# mixed unsuccessful donor egg results - advice and hope??



## cat_h (2 mo ago)

Hi all,

Feeling very confused and lost at the moment. Bit of background - I'm 41, partner 43. Have a genetic son 3 1/2 conceived naturally and non eventful pregnancy. Missed miscarriage early 2021, reasoning - dodgy older eggs, managed with D and C. Fertility investigations showed non existent follicles and Amh - Donor eggs recommended.
So started with IB Alicante June 2022. Donor produced 9 eggs, 8 fertilised, ended up with 5 blastocysts (2 X AA, 1 X AB, 2 X BB). Fresh cycle using 1 AA embryo. Implanted and positive pregnancy test but at 5-6 weeks showed anembryonic pregnancy and drug induced miscarriage. Impression was one of those things/fluke bad embryo despite good grading. Went again with FET of last AA embryo end of Oct, that was a BFN. It had been thought given good enough embryos and that I have carried a normal pregnancy before, odds were looking good!!! Now what to think......and obviously I'm trying to google the issue.
Have a review consult with clinic next week and just trying to figure out my questions for them. So confused, and so scared of going again. Part of me wonders is it a problem with embryos seeing as first implanted, but ended up embryonic. Has anyone PGS tested their donor embryos? Part of me wonders whats the liklihood of lesser grades working, and dont want to waste the emotional and mental energy never mind cost with futher FETs if there is an issue with embryos - instead start a new cycLE. I was put on blood thinners for second transfer in case I had developed " sticky blood" since own son pregnancy. Would potential post D and c scarring (dont know if i have any) be a reason? 

Any advice or help anyone has would be great to hear. Why is the path so long and winding!!!!!


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## ozziechick (10 mo ago)

cat_h said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Feeling very confused and lost at the moment. Bit of background - I'm 41, partner 43. Have a genetic son 3 1/2 conceived naturally and non eventful pregnancy. Missed miscarriage early 2021, reasoning - dodgy older eggs, managed with D and C. Fertility investigations showed non existent follicles and Amh - Donor eggs recommended.
> So started with IB Alicante June 2022. Donor produced 9 eggs, 8 fertilised, ended up with 5 blastocysts (2 X AA, 1 X AB, 2 X BB). Fresh cycle using 1 AA embryo. Implanted and positive pregnancy test but at 5-6 weeks showed anembryonic pregnancy and drug induced miscarriage. Impression was one of those things/fluke bad embryo despite good grading. Went again with FET of last AA embryo end of Oct, that was a BFN. It had been thought given good enough embryos and that I have carried a normal pregnancy before, odds were looking good!!! Now what to think......and obviously I'm trying to google the issue.
> ...


sorry to read this, have you been tested for things like thyroid or mtfhr, may be worth getting the blood tests


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## OursBlanc (Apr 15, 2019)

Hi @cat_h . I am sorry to hear about your loss and negative hpt.
We are also at IB, and pretty much had same number following the DE route. 10 eggs, 9 fertilised, 4 blastocyst, 1x AA, 3×BB. Our donor was 27 years old at the time of donation, me almost 44 at the time of transfer and hubby 49 at the time of leaving his sperm sample at the clinic. Fast forward 2 years and we have a 2yr DD from day 6 AA blastocyst fresh transfer and currently 10wk pregnant with our last BB blastocyst. We had 2 FET back to back earlier this year ending BFN.
Prior to starting FET we had numerous tests one of which was looking for uterine scarring (had a c-section delivery with DD due to fibroids). Have you had this done? 
Other tests include complete thyroid profile, vit D, blood clotting genetic test due to family history of clots. Have you had any additional tests carried out? 

Is your consultant Dr Castillo? He was/ is our consultant and found him open and ready to answer questions after our two failed FET cycles. 
Obviously you will know you donor's age, and she we'll have gone through a lot of genetic testing amongst other things. So would hope that the clinics' rigours testing would have picked up potential issues there. 
I would ask your consultant for the embryologist report/assessment how the embryo was developing after defrosting. You probably have been given a picture of the blastocyst immediately after being defrosted but you wpuld also want to know what % cells survived the defrosting and how the blastocyst was developing.
Do you know the exact age of your blastocyst? Day5 or day 6? For your fresh transfer I presume you were synchronised with your donor and you will know the number of days of progesterone supplementation you had prior to transfer when your little blastocyst implanted. It's crucial for success to synchronise endometrial lining with blastocyst age. 
From my own experience our failed 2 FET cycles the progesterone supplementation was different (on the clinics advice) to the fresh transfer( that resulted in DD) and could have been the cause of failure. So for your case I would ask about progesterone supplementation especially if it was different to your fresh transfer.
Lastly ask about using laser assisted hatching for the frozen/ defrosted blastocyst transfer.
IB was/ is running a trial to see the efficacy of the procedure and Dr Castillo shared early results witb us that show positive affect on specific cases frozen/ thawed blasyocyst transfer.
So for our last day6+ BB transfer I took progesterone for exactly the same time/ patter as with fresh transfer and asked for laser assisted hatching ( this was free) - and so far so good Iam 10wks expecting.
Sorry for long answer/ advice but wanted to illustrate that a BB quality blastocyst could be a route to your miracle baby. But it's a decision you can only make. I'd suggest more investigations prior to a future transfer, checking uterine cavity, fibroids , scarring, and other blood tests.
If you have any questions happy to give more details of own experience.
Wishing you all the best going forward.


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## cat_h (2 mo ago)

OursBlanc said:


> Hi @cat_h . I am sorry to hear about your loss and negative hpt.
> We are also at IB, and pretty much had same number following the DE route. 10 eggs, 9 fertilised, 4 blastocyst, 1x AA, 3×BB. Our donor was 27 years old at the time of donation, me almost 44 at the time of transfer and hubby 49 at the time of leaving his sperm sample at the clinic. Fast forward 2 years and we have a 2yr DD from day 6 AA blastocyst fresh transfer and currently 10wk pregnant with our last BB blastocyst. We had 2 FET back to back earlier this year ending BFN.
> Prior to starting FET we had numerous tests one of which was looking for uterine scarring (had a c-section delivery with DD due to fibroids). Have you had this done?
> Other tests include complete thyroid profile, vit D, blood clotting genetic test due to family history of clots. Have you had any additional tests carried out?
> ...


Hi thanks so much for your detailed reply. I havent had a hysterscope yet as the first implanted. But maybe now after second didn't in case I have scarring somewhere after d and c last year. I was put on blood thinners for FET, but gonna get bloods done so i know whether I actually need to be on them or not. Good point re the progesterone. Our embryos were frozen day 6 - mainly due to timing of spanish bank holiday when we were doing frozen transfer. Fresh cycle had 5 1/2 days progesterone, this time only 4 1/2 so maybe not enough. Unfortunately, we are not with Dr Castillo, we only discovered his expertise once we had started with another consultant with IB. I'll try remember about the defrosting and the laser assisted hatching too! I think we will go ahead with tests but will wait a few months before next transfer, as I just feel shattered, physically and mentally. A lot has happened this year with egg donation treatment, family bereavement and maybe I rushed into FET too soon. Great to hear of your good results and best of luck with your pregnancy. I would so love to give my son a sibling, but starting to feel a little old! fingers crossed a little miracle is in our last few embryos waiting for us!


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