The one question my patients hate me for asking

One question I always ask my patients before they start an IVF treatment cycle is - What is Plan B ? What will you do if the cycle fails ?

Many patients get upset when I ask them this question. They feel I am being very negative and that this means I think that their chances of getting pregnant are poor.

Actually, I am an eternal optimist; and because we have high success rates, many of our patients do get pregnant when they do IVF with us.

However, there's no need to prepare for success. It's far more important that they prepare for failure, as the outcome of any IVF cycle is always unknown. I need to be sure that they have realistic expectations from our treatment , so that they can cope with the ups and downs of an IVF cycle.

If they do not do this then IVF can become a very bumpy an emotional roller coaster ride !