# No early cleavage?



## fizzgig (Apr 1, 2008)

Hi Crystal and welcome to FF  

We've just had our 2nd failed IVF for unexplained infertility, and at our review the only thing our consultant could come up with was that we've had little or no early cleavage on both cycles.

1st IVF - (Buserelin, Puregon)  14 eggs, 9 fertilised. Only 1 showed early cleavage - this and another good embie put back on Day 2  - BFN

2nd IVF - again Puregon - 10 eggs, 7 fertilised. No early cleavage. Went for blast but only 2 made it and not great quality (2CC) - BFN

What is the significance of "no early cleavage" and can anything be done to improve things eg change in stimms protocol or should we be considering eg CGH/ aneuploidy screening?

Thanks for any advice and I hope you don't get too swamped on here  

fizz xxx


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## CrystalW (Jul 25, 2007)

Hello Fizz,

Early cleavage is a check done about 24 hours after the egg and sperm have been mixed. So on the day of egg collection, the sperm and egg are mixed either by ivf or icsi and then they are checked for fertilisation he next morning and in the afternoon of that day they are checked again. If they have divided into two cells, occasionally more, by then, they are said to have undergone `early cleavage`. There is a lot of evidence to say that embryos that cleave early stand a better chance of making a pregnancy but this is by no means a hard and fast rule. I have put back many embryos that have not cleaved early and they have made babies. Not all clinics do early cleavage checks as they prefer other ways to choose between embryos, for example going to blastocyst. But your clinic will know what works best for them.

2 out of 7 making blastocysts sounds about normal, and it does sound as if you have got good egg numbers. 

PGS screening could be an option - this has had a lot of bad press lately but i have seen it work very well, but only for patients with a specific history - usually ladies in their early forties or more - or those with recurrent diagnosed miscarriages. And remember it wont make your embryos any better, it is just another way of choosing between them. Your consultant should be able to advise you if it might be suitable.

Your Consultant may suggest a change of protocol but you never know if it will make things better or not. 

Many embryos are created that do not have the potential to continue and sadly there is not always a baby-making embryo in every cycle.

Best wishes


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