Posted by on April 21, 19100 at 15:20:34:
In Reply to: 6 day freeze- question for doctors posted by Lilliana on April 21, 19100 at 01:07:10:
: Recently I went through a donor egg cycle and had 8 embryos on day 3. I was told 7 of them looked good and they told me they would go to blastocyst as long as they were at least 5 or 6 cells on day 3. This is their policy for donors under the age of 38 and they would not bend unless the embryos didnt look good on day three. On day 5 all had gone to blast and they transferred the two best. I was told they would freeze the rest no matter how they looked because if they made it to blast they must be viable. Imagine my shock when they told me two days later they held them until day 6 and the remaining 6 arrested. I was told they do this to make sure they are still dividing. From what I have read it seems embryos do better if frozen sooner raher than later. Does this mean they were all no good to begin with or could they have been frozen on day 5 and perhaps resulted in a pregnancy at a later date? The ASRM report I read said if they weren't 8 cells by day three it would be better to transfer them on day three. Has something changed? Whatdo you think about this?
Lilliana,
Blastocyst culture apppears to be a way of decreasing the chance of multiple pregnancy while maintaining a good chance of pregnancy per transfer. Each center has it's own policies regarding who should go to blastocyst. Your experience of not having many embryos to freeze is common to many patients who post on this board. It may be that although blastocyst culture may increase the pregnancy rate per transfer, it may not increase the pregnancy rate per retrieval, since you are less likely to be able to go through a frozen embryo cycle.
Dr. Barad