# 3rd Neg Cycle - Crossroads - ARGC? Can you test frozen embryos?



## piks78 (Apr 14, 2016)

We found out yesterday that our 3rd cycle (2nd FET) was a BFN. I’d been having an awful lot of pain at the end of the 2WW so had been crying for two days and was kind of expecting it but the reality is my heart is broken. I don’t feel like I’ve got the energy to pursue this route anymore – my body and mind is really tired and emotionally I don’t feel strong enough to keep getting my hopes up ‘believing’ it’s going to happen when it’s followed by such disappointment.
I feel like I’m at a crossroads and that I need to try and regain some control of my life. My body seems to be saying it’s had enough it wants a break from everything medical as it’s been through a lot over the last few years. 
But it seems such a waste – we've been so lucky to have got this far. Can we just give up? Our clinic (which does have an immune specialist) doesn’t really seem to have an answer – I've had immune testing but they're only very slightly elevated so they don't think it's that. Which just leaves the embryos so they say we can just keep trying with them but financially we can’t, plus I know my body can’t take much more of the drugs. 
Is there anyway of testing blastocysts after they’ve been frozen so that we can know whether it’s the embryos or not? Do we take a break for 6 months and then try one final go at a different clinic such as ARGC who seem to be very meticulous and good with difficult cases?
Do we try surrogacy abroad? From what I can see we’d need to save an awful lot of money and be in for a long road but does it really actually happen
Sorry for the rant, my head is just a bit of a blur and I don’t really know where to go from here


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## Carrie88 (Aug 2, 2015)

So sorry Hun  even when you expect it, it's still devastating isn't it. 

Only you know how much you can take. I personally think I must be one step closer and I'm not giving up, but everyone has different limits. Maybe you just need a break from it at the moment? 

It's not advise able to do Pgs on already frozen embryos. That's placing a lot of pressure on the embryos when Pgs testing is already Quite a tough process for them. You'd be best speaking to an embryologist though and see what they suggest first.


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## Uber Barrens Club (Jun 6, 2015)

Hi

I'm so sorry about your BFN, hope you can be kind to yourselves  

I had PGS testing done on my frozen embryos: we did a 3rd fresh cycle and batched those blasts suitable for biopsy together with the frosties  

The embryologists I spoke to said that more and more couples are having their frozen embryos thawed for PGS testing. Obv the re-freezing / re-thawing process does put more stress on the embryos - however their data suggested that euploid embryos do generally survive the thaw.

They said unfortunately it is sometimes the case with PGS that all embryos are abnormal (as you know), but that whilst obviously devastating to have nothing to transfer, often couples were relieved to have known up front and avoided the heartbreak of failed cycles. 

This was absolutely true for us with our frosties - if we hadn't done the testing, we'd have likely gone through 4 failed FET / more miscarriages that were always doomed to fail, as all 4 were aneuploid.  I'm pretty certain we wouldn't have had the strength to carry on, and would have called it a day. To think we've avoided that entirely is a huge, huge relief - although I completely appreciate that we were in the very fortunate situation of having fresh blasts to test as well

Wishing you lots of luck and thinking of you xx


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## Claudia H (Oct 2, 2015)

Hi Piks,

really sorry about your BFN. I have also just had my third BFN from a third fresh cycle. We are similarly at a crossroads. I'm not ready to give up, but i can't just go on doing the same treatment and getting the same result. I need to change something as I feel it's just not working for me. 

We have 4 frosties from our second and third attempt. After talking with our clinic (The Lister) at length we have decided to get them PGS tested. We will do one more fresh cycle in September and then test any new fresh blastocysts alongside our 4 frozen ones. If we are lucky to have any normal from the frozen batch, we will transfer one of those to avoid having to re-freeze them and we will freeze any normal from the fresh batch. If we have more than one normal from the frozen batch we will be forced to re-freeze it. Re-freezing blasts isn't ideal and does add an extra strain on them, but my doctor said it would probably result in a re-thawing success rate of 80-85% as opposed to 90-95%. Personally, I think that is a risk worth taking if it helps select the right embryo for transfer and prevents any more negative cycles or MCs. Also, it saves me time. If none of them are normal then at least we know what's up and after what will be 4 cycles - it will be time to think of something else. 

best of luck with your decision x


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