Interesting post baby amore.

Who is Dr Smith?

I guess in a lot of cases, it just comes down to the criteria different clinics use to determine their success rates for different procedures. It pays to make sure your clinic is just not trying to make an even bigger profit than they already do.

In a recent Cochrane review a statistical analysis of pooled data from different trials that between day 2/3 transfer (cleavage stage embryos) and day 5/6 transfer (blastocyst stage embryos) there was no statistically significant difference between live birth rate per couple, pregnancy rate per couple, pregnancy rate per couple where fewer blastocyst than cleavage stage embryos were transferred, multiple pregnancy rate and multiple pregnancy rate where fewer blastocysts were transferred than cleavage embryos. The authors concluded that “The current evidence fails to support a widespread change of practice from cleavage stage to blastocyst stage embryo transfer in couples undergoing IVF.” Given the conflict of one centres trial results with this Cochrane review paper it may be useful to ask clinics their exact results of blastocyst transfer and specifically whether there is a true statistically significant difference between each technique.

Gotta say, I still worry about those 3000+ bubs (from only one clinic) who made it despite not going to blast in the dish and who may very well have been discarded these days.

Age can also play a big part, blast transfers are often beneficial for older mums. For younger girls, success may probably have happened anyway. And, without making a bigger financial donation to their clinic.

But, as you say, it worked for you and you are now a lucky mum-to-be. This time next year, you'll have 3 kids to spend Christmas with.