PGTa Testing help please!

[Ngall24]

Hi All

I hope some of you can help me!

A little bit of background to help...
I am 35,my husband is 32. We have one 6 year old son who was conceived naturally without really trying!

We have been trying to conceive our second child for 4 years and have had two miscarriages.
My cycles are irregular and can range in length.
We have had multiple tests and scans..we are told everything is okay with both of us. My husbands sperm is above what it should be and I have had a recent SIS scan which showed no problems with my uterus..as we are told,there is no reason for us not to be getting pregnant each month.

We are due to start our first round of IVF in February and have been asked if we want to include PGTa testing.

Has anyone had experience with this? Is it something we should be doing?

Am I right in saying that I would have to wait until my March cycle for the blastocyst to be transferred? I know this may sound silly,but I am unsure if I want to wait another month for a transfer!

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

At 35 research shows that about 45% of embryos are abnormal as a normal part of the aging process. PGTa aims to identify which embryos are euploid/chromosomally normal, as those that are completely aneuploid aren't viable. Having previous losses and implantation failure is a good reason to do PGTa, because then at least you know whether the embryo even has a chance. PGTa isn't a curative procedure, it doesn't change whether the embryo is normal or not, it just lets you know. About 60% of euploid embryos lead to a healthy birth. 3 euploid transfers have a 95% success rate. Doing PGTa can help you to quickly understand what your issues might be. If you have repeated failures of euploids, then you know you have other issues to investigate (of which there are many, and they aren't tested on the NHS, unexplained usually means unexplored).

From different cycles of IVF aged 37 I sent a total of 11 embryos for PGTa and 4 were euploid or low level mosaics (LLM). Make sure your clinic is happy to transfer LLMs as these have almost as good a success rate as full euploids, they self-correct in the womb. Personally, we're pleased we did the testing because it prevented the financial and emotional pain of 7 failed transfers.

The embryos are biopsied on day 5 after egg collection and then they're frozen. It takes about 2 weeks to get the results, during this time you'll likely have a withdrawal bleed from your IVF meds. When your next period starts you can call up to start whatever protocol you chose for your transfer (natural, modified nature, or fully medicated). The extra wait for testing is a lot shorter than the wait to have a failed implantation, a miscarriage, potential treatment for that MC, and waiting for another transfer because the embryo you transferred wasn't viable. The success rate per embryo transfer is about double for a PGTa euploid embryo. Frozen transfer is also typically more successful even if not testing because your body can reset, rather than putting the embryo straight into the cocktail off the IVF meds.

It would need to be a frozen transfer in March, yes.

PGTA at your age isn't usually recommended because of the good proportion of normal eggs and resultant normal embryos but could be an option if they think you have lower egg quality than usual for 35. Has your partner had a sperm DNA fragmentation test?

We had a very similar experience - our 4y old conceived naturally and then 3 years of secondary infertility (unexplained). We had a successful IVF cycle in May 2024, which ended with a TFMR at 14.5 weeks in September, due to a Trisomy - the embryo was a 4AA and I was 34y. The stats didn't make sense but had we had PGT-A testing on our embryos, it never would have been transferred and we would not have had to go through the trauma of TFMR after IVF and Secondary Infertility.

We did a thaw, biopsy, refreeze on our remaining embryos and now have 2 euploids ready for transfer and are transferring the first this in Feb. All of our AA embryos were chromosomally abnormal - so we have saved time now, but gone through heartache and trauma to learn this.

I understand the feeling of not wanting to wait until March but given what we went through I would rather wait one more month and transfer a euploid than end up with a TFMR pregnancy.

@Ngall24 Firstly, I’m really sorry for your losses. I have been TTC my first for 5 and a half years and had two (naturally conceived) miscarriages along the way. We decided to go down the IVF with PGTA route last year when I was 35. I had some recurrent miscarriage testing as part of my fertility investigations (all clear) and was advised that the most likely cause for my miscarriages was chromosomal abnormalities in the embryos. We felt that PGTA testing would help us overcome that particular hurdle & give us the best chance of having a baby. We had 9 embryos tested & 5 came back as normal, so about average for my age. I’m currently 17 weeks pregnant with one of these & while I am still very anxious, the PGTA has given me some additional reassurance. Hope this helps, happy to answer any questions you might have

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it.
@Hollielouise I have everything crossed for you and I am so sorry for your losses.
@PinaColadaJ congratulations on your pregnancy and I am also so sorry for your losses.
We are probably only going to do 2 maybe 3 rounds at a push,so I suppose it makes sense to give it everything we can and do the a PGTa testing to give us the best chance. It's so expensive on top of everything as our clinic charges per embryo however if it increases our chances of a successful pregnancy I'm sure it will be worth it!