Double embryo regret :(

[AliceAbsolum]

Got 4 frosties from a donor cycle (she was 21 years old), froze them in 2s. Good quality 5 day blasts. I'm 35.

Just had a miscarriage (fresh transfer, single pregnancy) and FREAKING out about the risks of multiple pregnancy.

Anyone opted for 2 to be transferred? How did you manage the concern?

Halp 😟

Sorry - I understand your concerns. When I went for my transfer I was undecided between putting back 1 or 2. My clinic strongly recommended one because of the risks of multiples. I was completely unaware of twin risks and thought I had let them decide for me and then googled like crazy when I went home. There are indeed higher risks, but feel like, if I were to go back in time, I would maybe choose 2.

What I don't understand is why your clinic recommended freezing 2 together. You can still put back two even if you had frozen them one by one (you would just have to thaw 2 tubes) so feels like they wanted to cut that option out and leave you with only the one option? (thinking about their success rate?).

I guess that was the best decision you could make at the time and I think regret is a very common feeling in these circumstances. There are plenty of twin pregnancies which go smoothly and plenty of healthy and beautiful twins around the world. Risks are higher, but that means you'll be monitored more if they both stick.

There is also the option (but don't know if you would consider it) to thaw 2 and only put back the strongest one. Not ideal, because you could have had 4 attempts, but if you feel the risks of multiples outweigh the potential increase in chance, then you might want to consider it.

Either way, I wish you all the very best and really hope 2020 will bring you lots of joy!!

I opted for a double transfer on my second one - also tried naturally that month so risk of triplets 🤦‍♀️ however to me multiples is better than no baby so was happy with the risk (didn't work)

People have twin pregnancies all the time with little/no complications - I've only known 1 twin pregnancy which was incredibly life threatening for the mother but all the others were fine

I've agreed with my clinic that following our 3 cycles of egg collection in the new year we will do double transfers of anything we get

We were keen to avoid twins and the increased pregnancy risks associated with it.
We had our embryos frozen in pairs as well, so we had the clinic defrost the pair and put the best one in. The other one was refrozen. The transferred embryo failed.

We then had a transfer with the refrozen embryo and the 5th one from the donor (the 5th was the poorest quality). That cycle also failed, but the embryo which was defrosted, refrozen and defrosted again looked absolutely fine at the point of transfer.

We then had another cycle with a new donor. Again the embryos were frozen in pairs (we should have asked them to freeze them singly but forgot to!). We had the best 2 defrosted, one transferred and the other refrozen. So far, this has been successful.

The clinic didn’t seem to think this was much of a problem. Although there is a risk of damage to the embryo from the freezing/defrosting process, this risk is pretty small and they were happy to do that. If I had my time again, I’d definitely do the same thing.

Really?! Omg that's amazing. I'll ask
Thank you

Yes. I think the freezing and thawing technology is so good that the risk of damage to the embryo from having it thawed, refrozen and thawed again is pretty small. Our clinic were very happy to do this. The clinic obviously had to warn us that there is a risk of the embryo not surviving the process, but we thought it was a risk worth taking as it is fairly minimal.

I am with you re the risk of having multiples, both from the point of view of the increased risk of miscarriage and the increased risk of pregnancy complications.

Plus putting 2 embryos in together doesn’t double the chance of success and the overall chance of success is higher if you have the 2 embryos transferred separately.

I had 2 rounds of IVF, both fresh cycles. The first cycle I only produced 3 eggs and only 2 fertilised. Both were put back but neither took hold and I didn't fall pregnant.

2nd round we only got 4 eggs with 3 of the fertilised. The best 2 were put back and the 3rd wasn't of high enough quality to freeze. I got pregnant with this round, 1 heart beat at 6 week viability scan and eventually had a healthy baby boy.

I wouldn't worry too much about the risks of multiples, unless you feel having twins would break you. The chances of never having a child, despite IVF, is higher than conceiving twins via IVF. The odds are not in your favour on any part of the journey.

@whatnow40
The OP is using donor eggs so the chances are in her favour.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted Thank-you for your message. Its a tough old journey this one.

@EarlGreyT I've asked my clinic and they're going to get back to me in the new year.

If I was older, or the eggs were not 21 years old, or they were not good quality 5 day blasts I'd be thinking differently, but its just scary.
However I am aware that maybe I just got lucky that one time. I could have 2x2 transferred and have 2x BFN.
But then its £3k all in (meds, flights, hotel, etc)...I don't have 12k to spend on 4 more trips.
Too many decisions. I can really see why people give up on IVF and accept childlessness.