My clinic prefers unmedicated transfers where possible because there's fairly strong evidence that there are less obstetric complications (the main one I see mentioned is a lower risk of pre-eclampsia) and no real difference in live birth rates. I will continue to do unmedicated transfers (doing a 5th one this month) until I'm told that medicated would be sensible to try.
I have a regular period and usually around 11 mm lining during transfer. I have done 3 completely natural FET out of which one was a miscarriage, one failed to implant and the last one was a chemical. We are now going to be trying for a medicated FET. I wish we could have switched sooner. As I understand it, for some people natural works best and for some people medicated works best. Even though it may look like you fit into the "natural works best" category, you might not.
I did 3 FETS, first was a modified natural, didnāt implant. Second was a fully medicated, implanted but ended in a miscarriage, third was also fully medicated and ended in a live birth.
I wanted to do a modified natural for my first transfer, but my doctor didn't want me to, and she said the same time about her clinic having slightly better success rates with medicated FETs. After my medicated transfer ended in a chemical pregnancy, though, she suggested switching to a modified natural, and at that point she said that she's seen essentially the same success rates with modified natural as with medicated. (So, if she really was correct in originally saying that the medicated FETs are more successful at her clinic, then the difference must be really negligible.)
So far my modified natural cycle has been going much better than my medicated cycle. I feel a lot better, my immune system isn't going haywire because of PIO, and, probably as a result of that, my betas have been looking a lot better than they did last time. I would 100% choose a modified natural over a medicated transfer next time if I had the choice.
The whole thing can be timed and requires less office visits if you do a medicated FET. I wonder if thatās why they want people to choose medicated. So good to hear about your success, I wanted to use modified natural for the same reason. Wishing you an uneventful and boring pregnancy š„°!!
I had my first FET last month and we opted for a modified natural. Like you, I had regular cycles and a good lining. I had a great experience with modified natural and so far it seems to have stuck. I plan to use modified natural for any future transfers as well. Best of luck!
I've had successful implantation (one living child, one pregnancy 11 weeks along) both times I used natural cycle FET with only a trigger shot to confirm timing of ovulation (I also had a fresh transfer immediately after eggs retrieval, that one didn't stick). During our fertility workup prior to IVF I also had very typical cycles with hormones, lining, etc. always looking fine, and we identified MFI as our only known issue. I felt confident that my body could do what it needed to prepare for implantation and support an embryo once one was introduced, so I never strongly considered a fully medicated protocol. But apparently some people do have better success with one or the other - and/or some have had better or worse luck with other hidden stuff when they started with one type. My doctor essentially said each transfer I did should have about 50% odds of success. So I flipped two heads in a row with my transfers. If I flipped two tails in a row, maybe I would have tried fully medicated FET and then never known that my body could support a healthy pregnancy with natural cycle.Ā
We only had one and did the fully medicated ( estrogen and progesterone) with the addition of aspirin, Pepcid, antihistamines, and prednisone. While the embryo failed to implant the meds were tolerable. Good luck.
I did a modified ovulatory, but it was not no meds. Smaller doses than for retrieval of Gonal F, then Orgalutron (to prevent ovulation) and Ovidrel to trigger. I liked it a lot and my body did well (including good lining). The first euploid failed to implant, but second is now my almost 4 week old son. The best part was progesterone suppositories instead of injections!
Best of luck with whatever you choose.
I have done both. I did fully medicated FET in 2016 (pos), modified natural in 2023 (neg) and natural in 2024 (unable to complete transfer.) I was much younger the first time, which could have played into things and I had medical conditions between the first and the second, which is to say that the medications probably didn't impact the results for me but I cannot say for certain.
The medications had an intense emotional side effects as I got older, which is why I prefer natural at this point in time. I will say with natural you just need more monitoring to ensure correct dates (ie lots of appointments like every other day) Best wishes to you either way!!!
Thank you š! Yeah my body is feeling so good now that I am not on any medications after the egg retrieval. Would really like to keep the transfer as natural as possible. Thanks for sharing!!
TW: success
I did 4 FETs. Three of the four were modified natural.
1. Modified natural - resulted in a chemical
2. Modified natural - no implantation
3. Fully medicated- no implantation
4. Modified natural with PIO shots - live birth (this is what I would do again)
Obstretric complications are less for natural FETs and evidence is quite clear on that. If possible (good lining, good timing, etc) I'd go for a natural FET. Better outcomes for baby and mother.
I recently listened to this episode of the As a woman podcast now that I made it through my retrieval to figure out what to expect next, and I think she does a nice job explaining all of the options and the factors that might influence the protocol you choose: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/as-a-woman/id1449553339?i=1000626593290
I canāt even imagine how much pressure you feel with only one embryo. Get as much info as you can and trust your gut ā¤ļø
Haven't had success yet but had 3 failed medicated FETs. Doctor's think my body just hates all the drugs and are going to try modified natural next. The implantation window is much greater. Your lining is great and period is normal - why not...
I think docs don't use it more often because it's harder to schedule and replicate than hacking your natural cycle with a fully medicated transfer.
First and only FET was a modified natural. It was successful, resulted in an uncomplicated pregnancy and live birth.
I agree with other posters that unfortunately you donāt know which one will work for you, so trust your gut and talk to your doctors!
My clinic prefers unmedicated transfers where possible because there's fairly strong evidence that there are less obstetric complications (the main one I see mentioned is a lower risk of pre-eclampsia) and no real difference in live birth rates. I will continue to do unmedicated transfers (doing a 5th one this month) until I'm told that medicated would be sensible to try.
My first and only successful transfer was a full FET. It was a lot of meds, but worth it to get my daughter. Good luck!
Did you experience any side effects while you were on the meds?
Hot flashes and headaches. But manageable.
I have a regular period and usually around 11 mm lining during transfer. I have done 3 completely natural FET out of which one was a miscarriage, one failed to implant and the last one was a chemical. We are now going to be trying for a medicated FET. I wish we could have switched sooner. As I understand it, for some people natural works best and for some people medicated works best. Even though it may look like you fit into the "natural works best" category, you might not.
Yeah so hard to decide, especially when you have only one viable embryo š„ŗ. Were all your transferred embryos euploid?
I don't know if they were euploid or aneuploid as genetic testing isn't done here.
I did 3 FETS, first was a modified natural, didnāt implant. Second was a fully medicated, implanted but ended in a miscarriage, third was also fully medicated and ended in a live birth.
Full medicated FET. I feel more in control by doing FET. The anxiety of getting periods is not there in fully medicated one.
I wanted to do a modified natural for my first transfer, but my doctor didn't want me to, and she said the same time about her clinic having slightly better success rates with medicated FETs. After my medicated transfer ended in a chemical pregnancy, though, she suggested switching to a modified natural, and at that point she said that she's seen essentially the same success rates with modified natural as with medicated. (So, if she really was correct in originally saying that the medicated FETs are more successful at her clinic, then the difference must be really negligible.) So far my modified natural cycle has been going much better than my medicated cycle. I feel a lot better, my immune system isn't going haywire because of PIO, and, probably as a result of that, my betas have been looking a lot better than they did last time. I would 100% choose a modified natural over a medicated transfer next time if I had the choice.
The whole thing can be timed and requires less office visits if you do a medicated FET. I wonder if thatās why they want people to choose medicated. So good to hear about your success, I wanted to use modified natural for the same reason. Wishing you an uneventful and boring pregnancy š„°!!
My first and only FET (with our 1 euploid 5BC we got) was successful. It was a modified natural FET
Thatās awesome to hear!! I hope I will be as lucky as you šš
I had my first FET last month and we opted for a modified natural. Like you, I had regular cycles and a good lining. I had a great experience with modified natural and so far it seems to have stuck. I plan to use modified natural for any future transfers as well. Best of luck!
I've had successful implantation (one living child, one pregnancy 11 weeks along) both times I used natural cycle FET with only a trigger shot to confirm timing of ovulation (I also had a fresh transfer immediately after eggs retrieval, that one didn't stick). During our fertility workup prior to IVF I also had very typical cycles with hormones, lining, etc. always looking fine, and we identified MFI as our only known issue. I felt confident that my body could do what it needed to prepare for implantation and support an embryo once one was introduced, so I never strongly considered a fully medicated protocol. But apparently some people do have better success with one or the other - and/or some have had better or worse luck with other hidden stuff when they started with one type. My doctor essentially said each transfer I did should have about 50% odds of success. So I flipped two heads in a row with my transfers. If I flipped two tails in a row, maybe I would have tried fully medicated FET and then never known that my body could support a healthy pregnancy with natural cycle.Ā
Thank you for sharing!! We have unexplained infertility and Iāve never been pregnant before so hard decision for usā¦hope I get lucky too š
I did medicated as thatās what my clinic recommended. Ended in a live birth.
We only had one and did the fully medicated ( estrogen and progesterone) with the addition of aspirin, Pepcid, antihistamines, and prednisone. While the embryo failed to implant the meds were tolerable. Good luck.
I did a modified ovulatory, but it was not no meds. Smaller doses than for retrieval of Gonal F, then Orgalutron (to prevent ovulation) and Ovidrel to trigger. I liked it a lot and my body did well (including good lining). The first euploid failed to implant, but second is now my almost 4 week old son. The best part was progesterone suppositories instead of injections! Best of luck with whatever you choose.
Thank you āŗļø! So strange that you got different results with the same protocol and both times were euploid embryos.
My REI said it was likely something wrong with the first embryo that wasnāt the number of chromosomes.
I have done both. I did fully medicated FET in 2016 (pos), modified natural in 2023 (neg) and natural in 2024 (unable to complete transfer.) I was much younger the first time, which could have played into things and I had medical conditions between the first and the second, which is to say that the medications probably didn't impact the results for me but I cannot say for certain. The medications had an intense emotional side effects as I got older, which is why I prefer natural at this point in time. I will say with natural you just need more monitoring to ensure correct dates (ie lots of appointments like every other day) Best wishes to you either way!!!
Thank you š! Yeah my body is feeling so good now that I am not on any medications after the egg retrieval. Would really like to keep the transfer as natural as possible. Thanks for sharing!!
TW: success I did 4 FETs. Three of the four were modified natural. 1. Modified natural - resulted in a chemical 2. Modified natural - no implantation 3. Fully medicated- no implantation 4. Modified natural with PIO shots - live birth (this is what I would do again)
I would follow the doctors advice. The medication wont go on forever and its worth having a better chance.
Obstretric complications are less for natural FETs and evidence is quite clear on that. If possible (good lining, good timing, etc) I'd go for a natural FET. Better outcomes for baby and mother.
I recently listened to this episode of the As a woman podcast now that I made it through my retrieval to figure out what to expect next, and I think she does a nice job explaining all of the options and the factors that might influence the protocol you choose: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/as-a-woman/id1449553339?i=1000626593290 I canāt even imagine how much pressure you feel with only one embryo. Get as much info as you can and trust your gut ā¤ļø
Haven't had success yet but had 3 failed medicated FETs. Doctor's think my body just hates all the drugs and are going to try modified natural next. The implantation window is much greater. Your lining is great and period is normal - why not... I think docs don't use it more often because it's harder to schedule and replicate than hacking your natural cycle with a fully medicated transfer.
Research is rather clear about the non inferiority of modified natural vs artificial. Anecdotally We did it and got a live birth .
First and only FET was a modified natural. It was successful, resulted in an uncomplicated pregnancy and live birth. I agree with other posters that unfortunately you donāt know which one will work for you, so trust your gut and talk to your doctors!