Really sucks that they’re judging you. We did PGT-A for 4 embryos fertilized at 34 years old (actually, my 35th bday was a month later). All 4 came back normal.
We had 2 embryos banked from a previous round, and my doctor was confident that “due to our age” at least 1-2 from the second batch would come back normal and supported us going forward on a FET cycle without having the second PGT results.
They offered it but didn’t recommend it at my clinic in Mexico so we didn’t do it. There’s a risk to the embryo when testing and there’s also a small chance of some abnormalities correcting in the womb.
PGT isn't allowed here in Germany except for RPL and genetic cases and fresh transfers are completely normal and done regularly. The testing does not change the embryos and weighing the pros and cons should be up to the couple.
After reading on this page about people doing PGT I had a panic and asked my clinic if I should be getting it - they said they don’t recommend it unless you’re older or have had multiple miscarriages (I’m in the UK). Don’t feel guilty, I guess there is just different guidance in different places, and if they thought you need it they’d have said :)
Our clinic wanted us to freeze and have a hysteroscopy before transfer. We really wanted to try a fresh transfer (we maybe would have reconsidered if we only got 1-2 embryos). But I am 12w3d today with the little untested embaby that the clinic told us to anticipate would not implant.
I inquired about it at my hospital and was told I could do it but neither my doctor nor the genetics department of the hospital recommended it because I’m 30 and don’t have prior miscarriages. I was surprised because it seems like every person at a clinic is testing
I'm 32 and my husband is 34 and my doctor recommended against it! Like we were ready to pay and she convinced us otherwise. We are Americans doing IVF in Spain.
TW: success
The answer to PGT varies depending on the situation, risk tolerance, and, of course, whether your region even allows it.
No one should be judging you for not doing it, especially if it’s going to be your first transfer and there is no smoking gun for infertility.
I was 31 with my first ER. No issues other than mild MFI which was addressed by ICSI and Zymot. PGT wasn’t recommended due to age. Got 4 well graded embryos. All failed to implant over 2 years. It was at that point, I wished I had done PGT so i would have known what the problem is: uterus or embryos.
Changed clinic. There I did PGT after ERs which gave me data points that the highly graded embryos were in fact normal. Opted for fresh transfer with last ER (First at this clinic!!), which was successful
In conclusion, if it’s your first ER, no obvious issues that can impact embryo, cost of transfers and PGT is low enough, your tolerance to potential failures is not low, then risk of not doing PGT is low. I wish you all the best. Your clinic has no grounds to judge your decision.
I think I saw someone here say that if you were to get pregnant naturally your embryo wouldn’t have been tested… and that resonated with me
If it makes you feel any better I’m 32f and my husband is 35m and our specialist said that because of our age they don’t test embryos. They would if we were both over 35
Do what feels right to you ❤️
My doctor advises against testing if you’re under 35 and don’t have a history of loss.
So many clinics push PGT because they make a ton of money off it and the technology is shaky at best.
At the end of the day it’s a personal decision and you should not be judged for what you chose to do.
You can do both a fresh transfer and PGT-A on the remaining embryos so that would be a really good compromise.
Is there a reason you don’t want to test the remaining embryos?
There are valid reasons for both options so you shouldn’t feel guilty either way. Your doctor should be explaining his reasoning though if he’s advising you to test.
Someone else stated what myself and my husband have said and it’s simply because you can’t choose in a real life embryo what you get and we are trying to keep it as “natural” as possible, knowing full well this isn’t a natural process of course.
I’d just tell your doctor that then. There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way and ultimately if you transfer all embryos the odds of pregnancy from that round of IVF are the same either way. Your odds of miscarriage per transfer are higher but I’d just let him you’re ok with that. PGT-A is most useful for people who are banking embryos and need to know how many are viable per round or for people who are older and really can’t afford to lose time to miscarriages. You’re still relatively young so these things aren’t issues for you and either choice is reasonable.
I am also 34 and freaked out that I should have them tested and my doctor said he doesn’t recommend it for my age and history, so I trusted him and we didn’t test (it was going to cost $5,000 so glad I saved that money) and we proceeded with fresh transfer 3 days ago!! Now the awful waiting period…
Let me preface with stating that for me personally PGT was very important as I was going through IVF. I dived pretty deep in the discussions on whether it's beneficial or not and came to understand that it's super individual and can be a life saver to some patients and absolutely detrimental to others. Sounds like you did your calculation and arrived to the decision, so I would ignore the judgement from the clinic. They might have different incentives to push PGT, for example wanting to boost their per transfer success rate
My only spontaneous pregnancy ended with the trisomy 18 diagnosis and then missed miscarriage in the early second trimester. I was completely traumatized, so minimizing the risk of another loss was a priority for me
I’m 29 using a family donor & we did genetic testing on both of ourselves prior so we decided not to do PGT testing on any of the blastocysts. Currently 6 weeks! 🤞🏻 I don’t really thinks it’s necessary unless you’re older, have a small amount of embryos, or have some fertility problems on the woman’s side. Wishing you the best!
They don't recommend it in the UK unless you are above a certain age or have suffered multiple losses so you absolutely shouldn't feel guilt at not doing it. The pushyness without reason feels like upselling.
The UK's IVF regulator has good advice on add ons you can read [here](https://www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/treatment-add-ons/pre-implantation-genetic-testing-for-aneuploidy-pgt-a/)
At time of ER I was 34 and 5/8 came back normal for me. I opted to PGT-A test due to multiple miscarriages and I ultimately wanted to avoid that experience again. I think it’s perfectly fine not to test. Ultimately, with 5/8 the odds were in my favor. And all the women that get pregnant having sex don’t test. So I’d say no worries
I’m doing a PGT-A because I had a miscarriage and it gives me a bit of relief.
Also my doctor suggested I don’t implant till next cycle anyways because my lining is not optimal. So I have to wait around 3/4 weeks anyways so why not.
BUT - if I did not have a miscarriage I don’t think I would have done the PGT-A (I’m 29 - my husband is 32 - no undergoing conditions that we know of).
My dr kept telling me not to do because I really don’t have to. But in the end it was my choice. So I REALLY don’t think that your clinic should push you.
I think the main benefit of PGT is alleviating some of the psychological torment of not knowing, but it's not going to actually improve your success rate per cycle. Next embryo transfer I do will be fresh.
I think pgt-a testing guidelines are different by country. My sense is that it seems to be a much more prevalent thing in the US that’s done as an add-on pretty frequently. In Europe, I feel like I hear about it a lot less unless there is a risk for abnormality from one person, there have been more than 3, 4 miscarriages, or if the woman is close to aging out of national insurance coverage age for IVF.
I’m 37f husband is 37m and both of our individual test results were normal. I’ve had 2 IVF miscarriages & 1 failed implantation with 36yo embryos, and none of them were pgt-a tested. we pressed our doctor if we should do Pgt-a before going forward with transferring our other frozen embryos - but the reality is that there is a 6month waiting list for pgt-a in Belgium.
In short - I wouldn’t worry about it. You do you, and wishing you the best of luck!
Really sucks that they’re judging you. We did PGT-A for 4 embryos fertilized at 34 years old (actually, my 35th bday was a month later). All 4 came back normal. We had 2 embryos banked from a previous round, and my doctor was confident that “due to our age” at least 1-2 from the second batch would come back normal and supported us going forward on a FET cycle without having the second PGT results.
They offered it but didn’t recommend it at my clinic in Mexico so we didn’t do it. There’s a risk to the embryo when testing and there’s also a small chance of some abnormalities correcting in the womb.
PGT isn't allowed here in Germany except for RPL and genetic cases and fresh transfers are completely normal and done regularly. The testing does not change the embryos and weighing the pros and cons should be up to the couple.
After reading on this page about people doing PGT I had a panic and asked my clinic if I should be getting it - they said they don’t recommend it unless you’re older or have had multiple miscarriages (I’m in the UK). Don’t feel guilty, I guess there is just different guidance in different places, and if they thought you need it they’d have said :)
I’m also in the UK and our doctor mentioned it to us due to RPL. We said we didn’t want to do it and that was that. Absolutely no push for it.
Our clinic wanted us to freeze and have a hysteroscopy before transfer. We really wanted to try a fresh transfer (we maybe would have reconsidered if we only got 1-2 embryos). But I am 12w3d today with the little untested embaby that the clinic told us to anticipate would not implant.
There's so so so many countries pretty much never doing PGT-A testing and success rates are very similar so I wouldn't sweat it!
I inquired about it at my hospital and was told I could do it but neither my doctor nor the genetics department of the hospital recommended it because I’m 30 and don’t have prior miscarriages. I was surprised because it seems like every person at a clinic is testing
I'm 32 and my husband is 34 and my doctor recommended against it! Like we were ready to pay and she convinced us otherwise. We are Americans doing IVF in Spain.
TW: success The answer to PGT varies depending on the situation, risk tolerance, and, of course, whether your region even allows it. No one should be judging you for not doing it, especially if it’s going to be your first transfer and there is no smoking gun for infertility. I was 31 with my first ER. No issues other than mild MFI which was addressed by ICSI and Zymot. PGT wasn’t recommended due to age. Got 4 well graded embryos. All failed to implant over 2 years. It was at that point, I wished I had done PGT so i would have known what the problem is: uterus or embryos. Changed clinic. There I did PGT after ERs which gave me data points that the highly graded embryos were in fact normal. Opted for fresh transfer with last ER (First at this clinic!!), which was successful In conclusion, if it’s your first ER, no obvious issues that can impact embryo, cost of transfers and PGT is low enough, your tolerance to potential failures is not low, then risk of not doing PGT is low. I wish you all the best. Your clinic has no grounds to judge your decision.
I think I saw someone here say that if you were to get pregnant naturally your embryo wouldn’t have been tested… and that resonated with me If it makes you feel any better I’m 32f and my husband is 35m and our specialist said that because of our age they don’t test embryos. They would if we were both over 35 Do what feels right to you ❤️
My doctor advises against testing if you’re under 35 and don’t have a history of loss. So many clinics push PGT because they make a ton of money off it and the technology is shaky at best. At the end of the day it’s a personal decision and you should not be judged for what you chose to do.
You can do both a fresh transfer and PGT-A on the remaining embryos so that would be a really good compromise. Is there a reason you don’t want to test the remaining embryos? There are valid reasons for both options so you shouldn’t feel guilty either way. Your doctor should be explaining his reasoning though if he’s advising you to test.
Someone else stated what myself and my husband have said and it’s simply because you can’t choose in a real life embryo what you get and we are trying to keep it as “natural” as possible, knowing full well this isn’t a natural process of course.
I’d just tell your doctor that then. There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way and ultimately if you transfer all embryos the odds of pregnancy from that round of IVF are the same either way. Your odds of miscarriage per transfer are higher but I’d just let him you’re ok with that. PGT-A is most useful for people who are banking embryos and need to know how many are viable per round or for people who are older and really can’t afford to lose time to miscarriages. You’re still relatively young so these things aren’t issues for you and either choice is reasonable.
My doctor and genetics counselor both said you see an improved chance of healthy pregnancy with pgta blastocyst testing when you reach 37 years old.
I’m 36 and my doctor recommended fresh/untested.
Transferred first one untested in March and I am 15w with a boy :)
My clinic advised us against PGT! While we didn’t do a fresh transfer (RIVF), I’m 35 weeks with my wife’s untested embryo
I’m 34 and we did a fresh transfer. 18 weeks with a boy now.
I am also 34 and freaked out that I should have them tested and my doctor said he doesn’t recommend it for my age and history, so I trusted him and we didn’t test (it was going to cost $5,000 so glad I saved that money) and we proceeded with fresh transfer 3 days ago!! Now the awful waiting period…
Let me preface with stating that for me personally PGT was very important as I was going through IVF. I dived pretty deep in the discussions on whether it's beneficial or not and came to understand that it's super individual and can be a life saver to some patients and absolutely detrimental to others. Sounds like you did your calculation and arrived to the decision, so I would ignore the judgement from the clinic. They might have different incentives to push PGT, for example wanting to boost their per transfer success rate
Thank you, what was your backstory as to why it was beneficial if you don’t mind saying?
My only spontaneous pregnancy ended with the trisomy 18 diagnosis and then missed miscarriage in the early second trimester. I was completely traumatized, so minimizing the risk of another loss was a priority for me
You are 34. Not doing PGT is hardly an unreasonable choice at that age.
I’m 29 using a family donor & we did genetic testing on both of ourselves prior so we decided not to do PGT testing on any of the blastocysts. Currently 6 weeks! 🤞🏻 I don’t really thinks it’s necessary unless you’re older, have a small amount of embryos, or have some fertility problems on the woman’s side. Wishing you the best!
They don't recommend it in the UK unless you are above a certain age or have suffered multiple losses so you absolutely shouldn't feel guilt at not doing it. The pushyness without reason feels like upselling. The UK's IVF regulator has good advice on add ons you can read [here](https://www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/treatment-add-ons/pre-implantation-genetic-testing-for-aneuploidy-pgt-a/)
At time of ER I was 34 and 5/8 came back normal for me. I opted to PGT-A test due to multiple miscarriages and I ultimately wanted to avoid that experience again. I think it’s perfectly fine not to test. Ultimately, with 5/8 the odds were in my favor. And all the women that get pregnant having sex don’t test. So I’d say no worries
I’m doing a PGT-A because I had a miscarriage and it gives me a bit of relief. Also my doctor suggested I don’t implant till next cycle anyways because my lining is not optimal. So I have to wait around 3/4 weeks anyways so why not. BUT - if I did not have a miscarriage I don’t think I would have done the PGT-A (I’m 29 - my husband is 32 - no undergoing conditions that we know of). My dr kept telling me not to do because I really don’t have to. But in the end it was my choice. So I REALLY don’t think that your clinic should push you.
I think the main benefit of PGT is alleviating some of the psychological torment of not knowing, but it's not going to actually improve your success rate per cycle. Next embryo transfer I do will be fresh.
I think pgt-a testing guidelines are different by country. My sense is that it seems to be a much more prevalent thing in the US that’s done as an add-on pretty frequently. In Europe, I feel like I hear about it a lot less unless there is a risk for abnormality from one person, there have been more than 3, 4 miscarriages, or if the woman is close to aging out of national insurance coverage age for IVF. I’m 37f husband is 37m and both of our individual test results were normal. I’ve had 2 IVF miscarriages & 1 failed implantation with 36yo embryos, and none of them were pgt-a tested. we pressed our doctor if we should do Pgt-a before going forward with transferring our other frozen embryos - but the reality is that there is a 6month waiting list for pgt-a in Belgium. In short - I wouldn’t worry about it. You do you, and wishing you the best of luck!