A day or two after I sent her the info from Dr. T., Dr. G. wrote back:
_______
Hi Julie,
Thanks for reaching out.
A genetic counselor will be able to give you specific numbers regarding chance of having a euploid embryo given his translocation and Robertsonian translocation. This is the number I think would be most helpful in you two deciding if you want to continue trying with Nick’s sperm.
Julie- if you decide to proceed with another IVF cycle using your eggs I think that you would be a good candidate with the addition of growth hormone. We can’t guarantee a different outcome but if it were me, I would give it another shot. Please feel free to regroup with me to discuss further. I’m thinking of you two.
_______
While I do appreciate the response, it was a bit frustrating. We had been to see a genetic counselor. He told us what he could of our chances. That’s what I’d just sent her.
But, OK. If we need to go see another one, we’ll go see another one.
The clinic does have some they work with, so I asked for a referral.
Not long after that, I called Dr. W.’s office. Before scheduling an appointment, I wanted to confirm Dr. W. could tell us our realistic chances for a second round of IVF, given my egg health issues (even though those could be addressed) and Nick’s two translocations.
A very nice lady answered my call and was super helpful but maybe provided too much info:
“It won’t be a short conversation, but, yes, Dr. W. can tell you about your chances with two translocations. Wow, two translocations – that’s not very common. Back before we had all this technology, we worked with a couple who had two translocations – took them 11 pregnancies to get two kids.”
Me (internally): I probably could’ve done without that last bit…
“It’s very difficult working with translocations. You know your husband is OK, and you’d be so happy to have a little one just like him, but those translocations are tough.”
Those floodgates are cracking a bit. Hold it together – you don’t need to cry on the phone with this stranger.
After that, we scheduled the appointment for early August. It was July, so at least the wait wouldn’t be too long.
I’m once again going to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for the next couple of weeks to tell you about a couple more big things that happened during this time. We’ll pick back up with the second genetic counselor’s appointment after the next two blogs.
IVF That 