IVF(In Vitro Fertilization) process is one of the leading infertility treatments worldwide. Several successful babies have been born with the help of IVF.
Although IVF is an optimal treatment, there are chances of failed IVF cycles. The average success rate of the first IVF cycle is about 55% for women under 35yrs of age. This means that there is a possibility of failure. Moreover, Besides physical and emotional devastation, failed IVF attempts can also cause a financial toll on the seekers. Yes, IVF is affordable, but each failed cycle can put a monetary burden on the patients.
Not to Worry! You can still manage to have a successful pregnancy with IVF. However, to solve the problem, we will have to find the cause, i.e., the cause of IVF failure.
Let’s see what might have been the reasons for your IVF failure.
The root of IVF failure
After the failure of the first IVF cycle, you’ll have to pull yourself up from the emotional stress and consult with your IVF specialist – to find the cause and further procedure of the IVF. Your doctor might not know the exact reason for failure, but there are many ways to go about it.
- Age of Female:
It is clinically established that – In females with age, the quality and quantity of eggs decline. Women under the age of 35 have a prominent success rate of around 50% for clinical pregnancy and 38% for live birth. With good-quality eggs, there is a higher chance of success rate in IVF.
- Ovarian Response:
The very first step of IVF is Superovulation. In superovulation, females are prescribed to take medication containing FSH and LH – to increase the number of eggs produced per month. But, sometimes, a woman’s ovaries might not respond well to this medication. Therefore, there won’t be enough eggs for IVF. This factor is also related to age.
- Embryo Quality:
If the eggs are unhealthy, the produced embryos will also be low-quality. Hence, these low-quality embryos will fail to implant inside the uterus. For sustained implantation, the embryos must be strong enough. This is why a good IVF program will use Embryoscope to analyze the growth of embryos until the blastocyst stage. Only the best-developed embryos are used for embryo transfer.
- Implantation Failure; Uterus anomalies:
Often, even after the transfer of the best quality embryo(s) into the uterus, the embryo(s) fails to implant itself on the uterine lining. This is the case of a ‘non-receptive’ uterus. Your uterus might have an infection, uterine septum, uterine polyps, high progesterone level(during embryo transfer), or thin endometrial lining – which could be some of the many reasons for low uterus receptivity. Other unknown factors may also lower uterus receptivity.
- Embryo Arrest; Chromosomal or Genetic Abnormalities:
Most IVF failure occurs due to embryo arrest – where the body rejects embryos with chromosomal abnormality. The chromosomal abnormalities (or disorder) of embryos means that embryos have irregular chromosomal DNA. These genetically abnormal embryos will fail for further development and will be rejected.
- Lifestyle: Unhealthy lifestyle might be the reason for your IVF failure. Studies have revealed that smoking and drinking can cause infertility in women. Therefore, they can also affect your IVF treatment plan. For a successful IVF, you must follow a healthy lifestyle, nutritional diet and exercise, and maintain a healthy weight.
- Pre-existing Conditions and Reproductive Immunology:
Your pre-existing health conditions and diseases, like thyroid dysfunction, PCOS/PCOD, etc., can cause IVF failure.
Furthermore, Your over-active immune system might reject the embryos leading to failure.
To diagnose the cause of failure, Your fertility expert will suggest some tests and screening which will help in increasing the success rate for the next cycle:
- Hormonal and Blood Tests
- Immune Testing
- Karyotyping – to examine the chromosomes in embryos, and PGC
- Complete Uterus Screening
- Semen Analysis and Sperm Assessment
After analyzing all the expected causes and finding the root of the issue – what can be done?
If you choose to go for the next IVF cycle, here is how it should go to increase the success rate:
- Deliberate the success rate for your second IVF cycle with your fertility expert.
- For low ovarian stimulation, the doctor may prescribe drug modification to increase the ovarian response during superovulation.
- The doctor will scrutinize the semen analysis to choose the healthiest sperm.
- Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) and Karyotyping are recommended for embryo testing to choose healthy, strong embryo(s) with normal chromosomes.
- Hormonal injection or medication can be prescribed before embryo implantation to lower the progesterone level inside the uterus.
- Lifestyle modification; maintaining a healthy weight, diet, regular exercise or yoga, etc.
- In any case, your eggs or sperm are not suitable for successful results; Donor eggs, sperm, or embryos are also a rational choice.
Conclusion
Failure Doesn’t mean the absence of success; your next IVF cycle still has a high probability of success. On average, it takes 2-3 cycles for a successful pregnancy. Here at Risaa IVF, our specialists ensure that you won’t be left clueless about your failed IVF and help you find the cause of the problem. And eventually, We will guide you toward your next successful IVF cycle.
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