# Is it a sperm/egg problem or an implantation problem



## nexttime (May 12, 2009)

I have had five fresh IVF cycles and 1 FET -    On all cycles I have produced between 7 / 9 eggs and have had reasonable fertilisation which has always resulted in 2 grade 1 embryos being available for Transfer -  On cycles 1 - 4 there were no embryos for freezing.    On cycle 5 I had 8 eggs - 7 fertilised -  2 grade 1 for ET and 5 grade 1 frozen.  

All cycles had been day 2 transfers (4 cells) except cycle 3 which was a day 3 transfer.    On cycle 3 one embryo was 4 cell and one was 5 cell on day 3.      On my FET all 5 were frozen on day 2 at 4 cells -  all survived thaw -  two did not develop over night - two became 5 cell (which were transferred) and one became 6 cell (was told this was no good but not why).  

IVF/ICSI  was needed as my partner has had a failed vasectomy reversal and required SSR.    I have no known problems.  

At my last review the consultant touched briefly on the slow development on day 3 saying that it could be caused by an egg quality problem but he did not think so from number of eggs/fertilisaton/embryo grades.  I have read that embryos created from SSR are more likely to arrest on day 3 as the sperm dna plays a more involved role

Is this correct ?    Do you think our failure have been due to an egg quality problem, a sperm problem (or possibly a compatability problem) or do you think it is an implantation problem ?    Have you any suggestions on what might assist in achieving a positive outcome ?  I am 37 now (was 34 when started)


----------



## CrystalW (Jul 25, 2007)

nexttime said:


> I have had five fresh IVF cycles and 1 FET - On all cycles I have produced between 7 / 9 eggs and have had reasonable fertilisation which has always resulted in 2 grade 1 embryos being available for Transfer - On cycles 1 - 4 there were no embryos for freezing. On cycle 5 I had 8 eggs - 7 fertilised - 2 grade 1 for ET and 5 grade 1 frozen.
> 
> All cycles had been day 2 transfers (4 cells) except cycle 3 which was a day 3 transfer. On cycle 3 one embryo was 4 cell and one was 5 cell on day 3. On my FET all 5 were frozen on day 2 at 4 cells - all survived thaw - two did not develop over night - two became 5 cell (which were transferred) and one became 6 cell (was told this was no good but not why).
> 
> ...


Hello,

I too have read tha SSR derived sperm can make embryos more likely to arrest on Day 3 but some of this research applies more to sperm taken from men who are azoospermic raher than because of vasectomy.

It sounds sensible that your Consultant discussed egg quality as it is important to consider all angles and he has access to all your results and medical history.

An implantation problem can be something hard to diagnose as this implies a problem with the uerine environment but the embryos themselves may not be implanting due to an egg or sperm factor.

It is interesting that you have always had a Day 2 transfer. You may wish to think about blastocyst culture if possible. Blastocyst culure can give you more information about your embryos and your clinic should be able to give you an idea of how likely you are to get blastocysts to transfer, as there is always a risk that none of them may get there. If your current clinic is not able to do this, you may wish to consider going elsewhere. Sometimes a complete change of clinic can be beneficial and a new Consultant may have different ideas.

Best wishes


----------

