Possible lab error—how long should a review of our case take?
TLDR: We lost 21 mature eggs due to a total fertilization failure that is being investigated for a lab error. My clinic has not updated us after nearly two weeks, and says a case review still may not be completed even after 3+ weeks and no deadline or explanation of the review protocol has been offered. Are we right to think that 3+ weeks should be sufficient time for a case review, or is it normal for these investigations to take longer than that?
BACKGROUND: I recently posted here about my husband and I experiencing a sudden and unexpected total fertilization failure on our fourth cycle of conventional IVF. You can see my prior post here https://www.reddit.com/r/EmbryologyIVFSupport/comments/1u9d1iw/sudden_total_fertilization_failurelab_or_sperm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1 But in short, he has all normal semen parameters. In our prior three cycles our fertilization rates were 68-77% with conventional insemination.
In our fourth cycle on June 17, we retrieved 21 mature eggs and had 138 million pre-wash sperm with 60% motility, and 30 million post-wash sperm with 100% motility. We used conventional insemination as always, but this was our first cycle pairing conventional IVF with Zymot. Very unexpectedly, we were told all of the sperm stopped moving overnight for reasons no one can understand and we lost everything.
As everyone agrees this is very unusual, the lab is supposed to be conducting a review of our case for any lab errors. In the meantime, my husband had a DFI test (results pending) and blood work to confirm no recent infections (results all normal), to cover our own bases.
My RE contacted me today just to say that there are no conclusions from the lab yet after almost two weeks, and she indicated that the review still might not be completed by the time I have an appointment scheduled on July 10, more than three weeks after the investigation should have begun.
Age is not on my side and I will age-out of my state’s mandated insurance coverage in a matter of months, so I need to make decisions soon about proceeding with this clinic or starting over elsewhere. The lack of communication and seeming lack of urgency is causing concern for my husband and I.
MY QUESTION: What is a typical timeline for a case review like this? Are we being unreasonable to think that an internal review of our case could be able to be completed within three weeks, or do cases like this genuinely take much longer to review?