What appointments come after the embryo transfer?

What happens after the embryo transfer?

So you’ve finished your lining check appointment and the embryo transfer at your IPs’ IVF clinic. What comes next?

Remember to keep taking your IVF medications!

Surrogate IVF/cycling medications start about 2-4 weeks before the embryo transfer, but can continue as long as 15 weeks in total. Sometimes the medications are to be taken through the first trimester! Every IVF clinic will have a different protocol, so make sure you know when and for how long to continue the medications.

Should I take an at-home pregnancy test?

This is entirely up to your intended parents and yourself. Remember that your intended parents may want to wait for the official bloodwork appointments at your local monitoring center as that testing is more accurate than at-home pregnancy tests. The 10-day wait or so after your embryo transfer before your first blood work appointment can be really exciting and challenging! Take a few deep breaths and remember that surrogacy is totally worth the wait!

What appointments happen after the embryo transfer?

Beta hCG Pregnancy Bloodwork Appointments

The 1st beta hCG appointment is usually a week and a few days after your transfer. Any positive number is a great sign, but generally, 300 and over is considered pregnant at CFC.
The 2nd beta hCG appointment is generally two days following the first appointment. We hope to see an increasing number at this appointment.
The 3rd hCG appointment is dependent on your IVF clinic. Some will have a 3rd, while others will not. It is also generally two days following your 2nd appointment.

Early Ultrasound Appointments

Your first ultrasound appointment, either at your local monitoring center or OBGYN office, is about 1 month after the embryo transfer. It is usually around 6 or 7 weeks, and it is the heartbeat confirmation ultrasound! The results from this ultrasound will be sent the IVF clinic as they are still monitoring your care at this point. Sometimes your intended parents may want to come in-person or video chat in for this appointment depending on the office’s policies.
A second ultrasound appointment is not always required by the IVF clinic. If there is good news from the first heartbeat ultrasound, the IVF clinic will likely discharge you to your OBGYN for continuing care for the rest of your journey!

An Example of Actual Appointment Dates Post-Transfer

2/27/23 – Lining check before transfer
3/06/23 – Embryo transfer
3/15/23 – #1 Beta hCG
3/17/23 – #2 Beta hCG
3/31/23 – #1 ultrasound
3/31/23 – Surrogate released from IVF clinic to their OBGYN

What about sad news after these appointments? 🙁

For hCG appointments, if the HcG numbers start to decrease or are very low and don’t increase at a next appointment, it’s possible that the embryo didn’t take after the transfer. Beta numbers can look good, but then the first or second ultrasounds can come with sad news. This can feel anywhere from disappointing to devastating, which is completely understandable. Of course, everyone wants good news for you and your IPs. Try to remember that it’s unlikely you did anything at all to cause the embryo to not take or an early ultrasound to not confirm a heartbeat. IVF technology has truly come so far in the past decades, but embryo transfers are still far from 100% with success rates.

Lean on your support system of friends, family, our CFC Surrogate Support Facebook group, and your journey coordinator to talk through the emotions around failed transfers. If you feel like you need additional support, please know you can always talk to us. Many of our journey coordinators and current or previous surrogates have gone through these exact bumps in the road and can offer a listening ear or genuine advice for next steps.