This is our first DE cycle. Transfer should be sometime next month if all goes as planned, so we have some time. I am having a difficult time deciding on how many envied to tfer. One or two...I am 34 and we did ivf with OE in Jan. Only had one to transfer on day 3. It was 8 cell. I got BFP but m/c at 6 weeks. Twins feels so overwhelming, but I'm fearful if we only implant one it won't stick. It's a proven donor and I believe both recipients from the previous cycle had very high first betas. Do the chances of multiples go up a lot?? I plan on talking to the doctor on Fri about this. We have had so much disappointment over the last three years so part of me wants to play it safe and go for two in hopes that at least one sticks. But that other part of me gets overwhelmed thinking about multiples. Such a hard decision.

My rule of thumb is only transfer as many as you'd be comfortable raising - The chances of DE working are SO much higher than OE - I did an elective single embryo transfer (eSET) in March and I'm thrilled to be pregnant. I know it's hard to rationalize after disappointment with OE cycles, but it really is a different ballgame with DE - and hopefully you can freeze some embryos just in case you're on the down side of the odds....

Hi ya,
If you would be ok with twins then go for a two emby transfer. If not go for a SET. I did a two emby transfer and had one. I was dissapointed at the ultrasound but thats the way it goes.
By the time you get past transfer and are in the 2ww it is really in the hands of the gods. this is how I used to think at that point anyway.
best wishes to you, THK

When we did our first DE cycle. I thought twins would be overwhelming, so we only transferred one. Unfortunately, that cycle turned out to be a chemical pregnancy. The second time, we transferred two frozen ones - and one took, with a really good beta. My RE says that even if you transfer two, there's only about a 20% chance of twins, so I would tell you to go with what makes you the most comfortable.
Regardless, I wish you the very best of luck this time!!!

With transferring 2, the chance of twins can vary a lot by clinic - my clinic has 50% twin stats, so for me it was a no brainer to transfer one.. Also, keep in mind that even with all this science nature can still throw a curve ball with natural twins

We used a 3x proven donor (3 sets twins) for our first cycle that worked, and we put two in - we got twins too. We had been given a 50/50 chance of twins but I had failed two fresh DE cycles prior, so we rolled our eyes on that one and almost insisted on THREE embies! Gulp. When we decided to try for a sib, we did single embie FETs and mc'd twice (chemical and a blighted ovum), due to undiagnosed structural uterine issue, and clotting and immune issues, which we later fixed, then we used a 5x proven donor for another fresh cycle that resulted in our DD2. We KNEW we didn't want twins again (horrible pg, preemie birth, last time around) and so we only put in one embie - which became a healthy full-term singleton - even though our RE and embryologist pushed us HARD to put in two embryos.

I can't recommend strongly enough that you do an eSET if you are at a good clinic with decent stats. Success rates at the good clinics are not vastly different when transferring one vs two embies, so what you are really buying yourself with the second embie is a MUCH higher chance of twins (going from 1% chance, to 20-50% or even higher depending on the clinic and donor). Trust me even if it doesn't work and you do an FET (or heck even two), you will be ahead of the game by avoiding almost certain NICU time for your babies in doing the twin thing.

I've done it both ways and truly, I really believe we should only put in one embryo routinely with DE, almost across the board. The difference in my pgs, kids' births, and health even to date (my almost five year olds still have reflux as a result of being preemie, and I believe have had developmental delays they might not have had, had they been singleton). So a final appeal - think of those future kids' health: it's SO much better for them, to arrive one at a time.

GL to you, I did many cycles before having my twins so I know how soul crushing ttc is and also how tempting to stack the deck just as much in your favor as you possibly can. Just please don't do something impulsive that you may regret later. ((Hugs)) and good luck,
Kenny

My first fresh cycle (young, proven donor) failed. That was a SET, which my clinic highly recommended due to their stats and the embryo quality. That was a BFN. I was already 43, had a 2 year old at home and a FT job, and a sick mother I was helping care for. I had to drive a distance to get to the clinic, monitoring, etc. I just could not imagine continuing to do SETs and I too felt that my chances were better by transferring two. My RE was not happy with me but they did it. Twin boys born big and fiesty at 36 weeks. I love them to death and of course can't imagine life without one of them.

Multiple pregnancies are more risky, statistically, but that doesn't mean your's would be. I have known lots of women pregnant with singletons that ended up on bedrest, leaking fluid, pre-eclampsia, etc. But the increased risk (to you and babies) is something to seriously think about.

If you are scared about twins and you can afford to do SETs (financially and time-wise) that is a great option. Good luck!

Tx 3 great blast and we were hoping for twins...Only one perfect baby:)

I would really think about tx'ing only one on a 5-day tx if you have no other known gyn issues. Yes, twins are pretty overwhelming. And you will almost surely have a safer and less complicated pregnancy with a singleton. But I know how hard that decision is. Take care, Maggie (in VA)

As someone said, clinic stats vary widely. Our RE strongly recommended transferring only one, and we followed that advice and now have a healthy 9-month-old. He did come 7 weeks early, though, so I can only imagine the problems we might have had with twins. I was 43, so age was probably also a factor in the doc's thinking. Also, bear in mind that getting pg and staying pg are two different issues. I gathered from our RE that our chances of live birth might actually be better if we transferred only one.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

I used to transfer 2 embryos, now I will only consider clinics who allow me to transfer 3. I have had a few failures with donor egg IVF and we have some problems with male factor infertility, which means they have to use ICSI to fertilize the eggs. Male factor problems can sometimes affect successful outcomes with DE. I also believe that eggs from young donors can have problems. I took 3 last time and taking 3 again this time.

I got a lot of advice from this board when I was in your shoes - the overwhelming majority of people felt pretty strongly that transferring one was the smartest and safest option. At the time, there had been several devastating twin loses and very early twin deliveries by people on the boards. Although I understood the risks, I felt just like you and wanted the safety net of two, so we transferred two. I was pregnant with twins for 10 weeks and then lost one. Due to complications from this loss and constant subchorionic hemorrhages around the lost twin's gestational sac, I've been on bed rest or pelvic rest for the entire 26 weeks of my pregnancy so far... Don't get me wrong - I am THRILLED to be pregnant, but I think I could've saved myself a lot of stress, heartache, and health issues if I'd just transferred one.

Best of luck with whatever you decide!
Leigh

My husband and I were both staunchly in favor of single embryo transfer for me. We have one child already, so that factored in to our decision. If we did not, we may have decided to go for two.

My RE is at a clinic with a very high success rate, as well as a very high twinning rate for patients who transfer more than one embryo. I think that going with two often means that you really need to be okay with twins (or triplets if one embryo splits - it does happen).

My RE was willing to go with one or two, although his thoughts were that if he were in our shoes, he would do one.

Toward the end of the process, as we were inching closer to retrieval and transfer, I think I finally allowed myself to feel how overwhelming the whole process was. The result was that I just wanted to transfer two. I had been able to stay focused on the end goal until that very last week, when I just lost my mind and forgot about everything my husband and I had agreed upon ahead of time. My husband who is a big math geek went through the numbers with me. The bottom line was that we had 5 blasts on transfer day. Our clinic's stats were around 75% for fresh and I think around 45% for frozen. If you calculate the odds of success over time with single embryo transfer and 5 tries with our specific clinic's odds (1 fresh try + 4 frozen tries), you end up with 98% chance of success.

I would imagine that with multiple blasts at just about any clinic, your odds are going to be very good. As green.elephant mentioned, it really is a whole different ball game with DE. I had multiple m/cs with my own eggs, so I understand the drive to transfer more.

We transferred one. I am pregnant with one. I was pretty sick with nausea and fatigue throughout the first trimester, and that is just now starting to ease up. I imagine I would have felt even worse if I were pregnant with twins. In the end I think we made the right decision for us.

Good luck!

This is a really tough call. The whole process is so nerve racking. We did ivf back in Jan and its all such a waiting game. I hope we have a few good blasts to work with for transfer. My clinic just changed their whole protocol for DE. You now only get 5 to 7 mature eggs and they bank the rest. The cost is half as much. This is a proven donor who has had BFP by two other recipients and made an obscene amount of eggs. I made a whopping 3 eggs when I did ivf wit OE. You feel like such a failure at times. If this cycle doesn't work we do have one more try at a fresh cycle. Financially thats all we could swing. I'm so fearful that we won't even have any to freeze, but I'm trying to stay positive and not project. We felt a really strong connection to this donor. I know that doesn't mean anything, but I do think that stands for something. I try and follow my intuition alot of the time. Besides that though, she is proven. Spoke with DE coordinator yesterday and she said our chances of having twins go up 20% with 2. The doc will go over all this on day of transfer, which I suppose is when we will ultimately make the final decision. I hope this is it for us. Its been such a rough few years with alot of loss and heartache.

Hi there,
I just wanted to chime here because I am 99% certain we are cycling at the same place with your comment about 5-7 eggs package. For what it is worth, I will absolutely transfer 2 if I have them. Our clinic has abysmal FET rates (16%) so I feel like freezing them is putting them to their death.

Hi!! Its been a while since I've been on these boards. Had to step back and take a break for a while before we came to the decision of DE. I am still so uncertain about how many to tfer. Do you mind me asking where you are cycling??

Hello,
I ended up doing IVF #4 in June and our embryos were just terrible again. It didn't make sense to put myself through that again. DH finally agreed to DE in July. Due to finances, we had to go with CNY. They do the 5-7 fresh mature egg package so that is why I assume that is where you are?

Cny...quite frankly, I don't like this new option. We had the $12000 for a fresh cycle. Who knows of we will even have any to freeze. I don't want to go into this with a,negative attitude but I wish they would give you the option of splitting the cycle. Which clinic are you at?? We,are in Latham. We just started our mock cycle

Cny...quite frankly, I don't like this new option. We had the $12000 for a fresh cycle. Who knows of we will even have any to freeze. I don't want to go into this with a,negative attitude but I wish they would give you the option of splitting the cycle. Which clinic are you at?? We,are in Latham. We just started our mock cycle

Cny...quite frankly, I don't like this new option. We had the $12000 for a fresh cycle. Who knows if we will even have any to freeze. I don't want to go into this with a,negative attitude but I wish they would give you the option of splitting the cycle. Which clinic are you at?? We,are in Latham. We just started our mock cycle

With their FET rate being so bad at16%, I really don't want any frozen as o don't think it would work. Hate to be negative as well but I feel you have to do fresh to have a chance. I will also be going to Latham. I ammatched and just waiting for AF to show up. I finished my mock 3 weeks ago and never got AF. Going for bloodwork and u/s in the am to see what is happening.

I was told the success rate for fresh cycle is 55%. Is that what you were told as well??

The most recent SART statistics are only 40.8% but that is from 2010. Maybe they did better in 2011 and that is where they came up with 55%? I would be thrilled if it was now 55%. All we can do hope for the best and to not fall on the bad side of the statistics for once!!

To stay competitive, low cost should not be the only thing they offer. Do you think the stats are not so great because they take patients that other clinics won't? In which case, the success rate would be a very personal thing. But if it's about their embryologist, or protocols...those are things that can easily be changed! It seems to me if the frozen rate is so low, it has to do with the embryology dept.

They don't turn anyone away and will cycle much older women, women with uterine issues etc. But I think they must also have a lab issue since the FET rates are so poor. Unfortunately, we can't pay for the places with better stats so we are risking it and hoping for the best since I am "young" at 39 and supposedly our only issue is my crappy eggs. We'll see...

So when my DH and I were deciding recently whether to transfer 1 or 2, I called my doctor to try to get a some facts or stats to help us decide. He said that so far his data pool is way too small to produce any scientifically meaningful stats, and that there are no studies to date to test this, but he offered an "guestimate" based on his observations and experience with his patients. And I'm sure he certainly did not intend his answer to be shared with others and taken as some kind of rule of thunb. So please take it with all the necessary caveats. But he said that in our situation (we had great quality 5-day blasts, my lining was great, etc.) transferring 2 instead of 1 might increase our odds of success by 5%, but that came with a 40% chance of twins. For us, that made it crystal clear that an eset was right for us.

Thought I'd share in case this is helpful. Good luck!! Let us know what you decide.