To freeze...or not to freeze...

[Julia'sMom]

As with so many choices involved with if, this is yet another that we must decided. I'm having a lot of trouble with it and need to make the decision by Monday. We have an appointment with the RE for 12/4, but obviously that won't be in time to help, and he's on vacation until then.

A bit of background...we did ivf #1 in June/July. Transfered 2 and had a bfp with twins. Miscarried at 12 weeks.

Insurance will cover 4 fresh ivf attemps and unlimited frozen. However, they do not cover the cost of freezing and storage. ($1000 initially + storage costs) Once a baby is born, will only cover 1 frest cycle for next child. (Yes, I am aware of how blessed I am to have that coverage. HMO is good for something, despite the hoops we have to jump thru.)

So...we didn't accept the option to freeze during ivf#1 due to ethical concerns and cheapness. : I had a strong feeling it would work since the problem for me is ovulating, not impantation. However, the ER was not pleasant, which is a bit of an understatement. Fresh ivf is more complicated and time consuming that a fet. Also, we are considering only transfering 1 next time, as the miscarriage has increased our fears of a twin pregnancy. Will I regret freezing if the next fresh cycle is successful? Will I regret not freezing if the next cycle fails? Is disposing of frozen embryos and different that of fresh embryos? I know I'll need to make my own decision, but any thoughts and comments would be welcome.

As we all know, this can be a sensitive topic for many, so please be sensitive in your responses.

[pinkfriend]

Hi Juliasmom,

We are right in the middle if the same dilemma. In fact, I just had my ER this morning with 19 eggs retrieved. This means that most likely there will be some left over to freeze and in my opinion it is worth it. I know its a dicey issue, because what would we do if we never need to use the frozen embryos? However, the whole process is so draining both physically and emotionally that I need the peace of mind that there are frozen embryos in case it doesn't work.
I think if it turns out that we have frozen embryos that we don't end up using, I will be saddened, but I also feel that everything happens for a reason and this is something that is out of my control. They say hindsight is 20/20 right?

Not sure if that helps...

[Seedlings]

This is a very difficult decision. Since insurance will cover three more cycles would you be ok with just freezing at a later cycle if needed? Do you produce a fair amount of embies that you'd be ok/comfortable with? I kind of remember your cycle did you have ohss? If so your re should be able to control that better on your next cycle. Maybe that would help with the painful er.

I am so sorry that you lost your twins. You have been thru so much .

[Julia'sMom]

Seedlings - I would definately freeze at a later cycle, if needed. I do seem to produce a fair number of mature eggs that had no problem fertilizing. I didn't have ohss. I think the ER was painful since one of my ovaries likes to hide. Only 1 of the 2 us techs can locate it for the checks and the anesthesiologist said they had trouble getting those eggs in the ER. I guess the questions for myself is: Is the cost worth it to not have to go thru ER and to shorten the time between attempts.

to all of us. IF is not an easy road, no matter your own particular challenges.

[SleeplessMommy]

I would freeze - of course that is coming from a 39 year old .

If you get lucky like Pinkfriend did, you can relax and know that no matter how the fresh cycle goes, you have a very very very good chance of having a baby. From what I have read (not personal experience) the FET is much easier than the the egg retrieval + transfer.

If you have a dozen embies "in the bank" you will be able to do one at a time transfers instead of going for multiple transfers... greatly decreasing your risk of multiples.

I am sorry for your loss.

[LisaG]

We opted to freeze our remaining embryos, honestly we never thought of not doing it so I can't say how much of a decision it really was for us. This was our first IVF cycle and while everything really went very smoothly, it was a huge relief to know we had the "safety net" of frozen embryos should our first cycle not work.

Other things I took into consideration - it's less expensive to do a FET vs. fresh and it's less of a medical cocktail for my body - I really don't want to take more hormones than I have to.

In terms of ethical considerations - it is really bizarre to think of potential babies being in frozen animation so to speak. I don't know what consequences there are to that and I have a hard time believing there aren't any. Obviously it's not enough to make it inadvisable and I'm ok trusting that even if it looks really strange, perhaps some babies choose/need/want to come in that way. My sister-in-law's half brother is the result of a FET. He has an abnormally high tolerance of cold which his parents swear is the result of having been in the deep freeze . Other than that he's a normal, nerdy kind of kid.

In terms of discarding embryos that we don't need/want - I see them as a tremendous gift and it's really ok to send them back where they came from, to the great mystery. I feel pretty neutral about it - like they're saying if you want to use us, great and if not, it's been a fun ride and we're going back to where we came from, no hard feelings. Because of my age, we're not eligible to donate them to someone else, but we did decide to donate them to research. I like to think that they would be helping to advance infertility treatments.

So, for what it's worth, that's where I'm at with things.

[pinkfriend]

Well said LisaG!

[christophersmom]

I did not have enough to freeze, we only got three and transferred all three. I would freeze if at all possible.
I would much prefer to go through a FET cycle than full IVF cycle.

[SleeplessMommy]

Originally Posted by LisaG

Because of my age, we're not eligible to donate them to someone else

At what age are they no longer eligible?

[LisaG]

I think the cut off for my clinic is 35. It just depends on the clinic, if you want to donate through your clinic. It's definitely not the only place to donate.

[Kerr096]

We have three frozen embryo's. With my first IVF cycle I had an ectopic pregnancy. We have two embryo's frozen from that cycle. When I finally got my bearing and my emotions some what in check we tried again 5 months later I had bad dreams of the embryo's not defrosting and the though of loosing another pregnancy I new I could not handle. I did a fresh IVF cycle and that is when I had my beautiful miracle. We have 1 embryo frozen from that cycle.

I never thought about not freezing the embryo's, I guess the RE never really brought that up as a option. I was 35 when I did both cycles so genetically the embryo's are 35 even though I am now 38 and will be 39 next year when I do the FET and almost 40 if all goes well and I give birth.

I have really poor egg quality (they realized after I did the first IVF) so, I am glad I have some frozen so I can try again. My insurance does not cover anything but the meds so we are almost done paying off the loan from the first two cycles.

I am so sorry for the loss of your babies. I think if I was faced with the situation of having two many frozen embryo's I would probably donate them to research like a pp said. The thought of donating them to another couple and knowing that I have another child out there would freak me out. Good luck with your decision.

[crazyrunningmama]

Originally Posted by Julia'sMom

As with so many choices involved with if, this is yet another that we must decided. I'm having a lot of trouble with it and need to make the decision by Monday. We have an appointment with the RE for 12/4, but obviously that won't be in time to help, and he's on vacation until then.

A bit of background...we did ivf #1 in June/July. Transfered 2 and had a bfp with twins. Miscarried at 12 weeks.

Insurance will cover 4 fresh ivf attemps and unlimited frozen. However, they do not cover the cost of freezing and storage. ($1000 initially + storage costs) Once a baby is born, will only cover 1 frest cycle for next child. (Yes, I am aware of how blessed I am to have that coverage. HMO is good for something, despite the hoops we have to jump thru.)

So...we didn't accept the option to freeze during ivf#1 due to ethical concerns and cheapness. : I had a strong feeling it would work since the problem for me is ovulating, not impantation. However, the ER was not pleasant, which is a bit of an understatement. Fresh ivf is more complicated and time consuming that a fet. Also, we are considering only transfering 1 next time, as the miscarriage has increased our fears of a twin pregnancy. Will I regret freezing if the next fresh cycle is successful? Will I regret not freezing if the next cycle fails? Is disposing of frozen embryos and different that of fresh embryos? I know I'll need to make my own decision, but any thoughts and comments would be welcome.

As we all know, this can be a sensitive topic for many, so please be sensitive in your responses.

Well, tomorrow's Monday, so not sure if you will read this (and I am hoping you post us an update). I think it is much more likely that you will regret not freezing. Having done 2 IVF cycles and 2 FETs (well, I'm in the middle of one), FET's are a lot easier in every way. I think having some frozen embryos would help your sanity if you decide to only transfer one (and I can completely understand why you would choose that at this stage). It is a complicated thing, knowing that I have so many embryos frozen (13). What if I get a BFP on the first FET, what happens to the others? The same thing that happens to my eggs every month, they go back to the big beyond (or ? ) and I thank all the gods I can think of for my luck. But if it doesn't work this time, we have another chance (with embryos that will continue to have the risks of a 35 year old, even as I age, which was part of the equation for us). Good luck and more 's to you.

[Julia'sMom]

Well, we decided to put away the funds for freezing. When discussing with my dh, we confirmed that we will definately freeze on try #3, whether we do or not for try #2 is still up in the air. Regardless, even if we don't for #2 and end up with a bfp, we can then use the money for a delivery. If #2 is bfn, then we'll freeze for the next round. Thanks for all the input! I am starting to lean more and more towards freezing this time around since it sounds like my dh is adamant about not transfering 2 and I really don't like the decreased odds with only 1. Oh well. We see the RE next week and will discuss then.

CRM - if you see this, how long does a FET take? Including the month of suppression (bcp), if required. TIA!

[LisaG]

Sounds like a plan Julia'sMom. Sending you lots of baby dust.

[crazyrunningmama]

Originally Posted by Julia'sMom

CRM - if you see this, how long does a FET take? Including the month of suppression (bcp), if required. TIA!

Well, I finally have an answer for this. My last AF was Oct 29, I started bcp's that day and suppression nose spray (Synarel) on day 14. Then waited for next AF which started yesterday. Now I am doing 14 days of Estrace and then an u/s Dec 9. If the u/s shows a good lining, ET will be within the following few days. So, about a month and a half from AF to ET. The Estrace dose increases every 5 days and it's already giving me headaches, but that could also be caffeine withdrawal.

Best of luck to you, keep in touch.