I recently underwent my second FET (frozen embryo transfer) and the wait is agonizing. The first one didn’t quite go as planned, leaving me anxious about this cycle. Has anyone experienced success with their second FET after a disappointing outcome with the first? Would love to hear some positive stories or even just some encouragement to keep my spirits up during this nerve-wracking time. Share your experiences, insights, or even just some good vibes!
A high-quality embryo has a 65% chance of successful implantation, which is 15% higher than a 50/50 chance. While it’s not guaranteed, transferring multiple high grade euploid embryos can increase your chance of success to 95% across all attempts. It’s advisable to wait for at least 2-3 tries before further investigation, unless there are other concerns. With 8 euploid embryos, you have a great chance for multiple successful births. Good luck!
We are similar in our fertility struggles. I am 28 years old with anovulatory PCOS and endometriosis, having gone through 7 unsuccessful rounds of Letrozole and 4 IUIs without any positive results. We retrieved 8 embryos, of which 4 were PGT normal. Despite a perfect embryo and lining, our first FET did not implant even with an extensive protocol. Today, I am 5 days past a 5-day transfer with a 4AB embryo and received my first positive pregnancy test. No changes were made to my protocol. While we are not out of the woods yet, getting a positive result after previously experiencing no implantation is a significant milestone. It goes to show that success is possible!
I have undergone 5 medicated transfers with varying outcomes. The first retrieval resulted in 3 untested embryos, with the first failing to implant, the second resulting in my healthy daughter, and the third also failing to implant. The second retrieval produced 6 PGT normal embryos, with the first resulting in a chemical pregnancy and the second currently carrying me to almost 16 weeks of pregnancy. It’s important not to change the protocol based on a single failure, as it could be due to chromosomal issues with the embryo. PGT embryos have a 60-65% chance of live birth, increasing with each subsequent transfer to 95% by the 3rd transfer.
Even with euploid embryos, it is not uncommon for IUI’s to be unsuccessful. It is normal for one transfer to fail, but keep in mind that euploids have a 65% success rate. I have personal experience with this, having 4 children from 9 euploid transfers, with 4 live births. My oldest child came from my second transfer.
At 30 years old with PCOS, I had 35 retrieved eggs, resulted in 8 untested embryos. After 9 months of letrozole and trigger shot, I ovulated each time but didn’t conceive. First FET ended in miscarriage at 6 weeks, currently 5 weeks pregnant with 2nd FET. Fully medicated with estrogen, duphaston, aspirin, progesterone pessaries, and PIO, added lovenox this time to prevent miscarriage. Overweight, no diet, stressed traveling to Turkey alone for 2nd transfer. Highest grade embryo was 3AA/3AB, feeling like odds stacked against me.
Have you thought about the possibility of endometriosis? It may not show symptoms and could be a factor in failed implantation due to a hostile environment. Lupron can help suppress it before FET.
Hooray! The second transfer of an ‘adopted’ embryo was successful. Both transfers involved 5 day BB embryos that hatched on the morning of thaw, but the first did not implant despite no symptoms or faint lines on an HPT. The difference for the second transfer was that I had been taking LDN for over a year, as I have mild Hashimoto’s and wanted to see if it would help. It did, and also helped me lose weight despite eating a lot. Sending good wishes for a successful pregnancy!
Our second FET was successful thanks to the addition of estrace right before triggering due to thin lining. I focused on my diet before the first attempt, but the embryo failed to implant. For the second try, I stopped monitoring my diet and it worked. Good luck with your next transfer!
I apologize that the transfer did not go as planned. Have you thought about trying an ovulatory transfer next? If the next one doesn’t succeed, consider other options.
I do think everyone is different. My RE tried to save us as much money as possible (all self pay), so she minimized appointments. We met her at consult and then at my transfers. Other than that, it was business over email.
I really liked that. I am ultimately at my clinic for a result and want to get there as fast as possible. I’m not there for a relationship with my doctor.
That’s heartbreaking OP, I’m so sorry.
There are 3 clinics in my area. 1 is a satellite office and their main clinic is in a town about an hour away that is notoriously unsafe, so that one was out. The second and third have similar reviews and SART scores but the one I didn’t choose had reviews talking about how cold their docs were.
Our doctor, is a 70 year old man who opened the clinic decades ago. He made a few jokes throughout our consult, made a few cracks that aligned with our political views and then at the end, when we were saying our goodbyes, he giggled and whispered “we really like babies around here, so we’re going to do our best to get you one, okay?”. It felt like a grandparent. Like someone who cared for us.
I’m sorry you’re having such a cold, clinical experience.
I will say, when I was pregnant before my MMC, I had a nurse at my ultrasound at 7W raving about how fun it was to deliver great news on a Friday and was asking me all sorts of questions about my plans and printed me a picture and showed me the heartbeat only to have a nurse call with my results a few hours later (I was obv expecting good info) to tell me he was small and that he was unlikely to survive (I had a MMC a week later). That crash sucked. I would’ve rather the US tech remain neutral and just do the damn thing. I think they try to be neutral when delivering most info simply because it IS so emotional and how they behave can impact us greatly. That very nice ultrasound tech made my miscarriage harder because of her joy.
They are all like this. I’ve worked with multiple clinics and doctors. It’s like the famous Raul Julia quote: “It was the most important day of your life, but for me, it was Tuesday.” So, the Tuesday Paradox.
Ugh I really feel you with this. We’ve been to two different fertility clinics and both feel completely impersonal. I also wasn’t expecting handholding but yikes…. I was kidding (but also totally serious) with my husband the other day that I get more compassionate responses to my fertility questions from AI chatbots (Claude specifically) than I do from anyone at the fertility clinic.
I’ve been feeling the same way (and similarly, switching clinics is not an option). We’ve been getting minimum guidance, I have to initiate and request each step of the process or I feel like they wouldn’t happen. I feel like I have to know EXACTLY what I want and when, and they won’t suggest it. And we’ve basically got nothing in terms of sensitivity from our doc.
All I’ve got is this….i spoke with a social worker who specializes in IVF and she said she hears this from a lot of patients. I’ve also been told (I don’t remember by who) that it seems to be a commonality that most REs don’t have a ton of bedside manner.
TW: success
I completely felt this way with my RE for my first two ERs, transfer, and pregnancy. It was disappointing to say the least so I’m very sorry you’re experiencing the same.
Recently I watched a video of a moms who struggled with years of infertility then had a surrogate successfully carry her twins. She filmed their entire c section birth and I sobbed watching it. I showed it to my friend who is a PA in labor and delivery and her response was a very flat “oh yeah, that’s a birth 
”. I think they sort of become immune to it, which is so wild to me!
I’m not excusing the behavior/responses at all. Just offering some insight because I have noticed this too from multiple people in the field.
I feel the same way. My RE seems like a robot. And his goals arent the same as mine. He has his own ideas about my family planning and it bothers me. I have seen his other reviews and people say similar. Its very frustrating especially when you have a long history with the doctor. But i am booked at another clinic to see if I’m going to get another robot or human.
My experience has been much more human (UK) across two different clinics.
Even though it’s quite a stock response, they’ve always told me how sorry they are when delivering bad news (either embryology team telling me 0 blasts, failure to implant, or low post retrieval results) and reminded me that I’m entitled to counselling. I know it’s part of the script but still important to hear.
Your clinic should have taken a minute to call you and explain your results.
Not every clinic is like that. I love my clinic and all the people there. I get really nervous before procedures and a nurse will always hold my hand if I want her to. When I was all upset over my ectopic pregnancy my NP told me to hang onto hope and that she had graduated a woman with my same low AMH earlier that week. It’s stuff like that… it’s the little things they do beyond the medicine that make a difference to me.
I hope you can find a place you really enjoy. This process is hard enough.