How much is success when doing PGD down to the embryologist?

I live in Europe and completed my first fresh cycle and an FET at a European clinic that has a very good success rate with regular IVF. In fact there are a few European clinics that offer PGD and on other forums where girls are using them for straight IVF and donor eggs they seem to deliver regular success. In comparison last year I calculated that fertile girls doing IVF for GS and therefore using PGD only had a 5% success rate. Way way lower than the success we see from girls cycling in the US with PGD. How much do you think this low European success rate is due to the skill of the embryologist in performing the PDG procedure and how much do you think was just down to bad luck in Europe last year! Thanks

Interesting question. A successful PGD case comes down to the success of three different parts, any one of which can independently prevent success but all must work together to optimize the chance of success. There is routine parts of IVF (stim, egg retrieval, fertilization of eggs and culture, and possibly embryo freezing, the embryo biopsy procedure itself, and the genetic testing which is usually not performed by the IVF staff, but samples sent to a genetics testing lab. The biopsy can be done by traveling embryologists who specialize in biopsy or by the IVF staff themselves. I like having staff on-site who are trained-as long as they are proficient- because they are comfortable with their own lab equipment and don't have to deal with airline cancellations or staff availability issues. A 5% success rate is truly dismal and if the non-PGD preg rate is good at the clinic, my guess would be that the biopsy procedure may be the problem. If done poorly, you can easily damage the embryo. If the genetic testing were poor, depending on the test, you might put back embryos that were unlikely to survive but this is not an issue with gender testing. With every new procedure, you see clinics rushing to offer the new services for patients, sometimes before they are truly ready. Carole :)