My Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) Results (UPDATED)

As a follow-up to my post called “Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS): Why You Should Do It,” I decided to publish the results of my two PGS tests. I hope the information is useful to anyone who wishes to compare her results or get a better idea of how maternal age may affect the quality of embryos.

IVF #1: 16 eggs retrieved, 15 successfully fertilized, 10 mature enough for biopsy on day 5/day 6. Results:

Embryo # Chromosome Screening Results Interpretation 1 47, XX; +15 Trisomy 15 2 47, XY; +16 Trisomy 16 3 46, XX; dup(16)(p11.2-pter) Duplication on the short arm of chromosome 16 4 45, XY; -22 Monosomy 22 5 47, XX; +18 Trisomy 18 6 46, XX Euploid 7 46, XX Euploid 8 47, XX; +19 Trisomy 19 9 44, XY; -6, -15 Monosomy 6 and Monosomy 15 10 44, XY; -7, -10 Monosomy 7 and Monosomy 10

IVF #2: 22 eggs retrieved, 16 successfully fertilized, 11 mature enough for biopsy on day 5/day 6. Results:

Embryo #	Chromosome Screening Results	Interpretation
1	45, XX; -20	Monosomy 20
2	45, XY; -8	Monosomy 8
3	45, XX; -4	Monosomy 4
4	47, XX; +10	Trisomy 10
5	47, XY; +21	Trisomy 21
6	45, XY; -21	Monosomy 21
7	46, XY	Euploid
8	46, XY; +7, -14	Trisomy 7 and Monosomy 14
9	46, XY; +6, -20	Trisomy 6 and Monosomy 20
10	47, XY; +19	Trisomy 19
11	46, XY; -14, +19	Monosomy 14 and Trisomy 19

My reproductive endocrinologist made three conclusions based on the above results:

1. With respect to good embryo morphology at day 5, I am among the top 1/3 not only for my age group (39–40) but also for women over 35
2. With respect to euploid embryos per egg retrieval, I am about average for my age group with 1–2 euploid embryos per cycle
3. With respect to euploid embryos per biopsied embryo, I am in the bottom 1/3 overall

In other words, though I was able to produce a huge number of okay-looking embryos, I still got only 1 or 2 chromosomally normal ones in each cycle, which is what a woman who is nearly 40 should expect. When you think about, that’s not necessarily bad news. A “normal” woman typically produces only one egg per month, and that egg might not be of good quality. So I am in a somewhat better position (having tested all embryos) and can only hope that the transfer goes well in a few days.

UPDATE:

IVF #3: 26 eggs retrieved, 19 successfully fertilized, 10 mature enough for biopsy on day 5/day 6. Results:

Embryo # Chromosome Screening Results Interpretation 1 46, XX Euploid 2 47, XY; +15 Trisomy 15 3 46, XX; -10s -10q23.31q26.3 4 45, XY; -21 Monosomy 21 5 43, XO; +4, +16, -19 Trisomy 4, Trisomy 16, Monosomy 19 6 43, XX; +15, -21, -22 Trisomy 15, Monosomy 21, Monosomy 22 7 45, XX; -16 Monosomy 16 8 47, XY; +9 Trisomy 9 9 44, XY; -3, -15 Monosomy 3 and Monosomy 15 10 44, XY; -19, -22 Monosomy 19 and Monosomy 22

Even though I used a different sperm donor for IVF #3, the PGS results were consistent with those from the previous two tests. For someone my age (nearly 41), these are considered good results.