Basically, Todd’s testosterone levels came back pretty close
to normal. They measured several hormone levels for me, and the report
showed below average. They are recommending we do several retrieval
cycles and bank the embryos that are good. Then, we’ll do a frozen embryo
transfer. Plus, they are recommending we do genetic testing on the
embryos. What does all of this mean, you might ask?
Well, from what I understand, what will happen is that we
will stimulate my ovaries like before with all of the shots, retrieve my eggs,
and fertilize them. All of that will be
the same. Then, on day 3 after
fertilization, they will biopsy a single cell of each embryo for the genetic
testing. (More on that in a
minute.) For those that are chromosomally
normal, they will either do a fresh embryo transfer or freeze them until we are
ready for a transfer. If they have at
least 2 or 3 good ones on the first round, we will probably do a fresh transfer
and save some time and money. However,
if they don’t get enough on the first cycle, we’ll start again the next month
with stimulating, retrieving, fertilizing, “biopsy-ing.” We will repeat this cycle until we have 2 or
3 good embryos frozen and then schedule a frozen embryo transfer (FET) for the
following cycle I can make.
I was asked a lot of good questions from my bestie today, so
I’m putting some of those answers here:
Isn’t a fresh
transfer better than a frozen?
Some places, fresh transfers are more successful than frozen,
and some places, vice versa. Most places
have started getting much better at frozen transfers, though. Tulsa Fertility Center has success rates that
are equal with fresh and frozen transfers.
Therefore, we aren’t too concerned about that part with them. We are trusting that they are not misleading
us on this.
How quickly can we do
the retrievals each time?
The retrievals will hopefully be month after month. I have to have a period between each
one. However, if my cycle falls at a
funny time for when TFC does retrievals, I could end up with one in August and
the next in October. Fingers crossed
that doesn’t happen.
What is the genetic
testing for?
They will be testing for chromosomal abnormalities. Basically, any abnormality that can be tested
for. Embryos with abnormalities tend to
have less of a chance of becoming a viable pregnancy.
Sometimes, they find an abnormality that they have never
seen, and they have to use a geneticist to do research to find out what it
means. They have one couple that is on
an estimated 6-month wait to see what their abnormality means because it’s so
rare. The geneticist has put it out on
boards and forums across the world to figure out if anyone knows what it
means. We could find out things like the
embryo “looks” good to an embryologist but has zero percent chance of being a
viable pregnancy. We could find out that
the abnormality will be fatal to a born child.
We could find out that the baby would have Downs Syndrome or Turner
Syndrome. Don’t ask me if we would
implant those because I haven’t even begun to think about that, yet. J I mean the Downs and Turner embryos. It’s more than I can bare right now to
consider purposefully bringing a child into the world that will absolutely,
without a doubt be sterile (Turner).
When she told us what it was, I broke down in the office. I can’t imagine putting my child through what
we are going through just so I can have a baby.
Anyway, I have to move on from that thought for now.
There will be a lot of information from the genetic
testing. It could be very helpful, but
it does not guarantee success. There are
so many other issues that could still cause the embabies not to stick. Le sigh.
Also, the genetic testing only has a 1-3% chance of damaging
the embryo. Not bad odds compared to the
others we face.
What is the change in
cost from this to what we have done?
The cost goes up to approximately $41,700 for 2 retrievals
and 1 frozen embryo transfer from what Todd and I have calculated. This price is assuming we only do 2
retrievals. The cost goes up because of
the multiple retrievals and shots. Then,
FET is more expensive than fresh transfers because they have a freezing and
thawing-out process that has to be added to the mix. Plus, we have Todd’s process, again. On top of that, genetic testing is $5,000 for
each set of embryos they test. We will bump
our savings plan up to $45,000, so we don’t have any surprises we can’t afford,
and I can get relaxation therapy without worrying about the cost of it…plus my
vitamins.
I only share the financial information because I know there
are some ladies out there that are considering doing this, too. In my opinion, it’s nice to hear all of the
details from someone on our side and in Layman’s terms.
Jessah (http://www.dreamingofdimples.com),
if you happen to be reading this, isn’t this what you just did at CCRM? Can you give me any more insight to things I may
not be considering? I have to admit that
I’m pretty scared right now!
If anyone else has any other questions, please, leave them
in the comments for me. I want this blog
to be full of as much information as possible.
As always, please, pray for us right now.
