About a week and a half after our appointment with Dr. S., he called us back to let us know what Dr. T. found.
We learned that, based on Nick’s translocation between chromosomes 8 and 11, if we conceived naturally again, we’d have a 43% chance of miscarriage. 10% of that is the normal average and another 2% is based on my age range (why does everything involving fertility have to be so ageist?).
Read more: Our ChancesWe also learned there was a 1-3% chance of having a live birth with a baby having either extra or missing chromosomal material (which could then have major issues). There was a very small percent chance (<0.4% of trisomy or disomy – where there’s one full extra or one full missing chromosome).
60% isn’t nothing, Dr. S. noted. And yes, it’s not nothing, but those numbers don’t show the full picture either.
The above numbers are all “in a perfect world.” A world where Nick’s counts are fine, and my egg quality is great. They also don’t factor in Nick’s other translocation on chromosomes 13 and 14.
Dr. S. recommended we take this info back to our fertility clinic to discuss it with them. They should be able to let you know about a second round of IVF.
So I sent everything to Dr. G. as well. What we need to know now is what, realistically, are our chances of conceiving if we try a second round of IVF. Knowing all that we know about our issues.
Is it worth it? The money, time, stress, pain, and, potentially, major heartache. That’s what we need to determine.
Sometimes, it truly astounds me how much we’ve learned and how much science can do. And, on the flip side, how helpless science can be in other situations.
IVF has been this amazing process that’s helped millions of couples have babies. And yet even it has limitations.
Dr. S. can tell us all about why Nick’s chromosomes are abnormal, even show us what they look like, but there’s literally nothing he or anyone can do to fix them.
IVF That 