Hey crittertamer, yes, completely agree, at this stage you’d just rather take all the options that could potentially help. EmbryoGen and Blastgen culture media sounds very similar to embryo glue and as such if you chose to have them, you don’t need to have embryo glue.
AOA has been classified as amber by hfea which means the results are promising but more evidence is required.
It’s basically an addition of calcium ions to the media to help with the fertilisation/ activation of the embryo. This does come with slightly higher risks of mc from the studies so far but not enough to put us off.
I’ve included some blurb about it below.
Both of these add-ons were highly recommended by the consultant as we had 30% fertilisation rate last time.
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Artificial egg activation calcium ionophore - Amber
What is egg activation?
When a sperm meets an egg, it triggers a process called ‘egg activation’ which starts off the process of embryo development, while at the same time allowing only one sperm to fertilise the egg. If the egg doesn’t activate, then it won’t develop.
Egg (or oocyte) activation may be stimulated by chemicals called calcium ionophores. These chemicals can be added to the embryo in the lab.
Are there any risks?
In theory, egg activation using calcium ionophores could cause embryos to have abnormal numbers of chromosomes, which would cause the pregnancy to miscarry. As yet there’s not enough evidence to decide whether these risks are a serious concern.
Given the possible risks, clinics offering this treatment are expected to do so only in selected patients who have had failed fertilisation and to justify their reasons for doing so.
What’s the evidence for egg activation?
In the few studies done to date, egg activation using calcium ionophores may improve fertilisation rates in ICSI cycles where the egg and sperm have failed to activate in previous treatment cycles. However, there are no RCTs to show that it is effective or follow up studies on the safety of this technique.