Tell me about natural FET

[Zest11]

Hello! Thank you for looking at this post.

I am interested to hear your experience of an FET during a natural cycle.

• Why was there a decision on a natural cycle over medicated for you?
• What were your/your partner's fertility problems? (If known)
• What previous successes/failures had you had with IVF/FET?
• How many days after the surge was your embryo put in?

Thank you for reading. Some info here. Age 34, unexplained infertility. IVF fresh 3 years ago and failed. Then a medicated FET which was successful and has resulted in our 2 year old son. We have just had a medicated FET from the same egg retrieval for a sibling but it failed. We have 2 blasts left, and, if they survive the thaw, we will use them (one at a time) but not sure which process to follow. We were told natural cycle has the same success rates as FET but I just don't know enough about it.

Thank you for reading.

I’m doing a natural FET this cycle, completely hormone free except the HCG shot. It was my own choice, because I felt so awful on the hormones. It’s my last blastocyst from my first retrieval, I had three blasts total but the fresh and medicated transfers both failed. Honestly I’m tired of being on hormones and wanted to give my body a break if I’m headed for another retrieval, which I think is likely.

They do say the success rates are similar for medicated and natural, and the main reason to choose medicated if you’re unexplained is because it’s so much easier to plan both for you and the clinic. But I also think it depends on your body and the individual embryo, and there’s no way to really guess which is best for you.

I will add that cynically, there’s a chance none of the blasts will work regardless of protocol, unless you’ve had them pgt tested, as they won’t all be viable from the outset. So you might as well just pick the cycle type that will make you the least miserable while you’re in it. Good luck!

I did 4 FET and all were natural

• very regular cycles of 28 days with predictable cycles and ovulation
• I'd lost both tubes to ectopics and had a history of miscarriages
• 3 previous transfers - 2 x BFN, 1 x ruptured ectopic
• transfers are done 5 days post ovulation so if you surge in the morning the following day is classed as day 0 and then transfer on day 5. If you surge in the afternoon then it's not the next day but the day after they classed as day 0 then transfer on day 5.

I often did do a trigger shot just to make doubly sure of ovulation by the way - we were also trying naturally the same time as FETs and I'd also read a shot of hcg can help implantation

Thank you so much for replying!

@SamTTC I'm sorry about your two failures, I really hope the next one sticks for you. That is an interesting point about giving your body a break in preparation for egg retrieval. You are so right about pumping our bodies full of hormones, it is horrid isn't it!! Yes, I have also wondered about whether embryos are even viable. Are you getting NHS funding or private?

@breatheintheamazing oh no, ectopics, miscarriages and fallopain tube loss. You have had such a rough time! That's interesting about the HCG trigger, I hadn't heard of that. If you had had some previous transfers...does that mean your last one was a success? 🙏

Hi posters @Zest11 @breatheintheamazing @SamTTC
Has any body had any luck? I am starting my scans for my 1st natural FET needing some success stories, already feeling worried.
Thanks x

Hi there! Yes I had twins 🥰

@breatheintheamazing I needed to hear something good today 🥰 thank you so much xx

@RMS0209 Ahh good luck! Keep me posted please?? I would like to know more about it. Do your clinic transfer 6 days after the surge? We may do natural if we do another egg collection and get more embryos.

Ahh since this post we had another transfer...the plan was for a natural but I detected the surge on a day where it meant the transfer would have to be at a weekend and the clinic is closed then so we converted to a medicated. The cycle resulted in a miscarriage at around 5/6 weeks...v cruel! 1 embryo left but I will do a medicated cycle just so that I know we tried everything.