The Pseudoscience of "treating" IVF failure

Biological systems are very unpredictable and uncontrollable. This is why it is almost impossible to foretell what the result of your IVF cycle will be. Though we, at Dr.Malpani’s clinic are experienced in making embryos, it is still not possible for us to figure out what the outcome will be after we have placed your embryos into your uterus. We cannot tell you which embryos  may turn into a baby - and which embryos will not.

If your IVF cycle becomes a failure after Grade-A embryos are transferred to the uterus, as a patient you are very likely to ask this question – Why was the transfer a failure? Why didn’t the baby get formed? You may even feel cheated by the doctor. 

Doctors are not the ones to be blamed . This is because no one can predict what can be the outcome from any medical treatment, especially when dealing with a single IVF cycle, which is full of imponderables and unmeasurable intangibles The doctors will only tell you to hope for the best - and this is the best they can do every time. 

Let's not forget that no fertile couple can ever predict which month they will get pregnant ! And we've all seen patients where 4 perfect IVF cycles have failed - and then the fifth one finally succeed , even though all the cycles seemed to be very similar ! It’s a biological mystery - and some may even term an IVF baby as a gift from god, with a little help from science ! The truth is that in such a complex system, you can never be sure about the outcome - whether you try at the hospital or in your own bedroom!

If your doctor gives you some pseudoscientific justification for the failure of your embryos to implant ( and one of the most popular "reasons" trotted out is the presence of high NK cell activity in the uterine lining which causes the embryo to get "rejected" ) it is just for the purpose of keeping you happy , so that you have more hopes that the next cycle will work ! After all, your clever doctor has been able to figure out the reason for the IVF failure and is now all set to "fix" this !

Sadly, most of these " tests " are useless.

If you aren't sure what to do after a failed IVF cycle, please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !