declined my consent.

After my operation the fertility nurse came in to tell me that they had collected 9 eggs and they would most likley call me in on monday (day 5) for my transfer, i then informed her that i had not given my consent for a day 5 transfer as i was worried about the possible risks of none transfer. The nurse tried to convince me to change my mind and even in my muddled post anesthetic state i managed to stand firm.
Today the embryologist called me to inform me that they had fertilized 7 of my eggs and 6 had taken, she then went on to say that they would probably call me in on monday for my transfer (day5!), so i had to inform her that i had not consented to a blastocyst transfer, she seemed quite put out and after throwing a few statistics my way (36% sucess rate on day 3 vs 46% on day 5) she abruptly told me that i would have to come in on saturday any way to either fill out a consent form for blastocyst or have the day 3 transfer i am also in for a 'chat' with the embryologist. No doubt the chat will be another attempt to convince me to wait until day 5. I am not declining my consent just to be awkward or because i am inpatient, i am genuinely concerned that all of my embryos will perish, i have done research into cases such as mine whereby there have been up to 15 embryos and only 3 have made it to blastocyst stage, i have 6 and i don't want to risk them.
I would be grateful for any advice please x

I know very little about the medical side of what you're having done, but ultimately this is your body and your embryos. You can only sign a consent form if you fully understand the procedure and are happy to proceed! Stand your ground. Get more information and ask them to help you make an informed decision.

It should always be your decision - and those statistics quoted only apply (as you have rightly sussed out) IF you get blastocysts to transfer.
We always allow patients to opt out of our blast transfer programme - but we only allow a single embryo to be transferred on day 3 in that situation. (ie you can't opt out as a way of getting a double ET if we think you have lots of good embryos). In any event the embryologist should at least talk to you about your embryo quality on day 3 so you can make an informed choice about blast culture.
Out of interest are you paying privately?

Honestly? I'm Not sure what advice you're looking for as you seem to have made your mind up. The plan with any cycle is to have one single baby. So you need the best odds and likelihood with one single embryo and the best way of getting this is by going to blast stage.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my thread, i would have replied yesterday but i was a bit emotional, I have always understood that i would only have one embryo put back in at the transfer stage as the risk of twin pregnancies is something they avoid these days. And that was not my intention to have more than one put back in.
My main concern was that the staff at the hospital were really trying to push the 5 day transfer on to me despite the lack of my consent, i haven't gone into it with my eyes closed and i did do some research into blastocyst transfers and through that i made what i thought was an informed decision to decline my consent.
It is an NHS funded round of ivf and i am having my treatment at a private hospital in Edgebaston.
After my meeting with the embryologist today i was a complete mess, she seemed annoyed at me for not wanting to take my embryos onto the blast stage and told me it was likely i wouldn't get a second round of funding if it doesn't work this time as Worcester council are in debt and they could possibly change their policy this year from funding 2rounds to 1. instead of being reassuring she had filled me with self doubt and it was very upsetting, or maybe i'm just a wimp.
I did ask if the success statistics related to women of the same health as myself, and was told that they go by the woman's age and look of the embryos.
I stuck to my decision and went ahead today although during the procedure i still couldn't stop myself from crying.
I still had the 6 and they all looked pretty similar although one stood out from the rest and that's the one i had transferred today, the rest were frozen. i can just wait and hope now and try to relax.

I'm sorry you've had such a rotten experience and a bit shocked by the way you've been treated. At the end of the day there are positives and minuses of 3 and 5 day transfer so why shouldn't you make that informed decision?

Try not to let it all colour things, if your embryos were good enough for freezing that's a great sign. Best of luck with the 2ww.

I'm also a bit shocked and disappointed by the treatment you've had. I wonder if the fact it was saturday had anything to do with it?
I'm glad you had some embryos frozen as well.
I think - you may not feel like it now - you should feed back your experience to the clinic. It seems very bullying to assume everyone will be happy with blast culture.

How many funded cycles you have - and whether your PCT will pay for any more is not really the embryologists business. My cynical head wondered if the clinic were interested in the extra money they could charge for blast culture and hence pushing it harder than is clinically indicated?!?

Good luck. If it was going to go to blast it will do in in you as well as it would in the lab.