Why Didn’t IVF Work? 5 Reasons In Vitro Fertilization Fails
Why Didn't In Vitro Fertilization Work?
If your IVF treatment didn’t work and you’re still not pregnant, you might find these reasons in vitro fertilization fails helpful.
As advanced as fertility treatments and specialists are, they don’t have all the answers…
“My embryos looked perfect. My uterine lining looks great, and I did everything I was supposed to do to get pregnant, to make this in vitro fertilization work. What went wrong? Why did my IVF fail?”
Those are thoughts and questions many women struggle with, and the most common answer is, “The doctor doesn’t know.” Fertility medicine has come a long way, but infertility specialists definitely don’t have all the answers.
To learn more about infertility (including tips for fertility and getting pregnant – it’s a fantastic resource for both infertility and pregnancy), read Infertility For Dummies.
And, here are five reasons you didn’t get pregnant if you tried IVF…
Why Didn’t IVF Work? 5 Reasons In Vitro Fertilization Fails
The embryos didn’t implant
“The most common reason for embryos not implanting is that their development stopped prior to reaching the implantation stage,” write Perkins and Meyers-Thompson in Infertility for Dummies. “The older you are, the more likely this is to happen, but the cessation of embryo development is thought to be the most common cause of lack of pregnancy at any age, and in fact, even during natural conception.” A woman’s age affects her chances of getting pregnant, whether or not infertility treatments are involved.
The embryos started to implant…and then stopped
If the embryos have abnormal chromosomes, they won’t implant. “The only way to tell whether embryos have the right chromosomes is to do preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a procedure in which one cell is removed from the embryo before implantation and its DNA is analyzed for abnormalities,” write these authors. This is an expensive medical procedure (not surprising, since all infertility and fertility treatments seem to cost a lot of money!). And it may not be worth the cost, since PGD hasn’t been shown to improve overall pregnancy rates.
The embryos were damaged, so the IVF didn’t work
Another reason the in vitro fertilization may have failed is because of damage either during the embryos’ growth in the lab or the transfer to the uterus. “Man-made processes are never going to be as effective as nature intended, and occasionally, a bad batch of medium, which is used to nurture the embryos before transfer, causes the embryo not to grow the way it should.
There is a problem with the uterus
IVF may not work if the uterine lining wasn’t healthy or ready for the implantation. Fibroids, polyps, or polycystic ovarian syndrome can make getting pregnant more difficult. According to Perkins and Meyers-Thompson, there isn’t any way to test the endometrium or uterine lining during the actual cycle because a biopsy might prevent implantation.
The embryo transfer process went poorly
If there is bleeding or cramping (or both) during the in vitro fertilization procedure, the chances of getting pregnant are decreased. If the uterus cramps, the embryos might be moved to a spot where they can’t or are less likely to implant…and the IVF will fail.
“Fertility is a numbers game, under the best of circumstances,” write these authors in Infertility For Dummies. “If doctors knew exactly why it all worked or didn’t work, they would save you and themselves a lot of time and make a lot more money, Unfortunately, medicine doesn’t have all the answers, for anything…including fertility.”
Do you have any thoughts or questions about why vitro fertilization doesn’t always work? Please comment below…
Category: Assisted Conception, Fertility Clinics, In Vitro Fertilization IVF Tips, Infertility Treatment Tips, Male & Female Infertility
Your daughter is very lucky to have such supportive parents. I hope that things have improved since you posted this in October.
Dear Pam,
Thank you for sharing your experience with IVF. I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you – six times! I couldn’t stand the thought of trying in vitro fertilization once, much less six times.
I don’t see our infertility as a curse. For us, it’s just a major disappointment. It’s like getting cancer or another other chronic disease: it’s painful and sad and regrettable and I wish with all my heart it wasn’t our burden to bear…but it is what it is.
For me, it’s also like not having a dad growing up. I didn’t meet him until I was 27 years old, and I always wished I had a dad. I envied my friends who had dads, who weren’t raised by poor struggling single mothers. But some things are just mine to deal with, you know? We all have crap we have to struggle with…and I guess being infertile is just another painful experience that some of us have to go through.
Also, I know that different women experience infertility in different ways. Some can shrug it off and go on their merry way, while others are completely destroyed.
Blessings,
Laurie
Dear Gen,
I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s in vitro fertilization procedures. That’s SO devastating, especially when everything seemed so positive.
I guess the miracle of getting pregnant is STILL a miracle, even when all the scientific data and signs point to a successful pregnancy. When I was seeing fertility doctors, they all said that they don’t understand how it all works. They obviously understand how women get pregnant, and even how to do IVF successfully, but they often don’t know exactly why it doesn’t work.
It must be even worse for you, as a mother. You’re seeing your daughter go through the pain of not conceiving, and not getting to see her dreams come true. That must be very difficult for you.
My mother-in-law has a friend whose daughter can’t conceive, and the friend doesn’t have any grandchildren at all. She never will, now that her daughter can’t get pregnant. My mother-in-law has a special sympathy for mothers who will never be grandmothers. I don’t know if you’re one of those women, but I do know it’s an additional source of pain.
Anyway, I wrote this article for you:
How to Help a Woman Cope With IVF Fertility Treatments
I hope it helps, and welcome your thoughts there or here.
Blessings,
Laurie
All I can say after suffering repeated (6) IVF failures and having NO family support is that it is encouraging to me to see the love you have for your daughter. There is nothing you can say, but you can be there for her and give her hugs. She’ll need them and will feel very alone in this. Infertility has been the hardest, most painful experience of my life. It will never go away, and I have yet to see my life feel better…it is a dreadful, evil curse and my husband and I resent our bodies for letting us down. I wish her and her partner well and hope things will turn around for them.
This is my 30 yr old daughters 2nd IVF procedure. The first one they called successful, even tho the embryo died not long after seeing the heart beat. the second, didn’t work at all. My son in law is fine, and my daughter has problem with her eggs maturing. This time they used a procedure to help the embryo’s hatch. We were all thrilled, her uterine lining was perfect, all her hormones were perfect, and her embryo’s they said were “GRADE A” they implanted 2, and nothing..a negative pregnancy test..why does this happen, when everything is supposed to be perfect? Needless to say I have a devastated daughter, and she has a very sad mom and dad, we don’t know what to say or do for our daughter.