The high point of an IVF cycle is the
embryo transfer. Making embryos is the one thing which good IVF labs are good
at doing and most women get emotionally attached to their embryos. They fondly
refer to them as embies, and think of their embryos as their future babies.
This is why many women start crying when they see their embryos in the IVF lab –
especially when they are of textbook quality. This is the moment they have been
waiting for – the climax of their IVF treatment
Of course, not all embryos are going
to be Grade A embryos – and many women get upset when they find their embryos
are Grade B or Grade C. They are worried that these embryos will result in
abnormal babies .
Please remember that embryo grades are
simply medical shorthand , which helps doctors and embryologists to communicate
with each other regarding embryo quality . An embryo is graded as Grade A when
all the cells are equal and there are no fragments. If it has more than 10%
fragments or if the cells are unequal, it is called Grade B. It is true that a Grade
A has a better chance of implanting and becoming a baby as compared to a Grade
B embryo. Thus , if the implantation rate of Grade A embryos in a good clinic
is about 20%, for Grade B embryos it will be about 15%. However, if the embryo
does implant, the baby will be completely normal.
The fact is that it's impossible for doctors
to accurately predict which embryos will implant and which will fail to do so.
There’s no reason to get disheartened even if all your embryos are of poor
quality . While this does reduce your chances of success, remember that embryos
are living organisms, which do have the ability to self-correct. All
embryologists have seen embryos which were 6-cell and Grade B on Day 3 turn
into gorgeous blastocysts by Day 5 !
When there are lots of embryos, and
the doctor has a choice as to which embryos to transfer, he will obviously
select the Grade A embryos as compared to the Grade B embryos. However, not all
Grade A embryos become babies – and many Grade B embryos do become Grade A babies
!
Also, if you do miscarry after the
transfer of Grade B embryos, this does not mean that it was the quality of the
embryos which caused the miscarriage. The fact that the embryos did implant
means they were of good enough quality to grow and develop further in utero after
the transfer !
It’s important to insist that the IVF
lab provide you with photos of your embryos – even if they are Grade B. This will increase your confidence in the
services provided by the lab , because it shows they are willing to be open and
transparent. This information can be very valuable in case your cycle fails and
you need to get a second opinion. Every good IVF lab routinely and proactively provides patients
with photos of their embryos.
Sadly, we find that lots of IVF doctors
use all kinds of specious reasons for not giving patients photos of their
embryos. They claim that taking embryos out of the incubator will damage them ;
or that the exposure to light when taking photos will harm the embryos. These
are all useless excuses ; and should serve as a red flag that the doctor is
trying to hide or cover up information.
Need help is grading your embryos ?
Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at
http://www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so I can guide you properly !
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