Why IVF may not work: Coping if IVF treatment doesn’t work
If your IVF cycle wasn’t successful it can be heartbreaking. All that effort, the injections, the blood tests, the ultrasounds, the procedures, the mood swings and bloating (!) and then the dreaded two week wait only to find out you’re not pregnant. Again.
Even if you tried not to get your hopes up, it’s natural to be disappointed.
If your IVF treatment was unsuccessful, what should you do next?
While it’s natural to want to investigate and find out why it didn’t work, I want to remind you to give yourself some time to grieve and allow your body to physically recover from the IVF treatment. When you’re ready, talk to your doctor about whether you should try again and if they suggest any changes to your protocol.
Why your IVF treatment didn’t work?
You’ll need to talk to your doctor for specific information about why your IVF treatment has been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, in most cases, you may not get a definitive answer.
Generally, there are two main reasons why treatment doesn’t work: the cycle was cancelled before the eggs were collected or they could be transferred to your womb OR the embryos failed to develop after the transfer.
The cycle was cancelled before an embryo transfer:
1. Your treatment might have been cancelled before the eggs are collected or before the embryos are transferred to the womb.
This happens if:
- Your ovaries don’t respond to the drugs used to stimulate egg production so there was no egg collection
- Your ovaries responded too much (ovarian hyperstimulation) to the drugs used to stimulate egg production and your doctor decided to wait another month or two before performing an embryo transfer. While frustrating if you were able to freeze embryos it’s much safer to wait to transfer them.
- No eggs were found during egg collection. This can happen if the follicles (egg sacs) seen on ultrasound before egg collection turn out to be empty
- The collected eggs don’t fertilize with the sperm so no embryos develop
- After fertilisation in the lab, the embryos fail to develop in the laboratory, so there are no embryos to transfer to the womb
- The embryos were not healthy after genetic testing
- The embryos did not survive the thawing process prior to the embryo transfer
2. The embryos fail to develop in the womb
This is the most common reason for IVF treatment being unsuccessful and it can be particularly devastating because you had a full cycle of tests, injections, procedures and hope. Often there’s no obvious reason why the embryos fail to develop into a pregnancy although some possible reasons are:
- The embryo may not have matured properly, or may not have divided as it should after fertilisation so it subsequently failed to implant in the womb
- Many embryos that look healthy have faulty chromosomes (the structures inside cells that contain genes and control how the cells work)
- Poor blood flow to the womb could mean you have less chance of getting pregnant and a greater chance of miscarriage if you did conceive
- Adhesions or scar tissue in the womb prevent the embryo from implanting
I’m not sure whether to try IVF again
One of the challenges after an IVF cycle is unsuccessful is knowing if you should try again. Every woman and couple is different, so whilst some people want to keep trying, others prefer to move on from treatment at an earlier stage.
Ask your doctor for an honest opinion on whether treatment may work for you. If there’s a very small chance of it working, this may be a factor in you deciding to stop. You should also consider the emotional burden treatment puts on you and your partner (if you have one) and if you do decide to keep going, make sure you have emotional support and you might want to think about what you would do differently next time.
Why you might want to consider trying IVF again
I work with couples who are trying to get pregnant naturally and those who are undergoing fertility treatment and I try to support each couple where they are. I understand you can lose hope after one or more IVF cycles were unsuccessful. Is there a reason to keep trying?
The short answer is: YES
The longer answer is: because IVF is a complex procedure with a lot of variables that have to be ideal, or at least very good, success often requires more than one cycle. Everything from egg quality to number of eggs to implantation issues and chromosomal composition all factor into successful treatment. When a round isn’t successful, your doctor looks at the factors and makes some tweaks in order to optimize your chances for the next round.
For women under 35, the chance of becoming pregnant through sexual intercourse in any given cycle is about 25%.
Recent data suggests that for women under the age of 35 undergoing IVF, regardless of the reason for IVF, the chance of becoming pregnant is about 45%. It often takes couples more than one attempt to become pregnant naturally and that is also true for IVF cycles – in other words, it may take you more than one cycle of IVF to conceive.
According to one study, it takes, on average, about 3 cycles to become pregnant through IVF. After 3 cycles of IVF (for women of all ages), approximately 34-42% were successful.
Remember that not trying IVF again doesn’t always mean you don’t have options of getting pregnant. I’ve worked with women who chose to stop IVF or were on a break between cycles and conceived naturally.
While you don’t have control over all the factors that contribute to the success of an IVF cycle, the good news is that there are things you can do to improve your chances of IVF success.
These are some of the factors that contribute to IVF success:
- Embryo quality. Good quality eggs and sperm have a huge influence over the success of an IVF cycle. Sometimes, once an embryo has been created by fertilizing the egg with the sperm, it can look great in the lab but not implant successfully. However, improving blood flow to your ovaries, eating healthily, getting moderate exercise and making sure you have a healthy symptom free menstrual cycle is likely to improve your chances of higher quality embryos.
- Age of the eggs. It’s unfortunate but your fertility decreases around the age 35 so egg quality tends to be better in younger women’s eggs. This is clearly seen in IVF success rates because older women using donor eggs see higher implantation rates than in their own age group using their own eggs. There is nothing you or anyone can do about their age but improving your overall health and fertility can still improve your chances of conception.
- Ovarian reserve. You are born with all the eggs (follicles) you’ll ever have. Every menstrual cycle brings the release of another egg and the loss of other potential eggs. This gradually uses up the reserve and, with age, follicles become less and less sensitive to the hormone that stimulates them to grow: follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Similar to your age, the prevailing belief is you can’t improve your ovarian reserve but in my experience, even women with low ovarian reserve see improvements in their cycles when they improve their overall health and fertility
- Chromosomal issues. As eggs age, there is an increased chance of chromosomal abnormalities. These abnormalities are a common cause of miscarriage in naturally conceived and IVF pregnancies. If your doctor suspects this is an issue, they may recommend preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) which checks the number of chromosomes before an embryo transfer. In cases like this it is also important that your partner’s sperm is checked as he is contributing half of the chromosomes.
- Lifestyle factors. There are many lifestyle factors that can impact your fertility. If you consider that your fertility is a reflection of your overall health, it stands to reason that what you eat and how stressful your life is will impact your fertility. Eating a variety of nutrient dense foods, exercising moderately and taking prenatal vitamins can boost overall health, hormonal health and the quality of eggs and sperm. Eliminating smoking and the use of recreational drugs also impacts your fertility and chances of conception.
IVF is a complex series of procedures
When IVF fails, it can be devastating. It’s important to understand that IVF isn’t a simple one size fits all process. IVF is a very complex series of procedures which in the best scenario can take weeks but can also stretch out for months. If you go into IVF treatment expecting it to be a process and understanding there will most likely be delays and unexpected issues along the way you are more likely to be less disappointed by the amount of time it takes.
My experience supporting couples and women during this process over the past decade is that you need a lot of support during the process. Possibly because fertility treatments and IVF have become so much more common, people don’t always appreciate the physical and emotional price that couples pay during the process.
I often meet women after several failed IVF treatments and I am able to help them prepare for another IVF treatment. We focus on improving their physical health, releasing any trauma from their fertility treatments up until now, releasing any fears they have about the process and providing emotional support. In many cases, there are past issues that are impacting on your ability to get pregnant and it’s important to address them before trying to conceive again.
I’m a holistic therapist and I am here to help you!
I love helping women to overcome their fertility challenges and other issues related to your cycles, pregnancy, periods and/or anxiety.
I treat women with abdominal and womb massage techniques known as Sobada (formally the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage) and reflexology.
I’m also an Advanced EFT Tapping practitioner and I work with women in particular issues around anxiety, depression, stress levels.
I teach Fertility Awareness to help women better know their bodies and improve their chances of conceiving or prevent pregnancy naturally.
I live in Modi’in, Israel and that’s where I spend my days helping women during their fertile years, pregnancy, menopause and other hormonal conditions. Bodywork sessions (massage and reflexology take place in my clinic in Modi’in but EFT Tapping sessions and Fertility Awareness education can take place online or in person).
Learn more about working with me here.