December 2025 FET

[CoolSummer89]

Is anyone going to have a FET in December?

I was expecting to have one in January but when I went to the clinic yesterday they are going to try and squeeze a natural FET cycle in before the Christmas break!

I am 36, had my first egg collection last month but wasn't suitable for a fresh transfer. If my cycle plays ball my transfer will be 15th-17th December.

Hopeful for a lovely Christmas present but also being realistic given age and first transfer etc.

I had my egg collection today, which went well! We're now praying fertilisation takes place overnight. Our fresh transfer is being switched to a frozen because my lining isn't ideal and our doctor feels we would get better results by giving my body a chance to calm down.

Thanks for the PGTA advice ladies - we were on the fence but have decided to go ahead with it, especially where a fresh transfer is now off the table anyway.

That's great news about the eggs @RavenWillow, although totally understand why you're worried about OHSS. Good luck tomorrow @zirafica!

@RavenWillow isn’t the body so funny, not so long go you were worrying about them not being big enough!
I had 26 follicles developing so I was considered high risk for OHSS, they lowered my trigger too (was supposed to have three shots, two of something starting with an F and one Ovitrelle) but they told me to ditch the Ovitrelle. I was absolutely fine in the end! My egg collection was end of August and I’m only doing the first FET today, so even if you do get OHSS in reality it probably won’t delay things ♥️
@Sequins04 yay one BIG step done and fingers crossed for loads of fertilised eggs today! Keep us updated on how the road to Day 5 is going. I’m glad you went for PGT-A testing, in the end it just gives a bit of peace of mind and god knows I’ll grab on to any of that in this process 😂
Thank you everyone for the good vibes today ♥️

Will definitely get some electrolyte drinks @CoolSummer89, thank you for the advice.
Thats some really good advice thanks @whysohardtogetusername. I was wondering whether I could take some buscopan as take it for my periods anyway and I love my hot bear!
@Sequins04 Hoping you get some good news on fertilisation today , let us know how it goes. Did they say when you were likely able to do FET?
It really is @zirafica, I couldn't quite believe the difference! Obviously was hoping for fresh transfer but we will see. As annoying as it is I think would rather be in a situation where I am having to wait for FET with frozen embryos rather than be in a position holding out for everything on a fresh transfer.
For all of you that had the PGT-A testing, have you had to pay for or will they sometimes give on NHS? Im wondering about it if have to be switched to a freeze all and how to go about it?

@RavenWillow so the NHS doesn’t cover PGT-A testing as there’s been no proven link that it impacts live births positively, and that’s what they base their endorsement/financing on so is it’s only available if you’re paying out of pocket. Basically it doesn’t improve the embryo in any way, its main benefit is that it stops miscarriages. The NHS does cover other PGT tests though, which search for certain hereditary genetic conditions such as cystic fibrosis.
We tested half of our blastos before freezing them, and if we want to test the rest there’s an additional cost for thawing and freezing them again, but it can be done later on as well so you don’t need to test now/test all of them at once. We only got one euploid from the first batch we tested so if the transfer today fails we’re definitely testing the rest.
I’d say if you’ve had multiple miscarriages or are 38 or above I’d highly recommend it. I always think out of our 7 we could’ve had 6 failed attempts before we even got to the euploid and I’m not even sure I could handle trying that many times, so it’s a real blessing to me! Bear in mind all 14 of our day 5 embryos were graded as good, and still only 1/7 tested was an euploid! So worth it for me! It is pricey though!

@zirafica how did your transfer go today?

@RavenWillow wishing you all the best for your trigger shot tonight.

@Peonies94 how are you feeling?

Is anyone else triggering/transferring soon?

We had the call from the embryologist this morning. They collected 7 eggs and all of them were mature (over the moon with that), so they did ICSI yesterday afternoon on all of them. Overnight 4 have fertilised which we're delighted about! They said the other 3 may still fertilise so they'll keep an eye on them for another day or so, but it's unlikely. I was really worried none would fertilise so feel much better today. We have another update on day 3.

I'm keen on going for the PGTA because I've got quite a few health conditions and so the thought of taking transfer drugs for an embryo that would never work, makes me super anxious. At least this way we'll know we've given it the best shot. Your story of 1/7 being euploid @zirafica and yours of 5/12 @whysohardtogetusername have been so helpful in confirming that decision so thank you for sharing.

My only worry before was that we could end up with nothing to transfer, whereas with a fresh round, if our embryos had fallen over but one was still hanging in there, they may have given us an early transfer, say on day 3 or 4, if they weren't sure it would make it to day 5. Now the fresh option has been taken away, we just have to keep everything crossed the frosties are strong and grow out to lovely blasts!

Could anyone give a bit of a summary of how a frozen transfer works? E.g. how long do you have to wait, when do you take drugs etc?

@Sequins04 good results!! Congrats!! Keep us updated on day 3/day 5 progress!

My transfer is in about two hours so still chilling at home ♥️

So it really depends on whether you have a medicated or “natural” FET. Mine is natural-modified which I think is because they made me do a trigger and didn’t wait for my natural ovulation to happen, while I assume a fully natural one is them keeping a close eye on when you’d ovulate naturally - so no trigger would be used (this is me guessing).

my timelines were:

• egg collection - end of August
• first bleed post EC - 6 days
• PGT-A results- 2.5 weeks from day 5 after EC (so a bit over 3 weeks after EC)
• second bleed post EC/first proper period post EC - 35 days after the first post EC bleed (so 41 days post EC)
• third bleed post EC/second proper period - 37 days after first proper period
• had baseline scan on day 11 of second proper cycle
• triggered with ovitrelle day 12 of second proper cycle
• started pessaries 2 days after trigger
• FTE booked for 7 days after trigger

To summarise, from EC to FET 2 months and a couple of days (late August to early December). I think they always wait for your second proper cycle to start (not counting the post EC bleed), so I think my timeline is roughly standard!

That's really interesting to know thank you both. Im 33 nearly 34 but have had 2 miscarriages in the only 2 occasions I've actually managed to get pregnant. The first was horrific with twins and had to have d&c and developed a Uterine AVM and was poorly for months so I am panicking at how im going to deal with the possibility of miscarriages.
That's such good news @Sequins04.
Thank you for sharing your FET timeline @zirafica I was wondering about that as well.

Signing in as officially PUPO!

Test in 11 days which happens to be the exact day of a massive Christmas do we’re having with our friend group so if it’s a BFN your girl is gonna have a wild one!!

win win!

@zirafica yay! Everything crossed for you! Currently 3DPt here and currently driving myself crazy! Think I’ve had a few twinges tonight so I have everything crossed 🤞

@Peonies94 YAY great to join the club! Honestly I’m not even thinking about it until the 13th, I’m just taking this as another doctors appointment and moving on with my life 😂😂

@zirafica id love to be able to be like that but equally like to break the news to myself slowly and will be testing on Thursday 😂

@sequins04 I'm also on FET. Had egg collection 5th September so its been 3 months for me to get to transfer day on 4th Dec. Had to wait for withdrawal bleed first after egg collection. Then Had to wait for first real period which luckily came as expected in next cycle (I believe for some people, it can take a while for cycle to settle again after all the meds). After first period, started oestrogen tablets. Had scan on day 11. At that point, if lining was thick enough would have started on progesterone pessaries and then transfer on day 17. For me, lining wasn't ready at that first scan so I had 2 more scans within the next week until lining was ready. So that's pushed transfer back 1 week later than originally planned.

Ahhh congratulations on being PUPO @zirafica - how exciting! Sounds like your timeline is ideal with your test date too ❤️

@RavenWillow hope everything is okay with you. I had a very large amount of follicles on my scans (50!!!) and had 23 eggs collected so was at high risk of OHSS. I was severely bloated by collection date and when they did my collection they noticed lots of excess fluid (your clinic will likely look for this if you’re high risk) so they gave me some additional meds to take after I left to help reverse the effects. I would say I was pretty uncomfortable the first day or so, but after that it cleared up. Like others have said, electrolytes are recommended and other than that I’d just say rest. I’d also say that if you do develop it you’ll be really glad of a FET anyway because I remember thinking there’s no way I could focus on protecting an embryo the way I felt at the time so was glad of the break to let my body rest as it happened.

@Sequins04 i can see some others have shared timelines but if it helps mine was:

• egg collection - end of sept
• withdrawal bleed - 1 week later

i dont have natural periods so i then had to wait 6 weeks to see if my period definitely didn’t arrive then request meds to bring on a bleed. The 6 week wait + the meds + waiting for my period to arrive then brought me to around 22nd November (CD1). My protocol was then short medicated:

• 13 days oestrogen patches
• lining scan
• 5 days of progesterone pessaries
• transfer

All in all from my egg collection date to (potential) transfer date was around 11 weeks. I know that sounds like ages but it’s gone so fast and I enjoyed some time letting my hair down knowing our embryos were there waiting for us in the meantime. Hope that helps x

Thank you so much for sharing that @AnonTTC, its just such an unknown, you can read things but always makes more sense to me when someone actually puts it in real terms. Feeling pretty nervous right now, have to leave in just under an hour as it is a bit of a drive to get there and traffic!

Thank you all!
@RavenWillow thibking of you! Best of luck and can’t wait to track how it goes from here ♥️♥️ Honestly the injections and EC were the worst part of this for me so it’s all uphill now!
@Peonies94 and the other ladies, I’d actually love to open up this topic as I see it all across this forum. Girls testing day 4, 5, MUCH earlier than the doctor said. I know you’d want to know as soon as possible and I suppose people get very anxious of the results, but all I’ve seen with people testing early is anxiety increasing! Either the line is nonexistent and they think it’s failed despite KNOWING it’s way too early to test (there’s a reason the doctors say 11 days). The embryo usually doesn’t even implant before day 3 and it takes it at least 7 days to burrow in and properly start producing hcg that can be tracked! On top of that there’s obviously hcg the tests can pick up remaining from the trigger shot, and then people get excited about the thin lines, and then the lines disappear and it’s a disaster. Surely these emotional rollercoasters only work against us? Looking at these posts and the anxiety and overthinking that testing every day leads to and comparing the thinness of the lines, all I see is increased anxiety, not the opposite. Surely the right thing to do is just wait until the official test date? People say it helps them know sooner but it actually doesn’t. Especially not when the photos from day 4 come in with CAN YOU SEE A THIN LINE, girl I can’t see s* because you’re testing WAY too early? There’s a reason we get told day 11, because nothing before that can be trusted, despite things potentially showing up earlier… I feel like I’m the only one with this approach and I’d love to hear why everyone is desperate to test so early!

@zirafica for me personally I’ve always been an early tester as it allows me to slowly grieve that it hasn’t worked or be aware of any chemicals that may have occurred!
I find the anxiety of not testing and each day worrying far outweighs testing and at least seeing something/not seeing something and knowing that’s the case than just wondering what’s going on and having no clue! I’m 4DPT and have a very slight line today! I’ll continue to test every day now until official test date! Yes it’ll make me a little anxious, but not half as anxious as I would be building up all my emotions for test day!
if you find it easier not to test then I totally understand that though, it’s just personally emotionally I think the devastation to see the negative on test day is just too much for me!

@Peonies94 thanks for your response! but what if you got a negative on day 5, and 6, 7 etc? You’d be so disappointed and anxious but you still might get a positive on day 10 but you’d end up feeling awful for 5 days cause you kept testing early? God that would mentally be so draining!!!
I think that’s the catch - I’m not worrying about it at all as it’s out of my hands now. I’m obviously following the rules on food and exercise, but I’m going on with my life and testing on day 11 is just something I have to do. In my eyes I’m not pregnant until I see that test say otherwise - that might be it!

@zirafica I personally think anything beyond day 7 would be negative for me all together as I use early tests etc, but I’d have time to start to grief, rather than it hitting like a ton of bricks! The lack of knowing what could be brings far more anxiety to me than the testing and no line! I had a negative up to date 7 last time so was able go slowly start accepting that! This time I’ve had a faint line today and if that doesn’t progress of course I’ll be devestated but also would be if it was negative? At least I could hold on to the few days I had the pregnancy!

Similarly I have a friend going through ivf who removed herself from all forums because she found they gave her anxiety! For me I feel like they help as it feels like your not alone and have people to share it with when no one in real life knows my about us going through this! Each to their own I guess!

@zirafica i think being able to not think/worry about it at all until test day is really hard when you have to think about it constantly and it just takes over my brain 24/7 especially with the daily injections etc!
regardless of whether I test early or not the day my period came and my tracking scans came it took over my Brian fully! Regardless of whether I test or not, anxiety is there, there’s no way o could in any way stop that! Yes o try and distract myself in ways in this 5 weeks, but also regardless of what I do it doesn’t change that! Testing for me takes away some of that anxiety! Great that you’re able to switch off from it, but I’d say you’re probably in the minority there! I guess it depends on people’s personality in general too!

@Peonies94 oh goodness that sounds so exhausting, I’m sorry. I’m not on any additional meds, just the pessaries, so I suppose that makes it easier as well. God I’d be devastated if it was showing a pregnancy on day 6 and then disappeared, I’d genuinely rather not know. Plus that might still be the trigger showing from what I’ve gathered from this forum. When someone tells you to distract yourself is so not-understanding what anxiety is like, as if you can just switch it off. I’m glad you found something that works for you!
I actually have a friend who’s going through this in the states and she’s kind of like you, maybe even slightly worse - highly anxious, self diagnosing herself with problems (the newest one is she thinks she clots although the doctors confirmed she isn’t and she’s going to force them to give her heparin injections, before that she was sure she had killer cells, etc.), testing every day, all that jazz. I just look at her and think girl you’re making this so much worse for yourself, there’s literally nothing you can do and they do tell you that trying to relax and have fun can only help and watching her do the exact opposite is so heart breaking…

@zirafica I’m on two daily injections but no pessaries! I’d say I’m not extremely anxious all the time but just feel worse for not knowing! Though for me I would much prefer to know id had a chemical and have known and celebrated for some time, than not known at all! Infertility is cruel and when you’ve been dealing with it for years it makes you crazy!
I went back and fourth the dr telling them I had a condition and wasn’t listened to until I finally had the diagnosis privately so these things do happen!

I also didn’t trigger so 💯 know it’s not that! I had a FET both times, so no trigger concerns!

@Peonies94 I’m sorry it’s been so difficult! Oh I had a FET and had a trigger!

@zirafica ahh okay did you have a natural cycle or natural modified?
Well good luck!

how is everyone else getting on? Any more transfers happening?

Natural modified! I think natural is when they just track your natural ovulation so no trigger? I thought the trigger was what made it “modified”.
I think our next batch of ladies goes in for transfer tomorrow! But we’re waiting to see how @RavenWillow gets on today with her EC ♥️