In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) has improved by leaps and bounds over the last two decades. It has been reported that IVF treatment resulted in 61,740 live births in the U.S. in 2012, compared to only 20,143 in 1998. But not all IVF procedures are successful. And if yours was not successful, you may not know the way to go forward.
The good news is that many women who are unsuccessful on their first IVF attempt succeed on a second or third try. One failure by itself is no reason to give up on IVF. You should keep staying positive and continue trying, but before attempting another cycle, alternatives and all variables need to be reviewed. Your treating infertility specialist can review your previous cycle and recommend alterative protocols or additional testing.
One reason second and third attempts are likelier to succeed is that IVF specialists now have a wider array of tools at their disposal that were not available a scant few years back. An initial failure will often offer clues about how to change your IVF procedure or treatment protocol to make the next attempt a successful one. This could just be ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) which is injecting sperm directly into your eggs instead of just mixing the two, as is commonly done, or making a change in your fertility drugs. It may also involve additional testing to identify what went wrong or review of your case all over again. In some cases, after multiple attempts, the last resort can be considered, which would necessitate using donor eggs, sperm or using a gestational carrier.
You will need to talk to your doctor about the details. We, at LA IVF Clinic, consult many women who have had a failed IVF treatment and are investigating their options. Of course, you need to make sure that you’re ready for another go at IVF and having all the information available will help. We concentrate on the factors that resulted in a failed cycle and work on these variable and try to correct them. Whereas in some cases it’s just bad luck, in others additional variables may need to be addressed and often times can be corrected for a better outcome.
If you’ve had a failed IVF procedure and don’t know where to go from there, you can call us or write us at LA IVF for a free consultation. We realize what it feels like when patients experience IVF setbacks, and if you’re having problems figuring out what to do next, we can help you better understand your options. We concentrate on all variables that may have impacted the outcome and try to control for each and every one. We truly believe that such a methodological approach makes a significant difference.
