Why doctors abandon patients after IVF failure

Patients do IVF treatment with lots of hope. Many have unrealistic expectations of success and are 100% sure the cycle will succeed. This is natural. After all, very few patients would start an IVF  cycle if they weren't convinced ( at least in their heart of hearts) that it would work. They spend hours scouring the net, doing their research and hunting for the best doctor. They cover their bets by going to every temple and church.

Many doctors encourage these false hopes by providing limited information before the procedure. They tend to highlight only the positive aspects of IVF , and conveniently forget to discuss the possibility of failure. This is helpful for them as IVF is a financially remunerative treatment. They paint a rosy picture, talk sweetly and overpromise , in order to snare the patient. It's easy to lure patients who are desperate and emotionally vulnerable.

The bitter truth is that many patients will fail to conceive after IVF treatment. These very same doctors then start ignoring these patients . Patients are understandably agitated and upset after the failure and can be difficult to pacify. However, the doctor starts avoiding them and playing “hard to get”. They refuse to provide them with basic documentation ( such as photos of their embryos) or medical details of the treatment protocol followed. Many even refuse to provide a treatment
summary ! They claim that the clinic needs to keep all the records and refuse to even provide copies. Patients feel  abandoned and even more resentful. They feel they have been cheated.

Many get disillusioned with IVF treatment, and feel it is a big scam. Others will visit other test tube baby centers, to look for better options.  The new IVF doctor can then add fuel to the fire by playing a game of one-upmanship . He points out all the flaws and shortcomings in the earlier doctor’s treatment protocol. Patients are now convinced that the earlier doctor was incompetent, and are happy to sign up for a new IVF cyce with the new doctor, because they are sure he is better. However, if the new cycle fails again, then this leads to another round of the blame game.

To avoid all these hassles, it is important that you keep an open mind before going for IVF, and accept the possibility that there is a chance that the procedure might fail. Information Therapy and realistic expectations will help you cope better with the stress of IVF treatment.


Not sure why your IVF cycle failed ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !