Viable at 6 week, but empty sac at 12 week

[Waitin4rainbow]

Hi mumsnetters

I had a fresh ivf cycle and got a BFP in December. It was my 2nd ivf cycle.
The ivf clinic confirmed fetal heartbeat at the early 6 week scan.
All was good until today, at the 12 week scan appointment where an empty gestational sac was seen measuring 14 mm.

1. Has anyone experienced something like this, and knows what are the likely causes for this?
2. has anyone got any advice for which option is the best for miscarriage management?
3. what should be kept in mind before we try for a 3rd round with frozen embryos.

Regards

Unfortunately I don’t have the answers to your questions however I couldn’t scroll by without saying that I’m so sorry for your loss. It must be such a shock and so devastating. Please look after yourself ❤️

I am so sorry for your heartbreaking loss. I had similar and experienced a missed miscarriage. It’s usually chromosomal issues - how old were you when you froze your embryo and was it PGTA tested? I had a D&C but personally wouldn’t have it again - but please read up on all options as they all have their pro’s and cons!

my period didn’t return for 6 months after my D&C and I had to have surgery to get it back. It was so stressful, more stressful than the miscarriage. The risk of scarring is a lot higher than they tell you, so please make an informed decision based on the facts given xx

I am so sorry for your loss. Having to go through the challenges of IVF and then the heartbreak of a miscarriage is truly awful.

I was not exactly in the same situation but had a missed miscarriage after my first IVF cycle. We saw a heartbeat at 7 weeks but the foetus was a bit small, and we learnt at 9 weeks that the foetus had stopped developing.

We were told the most likely reason was chromosomal abnormalities but that there was not way of knowing for sure. No investigations were done as it was my first loss.

I was not really well informed about the different options, I was just told to go home and to wait until I started bleeding. The wait was awful, I couldn’t plan anything as I was worried the miscarriage could happen at anytime. I didn’t start bleeding and for my mental health I couldn’t stay in this limbo, so I decided I wanted to accelerate the process.

I looked at medical management but the process sounded awful to me. I couldn’t face the idea of passing my pregnancy alone at home.

I decided to get the D&C, I had to wait a bit to have a spot at my local hospital and finally had the procedure at 11 weeks. I still hadn’t started bleeding and it had already been 2 weeks since we were informed about the MMC. It was done in a day, not too painful, and at least I didn’t have to go through the trauma of seeing all the blood at home.

I got my period back 6 weeks after the D&C, and waited for my next period to start another IVF cycle and I am currently doing stims.

I would suggest asking your clinic how long they would recommend to wait for a frozen transfer as different clinics can have different approaches.

I would also recommend looking at the Mumsnet Missed Miscarriage forum as there is a lot of great info.

I am sending you lots of love to go through this awful situation. Take the time you need to properly grieve and also for your body to recover.

Thank you @FrostedFlake for your kind words.

@Elmo2025 thank you for replying, I am so sorry you had to go through a similar experience. I got the embryos frozen at 34 years. I have not gotten testing done. I am wondering if there are ways to test the frozen ones before going for the next round.

@YellowTack thank you for your detailed response and I am so sorry to hear about your loss. May I ask you a follow up question?
Did you have another scan at 9 weeks where you found out about the fetus growth.
In hindsight, I am thinking if I should have done the same, and not waited for the 12 week appointment.
I wish you all the best for the current cycle too.
Hugs and love.

It’s really cruel, especially after going through ivf. You can PGTA frozen embryos if their grading is good enough. We PGTA tested 6 of ours - unfortunately all abnormal. But we were a bit of a rare case (I was 35). We have one remaining that was deemed as poor quality and was too risky to be tested, it is a 5BC. There’s a forum called Healthunlocked (ivf network) which has lots of incredibly supportive women on. Sending lots of love and I hope you take the time to grieve and look after yourself x

@Waitin4rainbow we had our standard clinic scan at 7 weeks were they saw the heartbeat but noticed that the foetus was measuring behind. We were told there was nothing to worry about, and the foetus was deemed as viable, but they still wanted to do a “reassurance scan” 2 weeks later to check on the foetus and that’s when we learnt there was not heartbeat. I was really mad at them for being too reassuring from the start when all the signs were there.

In your case if there were no signs at the first scan I think it is quite standard not to have another scan until the 12-week one.

I know that if I am lucky enough to be pregnant again I will for sure pay for extra private scans in the future to put my mind at ease even though it is never a garantee that things will work out.

I spent a lot of time thinking whether I would do PGT-A or not for my current cycle. I am not against PGT-A at all but I went with my clinician’s recommendation not to do PGT-A as I have low AMH so I only make a couples of embryos and I am less than 35 (for another few months at least 😅). As awful as they are miscarriage are not rare. If I am in a similar situation again in the future I think I will seriously consider it, but then again it’s not a guarantee.

@Elmo2025 thanks for your message. I will look into the option when the time comes for planning another cycle.
I am sorry to hear about the results you had with PGT-A testing. I will check healthunlocked forum too. Thanks for your warm hearted message and it was really helpful.
@YellowTack I can understand and I am the exact situation as you, low amh and nearing 35 y/o age. Will weigh in when the time comes to discuss with the ivf clinic. I am also considering extra reassurances if I get lucky again.
Hope it all works out for both of us 🙏